Day 04
14 August 99
Laramie, Wyoming - Kearney, Nebraska

My mother did let me drive for a time today, and I -- not being afraid of the cruise control as she is -- kept us comfortably two mph below the speed limit the whole way.   I was thus not able to take photos of lovely Nebraska, which was fine, because there wasn't much to see.   I did later manage a shot of the truck wash, which brought me great amusement.   To gross my mother out, I can point out the rest areas where truckers shower, because she scrunches up her face and says, "Can you imagine having to clean that?" every time.

I have missed two great photo opportunities thus far.   This first story requires knowledge of the little Jesus fish that highly religious people are fond of putting on their cars, and the little Darwin fish with feet that people who believe in evolution put on their cars as a comeback.   First, in Utah, there was a minivan with a fish labelled "TRUTH" which was eating a Darwin fish.   I was in so much shock that it didn't even occur to me to take a picture.   Second, in Nebraska today we saw a semi with a bible painted on it, open to Jon 3.16 and 3.17 (I couldn't read the actual passage), but the best were the truck's mud flaps, which read:

Jesus is Lord.
Transportation for Christ.

The back of the truck is in the picture, but we passed the mud flaps too fast for me to snap a shot.

My mother gave me her collectible Magazine to read in the hotel one night, and I glanced at the article on the current popularity of collecting childrens' books on space from the 60's.   I was impressed to see these childrens' books going for up to $200, so I memorized the titles of the four books depicted which were worth the most.   Antique shopping at the fair in Laramie in the morning, I saw a booth with only a single book for sale.   I immediately recognized Andy Astronaut, and asked my mum to borrow the money for its purchase.   I said, "I saw this book in your collectible's magazine, and it only costs $6..."   She asked if I was sure, and with doubt, handed over the money.   She kept saying that she couldn't believe it as we surveyed for deals on jadeite.   I finally began to doubt myself.   The name was easy to remember, so maybe it was one of the books that wasn't worth that much, but still, nothing in the magazine had been worth less than $15, so I was sure to make a profit.   I rushed out the the car when all purchases had been made (my mother found two rare pieces), and ferretted out the magazine.   I proudly showed the listing of $50-$75 to my mother.   I will have fun selling my dear Andy, but I mostly love the story...

My mom and I have both decided that Nebraska is our least favorite state (although Sam says that is because we haven't been to Indiana or Arkansas [more on him tomorrow]).   My mother does, though, love the clouds.   As we were driving towards Kearney, there was a bizarre looking cloud in the sky, and I asked my mother if it was rain, or just weird atmospheric conditions, and she confirmed the latter.   My mother had wanted to spend the night in North Platte, but I had a really bad feeling about it, and begged until she agreed to press on to Kearney.   So we were approaching Kearney, and my mother said she would love to be caught in a midwestern storm.   Suddenly we see that the other side of the road is very wet, and that I was correct in that the unusual look of the sky ahead meant heavy rain.   In the middle of an oldies song on the radio, the broke in and announced that there were severe thunderstorm warnings just a few miles north of Kearney.   This occurred only minutes after I had joked the the storm was raining right on Kearney, which we were rapidly barrelling towrds.   The woman on the radio said to seek sturdy shelter, and stay away from windows.   We were excited, but we ended up missing all of the rain.

The stunning view from our window is pictured to the right:

 
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