Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas City anymore

Amen to that & thanks to Deb for the title of today's post! We finally made it out of Missouri today, but it took longer than I thought b/c our directions took us north, right along the border of Kansas, but we never actually went into Kansas, which is too bad b/c I had my ruby slippers all ready to go.

Today was another long day of driving across a lot of flatness & we discovered the reason they're called 'the plains'. Because they are! We completed Missouri, then went through Iowa, Nebraska & Wymoing. We were only in Iowa for a short time before we crossed into Nebraska. I've never been to Nebraska before & it was another state that took a long time to get through. I think I've seen everything I need to see of it, including the 'penis of the prairie', which is the tallest building in Lincoln that stands above everything else so you can see it for miles. It's not as tall as the CN Tower, but it's even more phallic-shaped, hence the name. John told me about the building...he knows a lot of stuff...he's like a cross-country drive encyclopedia!

Since there wasn't much to look at today, we had lots of conversations instead. Mostly, we talked about when people first came to America to settle & made the same trip we're making, but in covered wagons & on foot! I can't imagine what that must have been like. When you're out in the middle of such vastness, where you can see for miles, it's hard to believe that you'll ever make it out, even in a car! It made me think of Laura Ingalls & Blind Mary.

I was feeling the need for chocolate this afternoon, so when we stopped at a rest area in Wyoming to use the bathroom, I brought a handful of change with me in case they had vending machines. Some rest stops are better than others & not all of them have vending machines. Well, this one did & when I hit the button for a Whatchamacallit, I hit the jackpot! Seven candy bars came tumbling out of the chute! I looked around to see if anyone saw what happened, but John & I were the only ones in the vicinity, so of course, I took them. Come on! You would have taken them too! We ended up with a little chocolate feast of 3 Reese's peanut butter cups, 2 KitKats & 2 Whatchamacallits. Nice!

Tonight, we totally lucked out in the hotel department. It was getting late when we finally decided to stop for the night & we went to the first place we saw in Laramie, Wyoming which was an AmeriHost Inn & Suites. It looked like a fairly new place & when we went to check in, we found out it was only 3 months old. The pool was closed for repairs, so they offered us a king room with a jacuzzi in it for the price of a regular room! Do you know what the word 'jacuzzi' sounds like when you've been on the road for three days?! Heaven! They also had fluffy white robes for us to wear & the fridge was stocked with complimentary drinks & microwave popcorn! Complimentary!! I felt like I was at a spa. It was a great place & if you ever find an AmeriHost in your travels, I'd recommend staying there.

Now, I never used to have fond feelings for Wyoming b/c when Laura & I did our vehicular tour of the U.S. so many years ago that I'm afraid to actually count (ok, it was 14...holy crap!), we had an unfortunate incident in Cheyenne that involved a gross vacuum cleaner saleseman at the mall. Well, really that WAS the unfortunate incident....he didn't do anything other than act weird, but it totally creeped us out & made us decide that all of Wyoming sucked. But, my chocolate bar vending machine experience & our hotel stay seem to have counteracted that! Thanks Wyoming!

Later,
PortlandGirl