Nebraska is long.

As you move west on 80, things change a bit.  At first, the tolls start to get cheaper, then they disappear.  States get less populous, and bigger.  The first really huge state you hit is Nebraska.  You basically transverse it for 500 miles, the first couple hundred of which are pretty interesting for someone from the east;  They're flat and long.  You can see forever.  This is a genuinely new experience for some of us.  It's also a great place to think about where your food comes from and who you shit on for being from out-here.  Don't snark too much my snobby coastal friends- these people feed you.

Also, people are really nice here.  They're not too eager to be your best friend, but to be honest I respect that.  However, they will hold the door for you, smile and say hello, and not give you dirty looks for being the wierdo you probably are.  I went through this trip last year with a much more attention attracting vehicle and a mohawk  I got many more judgmental stares when I was home  back east for that then any of these fine states we get to pass through when driving home.

We still have 32 miles left in Nebraska.  Off to Wyoming :-)

Stay tuned for a review of some new regional fast food, the Runza  http://www.runza.com/
I can do it here, or dedicate a new page to fast food from around the country.  What do you think?

Trials and tribulations and the trail

Planning for an Appalachian Trail thru hike is a pretty involved process.  Beyond the pounds of dried food we produced and stored, there's also gear to consider (and every ounce counts, so choose wisely), spare money, emergency plans, bail-out plans, and even reading the occasional map or book.

Mindy and had a lot of it under control, but not quite enough apparently.  Life threw some pretty big twists at us this summer, and consequently we won't be hiking the AT this year.  We're going to try and hike The Long Trail in Vermont though.  It's a much shorter hike (about 300 miles).  The shorter time and distance just works much better for what we can spare for time and money right now.  More on this later.

In the mean-time though, we're on our way to Burning Man!  We're in bumper to bumper traffic, and haven't managed to get out of CT yet, but we're on our way!  This year it's a bit different for us, as we're in Steve's truck with a trailer (Thanks Aunt V and Uncle D!!)  The neon was a bit upset she's going to miss this year's burn, but we reminded her this year's theme was Rites of Passage and that Steve's car needs a chance to go too.  As a giving burner-car she didn't have an issue with that.

Looks like traffic is lightening up.  Weeeeeeeeeeeee!