One Lap of North America: Lincoln, NE

Mom called at 9:00 AM this morning and said "I'm in Peoria." We talked last night about Quincy and looked into ways to get him home. One option (the one I thought we were going with) was that I would keep driving with him until Denver, then put him on a plane back to Indianapolis. Mom started calling airlines to see what it would cost. However, every airline she spoke with told her that Quincy would have been treated like cargo. They more or less guaranteed that he would not be put on a direct flight and that he would have at least one layover, if not two or more. So when Mom woke up this morning, she called into work and told them she was coming to Lincoln to get him. She didn't tell me until she was already three hours along.

So while Mom was speeding along I-74 and I-80 towards Nebraska, I met Sarah for lunch at Valentino's. I didn't realize it was a chain until I went to the wrong one. She gave me the address, but I used the GPS and just did a search for "Valentino's." Once I realized my mistake, the GPS directed me to correct one on the opposite end of town. Fortunately, Lincoln is not a big city. I had left the motel planning to arrive fifteen minutes early. Fifteen minutes was plenty of time to get from the wrong restaurant to the right one by 11:00.

Unfortunately, the main road I was supposed to take was closed for construction. After searching the neighborhood for a way around, I took a side street that crossed some railroad tracks. When I was about two blocks away, the gate lowered and a train came whistling through. No worries, I'll just wait. Then, just as I figured we should be nearing the end, I heard another whistle as train number two came along heading the other direction.

I ended up a the restaurant about fifteen minutes late, but Sarah was sitting out front waiting for me. We had a fantastic time catching up on what has been going on in our lives since we last saw one another roughly two years ago. It was almost 2:00 PM before either of us noticed the time. Sarah had to get back to the house she was painting and put another coat on the living room, but she invited me to come along so we could keep chatting.

Sarah is living with her folks at the moment. We stopped by their house so she could change into her painting clothes. While we were there, her mom, Lana, asked me to move a couple of televisions around for her. Since I am both a gentleman* and strong like an ox**, I took care of it. In exchange, Lana offered me all the beer in the fridge. I declined the fridge raid, but did accept an invitation to dinner.

We ran to the hardware store to pick up some supplies, then drove over to the house for painting. I kept her company and held the ladder for a little while before I had to get back to the motel to meet Mom.

Mom was already at the motel waiting for me with a very excited Quincy. We met up with Sarah, her mom and her dad, Steve, at Misty's for a Nebraska steak dinner. After dinner, we went back to the house where Sarah played me a song her friend wrote called "Hey Sarah Palin" to the tune of "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White Ts. Hi-larious.

Tomorrow morning, Mom and I are going to head up to Omaha and have breakfast at Amato's. After breakfast, I'll head north and west toward Mount Rushmore; Mom and Quincy will go east to Indianapolis.