Another drive home to Colorado

On Saturday, July 24th, we started out early from the "Fried's B & B" in Waukesha and headed to Oak Creek to drop off some moving straps that we had borrowed from Jason W. Also wanted to see if he needed any help because of the heavy rainfall the night before. He said the family was doing ok even though they had lost power temporarily.
Basement flooding - a real problem sometimes.

We took off for Colorado about 8:30AM and our destination for the evening was somewhere around Omaha, NE. Not knowing what was planned in Omaha, we did not know if there would be rooms available. Instead of taking our "normal" route heading South and West along 43, 39 and then HWY 80 we decided to take a more scenic route for a change. This came about because of a discussion we had with the Fried's the night before as to how they came back to MKE the last time they were in Colorado. The route along 151 and 20 proved to be much more scenic and great for a diversion.

We listened to an audio book on the way (Peter did and I napped off and on. Always waking up when something important happened! Peter did fill me in). Only made stops for the bathrooms, water, ice, coffee and gas along the way. Made good time and arrived in the Omaha area around 6PM. As we began checking motels for a place to stay that night, we soon found that there were several major activities planned for the weekend and we would find it very difficult to find accommodations. We plugged in motels on our GPS in nearby locations and came up with Goodman, NE. Very small town with not much going on. We were tired, hungry and did not care at that point, so we took the room. Stopped at the local cafe for a bite to eat before hitting the bed.

Took off early on Sunday morning hoping to arrive back home in Colorado by mid afternoon. Weather was much cooler than our last trip making the drive more pleasant. We continued to listen to our book....this time I stayed awake! Arrived home by 4PM and unloaded our van. Looking for something cold to drink, we opened the freezer to get some ice only to find that the freezer/refrigerator was not working! We called management and were told that we would have to wait until Monday to check on a repair. Luckily we still had our other freezer stored in the garage, so we plugged that in and put our foodstuffs in there. Better freezing it than having it spoil I guess!

Monday came with a repairman. But we were told that he did not service our brand, we would have to get service from Sears. Another call to management told us that we would have to wait until Thursday afternoon to get it repaired. We were not happy to say the least, and after another call we were told that they could come out on Tuesday morning. That they did! And now we have a working refrigerator/freezer. Headed out to the store to replenish our larder. So much fun in 2 days!

Arrival in Omaha

It's Wednesday. And we are in Omaha.
Began the day very early at the home of Paul and Maris Fried. We have been staying with them in Menomonee Falls since they picked us up at the airport in MKE last Thursday morning. It is so wonderful having friends that we can count on. Thanks again guys for your great hospitality, and we'll see you in one week. Again at the airport. Remember, you are always welcome at our new abode in Fort Collins.

So the day began early. We drove to the Penske Truck Rental store on Hwy 100 & North Ave. to pick up our 26' truck. Peter drove the truck and the 3 of us drove in the van to the storage unit on Hwy 100 and Layton. By 8AM the movers that we had hired showed up. Began by emptying the unit out and putting everything on the roadway to see how we could load the truck. Little things were sorted through and put into boxes. The 2 movers were lacking in experience for moving and really did not know how to make the best use out of the space that was available. So again, Peter had to go into the truck and rearrange all sorts of things in order to make room for everything. We did get everything in that we needed and only had to leave behind a propane tank for the grill with Paul & Maris. We will pick that up next time. (One week from now, believe it or not!)

We had it all packed, said our good byes and headed out on the road by 10AM. We were glad to have started early as it was going to be a very hot day.
Nothing exciting on the road for the first several hours. We stopped at a rest area and took a much needed nap about 2:30 and then hit the road again. The only stops we made were for gasoline and some chicken nuggets at McDonald's.
About 7PM we were about 90 minutes outside of Omaha where we planned on staying and a terrific storm started. Rain came down in buckets. Lightening all around. We slowed to about 35 mph with our flashers on. Some truckers were pulled over. But we made it. And just before getting to Omaha, the sun came out and we saw 2 great rainbows! Is that an omen or what?

Heading to bed. Up again at 5 tomorrow morning and then sleeping in our own bed tomorrow nite. Hurray!