11:00 pm January 14, 2015

We hit the road early this morning after saying goodbye to Andrew and thanking him for letting us crash there.  We stopped at a nearby McDonald’s for a quick fuel up for the day. There was a strange children’s table in the back corner that was slightly alarming to me. But maybe I am just a little over judgmental. (See pic below to form your own opinion).

Thanks Andrew! It's always good to see Valpo friends!

Yep. Terrified. 

After McD’s we hit  the road and quickly left behind the spectacular mountainous landscapes we have been driving through for the past few days and exchanged them for the flat expanse that is the great plains. Dan was very disappointed that it was not growing season and we wouldn’t be able to steal any corn from the fields as we drove by. Also around this point in the trip, we encountered our first car concern as a large crack suddenly propagated across the windshield from what originally been just a small ding. Luckily, this was only superficial in nature and is not real cause for alarm.

Driving through Nebraska in a nutshell.

A highlight of this journey was actually the rest stop we made in Ogallala. We are still unsure about the exact pronunciation of this town, but made some quality attempts at sounding it out. (O-gul-la-la ????) While we waited for Dan as usual, Kileigh and I wandered behind the main rest area and discovered a few things. First there was a sculpture that we decided was actually a small slide. Second and most importantly, we found and befriended some horses grazing nearby.

Sea Biscuit!

Sculpture or Slide? You decide!

 The rest of the drive was rather uneventful, until the sun started setting. We have been blessed with some gorgeous sunsets on this trip and this Nebraska sunset was up there with the best of them. Soon after the sunset, we rolled through Lincoln and observed their capitol building which we found out is widely known in the area for its phallic appearance.

Nebraska sunset.

But really, it was beautiful.

Around 6:30pm, we finally made it to our destination in Omaha, NE. Grandma’s house! She welcomed us in immediately and served us an excellent home cooked meal of shaved beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, wine, etc… Oh and of course there was coffee and chocolate pie too. She also reminisced with us about her childhood and growing up on a farm outside of Beatrice. After dinner, Grandma and I decided we had to teach Kileigh and Dan a classic Forke Family card game, Polish Poker.  They picked it up rather quickly. In fact, Dan won two of the games and Kileigh won the other.

Grandma said she wouldn't judge me if I finished off the bottle after dinner. 

Love me some Polish Poker

After the games, it was time for some much needed showers! I now am sitting her feeling clean and refreshed and ready for bed! I’m really looking forward to meeting up with Emily in Iowa tomorrow for lunch and finally getting to show Kileigh and Dan the homeland. See you soon Eau Claire!