Alright so my day started fantastic leaving the Rocky Mountains.  Then after leaving paradise I hit a Denver with all it’s cityness and a big fucking traffic jam.  As some of you may know the shortest distance from Vail, CO to Norfolk, NE does not go through WYOMING!

Ok, so I make this one wrong turn out of Denver.  You know, one of those weird freeway exits to the left instead of right.  I realize I have made this wrong turn and I stop at a gas station that only has a map of CO but I see a state line at the top which I assumed was the southwest corner of Nebraska I was headed for.  Second road lesson … DON’T ASSUME!  That little state line was not Nebraska but I headed straight for it, stopping at about 3 more gas stations to make sure I was still on the correct road.  Finally I cross the state line … into WYOMING, woops.  This turns into about a 2 hour detour given my frequent stops to make sure I was still headed to Nebraska to meet up with my mapquest directions.  Cheyenne, Wyoming has a bit of an erie spirit feeling to it and I don’t know how better to describe it,  I’ve never felt it any place else.  Anyways I had a few good laughs that day on the phone … “Dude, I made a wrong turn and ended up in Wyoming”  that’s not something you get to say everyday, it’s very entertaining.

The landscape of Wyoming and western Nebraska is this flat tundra region that I’d only seen pictures of in Science class.  It was very pretty… and windy … and lonely.

So, part of my excitement for driving cross country was to stay at my step brother Bobby’s house.  I hadn’t seen him in, shit I don’t even know, at least ten years … not since I was a kid.  [I'm 25 now].  Once again the last 2 hours of my 11 hour day was spent driving through pitch black farmlands of western Nebraska.  It was so dark and the land was so flat it appeared that the stars completely surrounded me.

So, what’s it going to be like to meet someone who is a relative with the title of brother who is 17 years older then you and feels like a virtual stranger?

…well, how bout incredible!

Bobby, now 42 seemed younger then I remembered him at 30.  I got in around 11pm, the Norfolk sky was filled with beautiful thunder and lightning, but no rain … we sat out on the front porch and talked for hours.  I met his fabulous girlfriend Theresa who I love and the next morning her fantastic son.  It was a quick visit, ate lunch the next day and was back on the road to MN.

I crossed over the Missouri River through South Dakota.  I passed some beautiful farms in South Dakota but the real treat was entering MN.  I passed a billboard that simply said in big bold blue letters “ENJOY LIFE”.  After my own little adventure traveling across the country for days, what a nice treat!