I need to give some background info to set this up. About a month ago Keri, Kathy, and I were sitting around discussing what would be the least painful way to get the grandtwins to Jackson, Minnesota, to visit Keri's grandmother, the boys' great grandmother. Esther turns ninety-nine in January so we thought we ought to get this done pretty quickly. We just couldn't see subjecting the boys to a 12-15 hour trip strapped into car seat as the law now dictates. We hit on the idea that Keri, Kathy and the boys would fly to Sioux Falls, SD, on a Friday afternoon (Keri had an in-service that day) and I would pack all the leftover necessary items (playpens, extra diapers, clothes, etc.) in the van and drive to Sioux Falls, meet them and drive them to Jackson which is about a 90 minutes drive. We bought the tickets, prayed for good weather and put the plan in play.
In the meantime, son-in-law Eric, a Delta pilot, was transferred from Detroit to Minneapolis. In addition Keri and Eric bought a new minivan making the "grocery getter" (definition according to son David-a small station wagon usually driven by a mother for all sorts of reasons including buying groceries) available for Eric to drive it to Minneapolis as an "airport car". As long as I was driving to Minnesota, Eric thought it would be nice if we caravan as least as far as Jackson (that's Minnesota not Wyoming). This should get the readers started.
John Steinbeck had his "Travels with Charlie" about driving around the US in a pick-up with his dog for a companion. I guess I could call this much shorter adventure, as least for the first couple of days, Traveling with Eric. Charlie was a canine, however, I assure you Eric is human.
DAY 1 Thursday:
We leave Littleton about four o'clock in the afternoon just in time to catch rush hour traffic. We drive as far as Sterling, Colorado (pop. 11,360) and plan to eat supper and and gas up. Sterling is the only town of its size that does not have a food food outlet right off the interstate. We have to drive a couple of miles into town. I call and make a reservation at the Holiday Inn Express in Kearney, Nebraska for later. We always have to negotiate a rate so by the time we start with the "lowest rate" and finish I've saved 15 dollars.
Driving across Nebraska my allergies kick in after I shut off the air conditioner. There is also this aroma of recently shorn fields and feed lots. Listening to the radio, with the opening of bird season on Saturday, the majority of commercials deal with hunting supplies and particularly quality ammo-a listener doesn't hear many commercials in Denver for quality ammo. We finally arrive in Kearney around 11:30 and call it a night.
Day 2 tomorrow.