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Saturday, September 11, 2010

PNW Trip: Day 1 - Mostly Nebraska


(This is not what Kanye had in mind.)

We hit the road fairly early in the morning on August 28th. We timed it so we could be in Omaha around lunchtime to meet up with some friends for lunch at McFoster's Natural Kind Cafe. The weather was perfect, so we sat on the patio.





We all split an appetizer of fried pepper rings. These could have used more breading, but they were still awesome.



I ordered the broiled Portobello Mushroom plate. The portobello cap was perfectly broiled, and came with sautéed vegetables and vegan cashew pesto. The veggies were bright and colorful, but kind of bland. (Overcooked, maybe?) I wasn't crazy about the pesto, either. It was really all about the mushroom cap.

If you've never driven through Nebraska before, it is excruciatingly boring. Just miles and miles of NOTHING. Omaha is pretty cool, but that city is the only reprieve you will possibly get in the whole state. On this day, it was outrageously and painfully sunny and powerfully windy. Hours and hours passed, with the only scenery being dirt or dead grass or some cleared corn fields.

Boyfriend: How much would you have to be paid to live out here?
Me: Whatever Warren Buffet makes.

How did we pass the time in Nebraska without going completely insane?
1. Upbeat music (Madonna and Rage Against the Machine were the most helpful)
2. napping (for me, not the driver)
3. listening to This American Life podcasts
4. The further west we went, we started to count 2-door cars driving in the same direction as us. We counted 1. It's all truckers out here, folks.



Just over the Wyoming border, we stopped at the Pine Bluff rest area to walk the trails and stretch our legs.


Then we pressed on to Cheyenne, where we stopped for the night, enjoying a roasted veggies-and-tofu pita (I prepped the peppers and tofu the night before we left - go me).



Up next on Day 2: More Wyoming! (It's better than Nebraska!)

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