Lincoln, NE to Wall, SD

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We transferred all of Quincy's belongings over to Mom's car this morning and left Lincoln. They followed me to Amato's Cafe in Omaha, roughly 45 minutes away. This time, Amato's was open.

And we ate.

I would have taken a picture of the food, but it didn't occur to me until I was halfway through my Tutti Omlette - two kinds of Italian ham and mozzarella wwrapped in three eggs, with home fries and Italian toast. I am not generally a big fan of home fries, but they were quite good. The omlette itself was amazing. The meat was smoky and ample and the eggs were cooked perfectly. The toast was crisp and slightly burned at the edges, just the way I like it.

Mom had one of the daily specials - liver and onions with bacon. I am really not a fan of liver and onions, but she really enjoyed it. She mentioned that liver is generally cooked in bacon grease to improve the flavor. Amato's liver comes with a couple of strips of bacon on top. Everything is better with bacon.

As we were finishing up, we decided that we had driven too far for just one meal. We each got a sandwich to go that we would enjoy a few hours down the road in our respective directions. Mom got the Italian beef sandwich. I remembered that Amato's was known for making their own sausage on the premises, so I decided that the Italian sausage sandwich was the way to go.

I asked that they give it to me with the sauce on the side. The server suggested that they not warm it up for me so it would be easier to keep it in the cooler for the drive west. However, when I took it out of the container a few hours later, I discovered that they had actually covered it in sauce before wrapping it up, making the bread soggy. However, the sausage itself was quite tasty.

All in all, the service was sub-par. It took almost ten minutes before anyone got our drink order. The owner, Sammy, came out to say hello and got us our coffee. However, we never got any cream even after asking four times, we didn't get any water until we were almost finished eating, and my carry-out sandwich order was kind of messed up. However, the food was definitely worth the trip, and the entire staff was extremely friendly. I think that someone had called in sick, which put a kink in the smooth operation of the restaurant for the day.

As we were leaving, Mom was trying to take a picture of me and Quincy in front of the restaurant. She was having a lot of problems working the camera when Sammy came out with one of the other employees. He asked if we were the folks from Indiana. We told him we were, and he offered to take a picture with us. He also offered to sign a menu for us as a souvenir.

The employee, whose name I didn't catch, mentioned that he saw Quincy waiting for us in the car*, and that he appeared somewhat anxious. I know that Quincy is a generally shy dog, but the fact that this man noticed Quincy's demeanor made me feel even better about the decision to send him back to Indy with Mom.

We left Amato's right after the pictures were taken and handshakes exchanged. We drove to I-80 west, then I headed north on I-480 back to Sioux Falls and Mom... wel actually, she followed me up I-480 until she realized that she should have just stayed on 80. I talked to her at one point this evening, so I know that she made it as far as Illinois.

I drove about 550 miles today. My friend Erik is expecting me in Golden, CO tomorrow. I'm planning to check out Wall Drug and Mount Rushmore. The brothers at Blue Cloud recommended that I also go to Deadwood, Hot Springs and the Badlands. Golden is a little under eight hours from Wall. If I make Golden tomorrow, it will probably be very late. In any case, don't expect an update until Saturday.

Quincy smells meat. Mmmm, meat...

"Sammy da Sausage King"

*It was only about 70 degrees F, Mom parked in the shade, opened the windows, and left him with a bowl of water. This was not a "pet locked in a hot car" situation.