Tj
It was an early start for all of us (Amy, Brez, Dalan and me) on Boxing Day and we were in the car at around 7:30a.m. (ET). It was also an extremely foggy morning and freezing so Dalan had to turn the heat up in spite of us all layered up (I want to visit Iceland, Alaska and the North Pole however I dunno how I will survive there).
The initial drive was slow and scary coz of the lake effect everything looked dreary, the sun seemed to be unwilling to get out of the multiple layers of gray blankets it had pulled over, and visibility was extremely poor. The mood inside the car was slightly alleviated by the music and the fact that once we got to Chicago (around 3.5 hours away) the weather will be much better and driving easier. It was around this time that Brez (we were sharing the back seat) pointed out to a car driving without its lights on and asked me, “Tj, do you know what my dad calls them?” And before I could answer he added, “Idiots”. We all burst out laughing at this 4 year old’s innocent comment and as if on cue the sun peeked out briefly from the cloud cover for the first time that morning. Snacks were opened and Brez and I played with his Legos until we made a quick pit stop where we both got a beverage we love, Root Beer (I know unhealthy choices but what the heck I am on a vacation and it’s a road trip; Cheers!). I had also bought some spicy turkey jerky which Brez said he wanted to taste. We all thought it would be too spicy for him but he finished most of it. I was extremely impressed and think Brez is ready to move to India.
Our happy party of 4 were now on the outskirts of Chicago and the sun was out bright and shiny. The debate for a lunch spot (much against Dalan’s protests) was quickly put to rest by the leader of the pack coz apparently the adults don’t realize how McDonald’s need to be tried in every city and state coz toys!!!! 😛 We had to pacify Dalan with promises that we will get real food for dinner and bribe him with some chicken nuggets to keep driving 😋 This road trip to Omaha was for us to visit Dalan’s parents, Heidy and Ron and it was the first time I would be visiting Nebraska. Needless to say, I was very excited. That excitement doubled when I realized that during the trip we would cross a few different states; Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. I have lived in Chicago, IL for about a month in 2014 however I haven’t ever been to IN and IA. I won’t count them in to my list of states visited as I haven’t really visited them but just crossed over but it was interesting to look them up on the map and read about them. We eventually made a stop at Iowa 80 which is the world’s largest truck stop. Here is where I saw DVDs for the movie, ‘The Holiday’ selling and it reminded me of Kylie, a person I really like. Distances are weird and so are human connections.
The highlight of this road trip was us finding a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Amy found it on Google and it was rated extremely high and we decided to swing by. My new found love for tamales egged me on to enquire if they have any and I ordered 4. The waitress almost did a double take and Dalan thought I was famished. I didn’t realize why until when the plate arrived. I had eaten tamales once before in Houston and they were the ones sold out of a car late at night for around $10 for 12 pieces. The ones staring at me here were big ass ones (pardon my language). However, they were the most delicious tamales I have ever tasted in my life. I couldn’t polish off all of them off even though I tried.
The rest of the drive into Omaha was everyone trying to keep each other’s spirits up which wasn’t too difficult after such a hearty meal but it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to keep my eyelids from shutting. I took several short naps in between trying to spot the huge windmills that Amy pointed out. Before long we were pulling into the driveway of Heidy and Ron’s house and all of us were happy to get out of the cold. After a warm round of hugs and greetings, I was ready to hit the sack. Good night!