Lincoln, NE & St. Louis, MO

July 2, 2015 – Day 30

Omaha, NE/Lincoln, NE-St. Louis, MO

45 minutes - 50 miles/7 hours – 432 miles

Renaissance St. Louis

My apologies for posting this sooooo late. The last two days of our road trip were long, and we just wanted to get home. There was very little sightseeing, so I didn’t think to post. Then I received a bunch of emails from people wondering where we were… I’m so sorry! We were only home for a couple of days, before heading to Florida, and time just got away from me.

From Omaha, we took a westward detour to Lincoln, NE, so we could tour the capitol building. You know me and my capitals. It was worth the time, because Lincoln is a fantastic little city. I sort of regret that we didn’t stay there, instead of Omaha. The Capitol is beautiful and of course, the people were very nice.

Then we headed east, for long haul across Missouri, sometimes driving through rain. The kids fought the whole time. When I pulled up to the hotel, I was fragged. Hotel was beautiful and empty! Guess the St. Louis airport isn’t a popular Fourth of July hang-out. 

We ordered room service for the children and Rich and I had dinner downstairs in the hotel dining room. We had the place to ourselves!

Dancing in Omaha

July 1, 2015 – Day 29

Pierre, SD – Omaha, NE

446 miles/ 6.5 hours

Fairfield Inn Papillion, Rms 205 & 207

Long, long, long driving day, with not much to see. South Dakota – boring. Sioux Falls to Omaha, on Interstate 29, boring. I drove for most of the day, while Rich and the kids watched a movie.

Omaha seems like a very nice city, what little we saw. We had a fairly decent meal at a popular local steakhouse. Everyone’s ready for a home-cooked meal. It would take a lot to excite our taste buds at this point. The restaurant where we dined had a lounge, with a live band. The kids were dying to go in and see what it was all about. The manager heard them begging us and said it was okay.

So this becomes the story about the night my family crashed a bar. Seriously. The band was playing old 1960’s dance covers, and it was a lively middle-aged crowd. Audrey dragged her dad to the dance floor and they looked very sweet together - much better than Rich and I do when we dance. Audrey can actually dance and does a great job of leading her dad. Cammy was the wild man of the bunch. He took to the dance floor even when the band was on break. He had the audience in the palms of his hands. When the band returned, Hunter joined him and within minutes, a woman asked Hunter to dance. And then another. At one point he was dancing with two women – even twirling them. I was astounded! So was Rich. I ran to get my camera. By the time I got back, the song had stopped and Hunter said to me, “Mom, all these old ladies want me to dance with them!” Nice. For the record, they weren’t old, not really (but maybe a little). I told him I thought it was sweet, and that he should never say no if a lady asks him to dance. Then he saw my camera. He told me he’d only dance with them if I promised not to take any pictures. So that’s why I really don’t have any pictures of him rocking the dance floor – but I assure you, he did!

I tried to take Barrett out there for a whirl, but he kept plugging his ears. He was very over whelmed. So we, the wall flowers of the family, sat on the sidelines and watched Rich, Hunter, Audrey and Cammy take over the dance floor. It was pretty damn cool.

We needed that. Conditions have been tense the last few days. Goes to show - you just never know when the next “good time” is around the corner.