New Friends in Omaha

Welcome to day 5 of our trip!!!! 

We woke up this morning in Fort Morgan, Colorado at the wonderful home of Arlene and Harry Weimer.  Teej and I were so blessed to have breakfast on the table and ready for us to eat right as we walked up the stairs. Breakfast was greek yogurt, fresh strawberries and blackberries, and granola. MY IDEAL BREAKFAST! We all chatted for a while and then got up stuff packed up and began our next road adventure to Omaha, Nebraska.

The ride to Omaha was pretty uneventful but there were a couple things that caught our attention along the way. The first and most obvious thing was the actual scenery of Nebraska. Now, this may be stereotypical of me but I had always had the assumption that Nebraska was completely flat and full of farmland and cow poop. Well, in the area that we drove through that was definitely not the case at all. It was surprisingly full of green, luscious TREES as well as the Platte River that seemed to flow alongside the freeway for the majority of the ride. However, my initial idea of Nebraska being a flat state was pretty accurate but I think having the trees and river present made up for the terrain. 

The other maybe not so obvious thing about the state which we liked was the GAS PRICES. Most of you who are reading this I think are from Oregon and you all know how expensive the gas prices are right now. I mean I think before Teej and I left the gas prices were at a whopping $4.17 or something ridiculous like that. Well, I would like to say that today we paid a glorious $3.37 per gallon for gas. In fact, I think there has only been one time where we have paid over $4 a gallon for gas. We have either been really fortunate or Oregon prices are just awful. I guess it could be a little of both. :) Anyway, we couldn't believe it today when we saw the gas was at such a low number. We filled up for $40 and couldn't have been more thrilled! 

We stopped for lunch at this beautiful rest area in Nebraska that had horses roaming in the background. I had never seen horses in a rest area before so I thought that was pretty awesome. The only down side to the lunch stop was when I decided to bite my tongue so hard trying to eat an apple that it started to bleed. Teej had to rush to the car to grab me a paper towel so I could try and stop the bleeding. I'm not gonna lie, it was extremely painful and I may have shed a tear or two. haha... However, looking back on it now it was probably pretty comical to watch from the distance. :) 

As we approached Omaha we were presently surprised by how large and populated the city was. We were so blessed to be able to stay with some family friends Adam and Jamie, who are currently living in Omaha. Teej has golfed with Adam for a long time when they were both living in Salem so it was a great way for them to reconnect. His wife Jamie is wonderful and enrolled in the Creighton, Nebraska medical school here. We arrived at their cute little townhouse near Downtown Omaha at around 5:30pm. They were so welcoming and graciously allowed us to crash in their basement for the evening. Oh, and they have the cutest dog on the planet named Zoe. They said she is a Lab/Chow mix so she has a lab body but has a LOT of hair. :) Such a great and well mannered dog. Teej secretly wanted to take her home, I think. 

We chatted for a while in their apartment and then they took us to Downtown Omaha for dinner. We went to this fun place called Upstream Brewing Company. They served great beer and Omaha steaks as well as burgers, pasta, etc. We started out on the deck because it was a beautiful night but I mistakenly forgot my coat (whoops) and got cold so we had to move inside. We had a great time chatting about life and realizing how similar we all were, which made it for a fun evening. We took a little tour of the Old Market, which is a cute area downtown with lots of shops and restaurants and even a carriage that you could ride in. It looked just like the one from Cinderella. Maybe that was their inspiration when they made it but I don't know. 

After the tour we headed over to this ice cream shop that Adam recommended. Apparently Adam has a sweet tooth (just like me) so he insisted on taking us there after dinner. It was called Ted and Wally's ice cream shop. It is a local place that makes their own ice cream from scratch. Adam and Jamie said that it was always busy. I wasn't sure if I believed them because it was a Sunday night at like 8:30pm but they were SO RIGHT. It was packed. People were lined up outside the door from the time we walked in to the time we left. It was amazing though so I can see why there was a line. I got a 2 scoop sundae that had a chocolate and white chocolate mix and a peanut butter and chocolate flavor that was topped with hot fudge and whip cream. Darcy, you would have loved this. :) Teej got a more fruity one with strawberry and vanilla ice cream with pineapple topping and whipped cream. His was good too but I think mine was better haha :) 

We then headed back to their townhouse and watched the latest episode of Modern Family. They are such fun people to be around and I thought we all got along so well. Jamie and I talked a lot about her medical school and I compared it a lot to Grey's Anatomy while Adam and Teej talked constantly about golf. It was a good time. 

Overall, we were extremely impressed with Nebraska and Omaha especially. We loved how green the landscape was as well as how large the city was. It was nothing like we had expected... in a good day! 

Tomorrow? Off to Chicago. Cannot be more excited about that. We are staying with some lovely people and we can't wait to explore the area. 

For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see. Psalm 36:9