A quick trip, but some terrible news

Another crashed truck on I-80

Driving across the middle part of Nebraska is a little like driving on a pool table. Flat doesn’t really describe it, but it has its own beauty.

It appears that the same storm that caused havoc in Wyoming and Utah caused a similar mess in Nebraska as we saw more evidence of cars and truck off the roadway, but it wasn’t from the beautiful weather we had today.

Today was a relatively easy drive and everything went well.

We passed under one of the more curious highway monuments that I have seen today. Mind you, it’s not the first time we have passed under it, but it is always impressive.

The Great Platte River Road Archway

The Great Platte River Road Archway is a monument to the pioneers who traveled through Ft. Kearny on their great adventure west. Someday we’ll take a little time and pay a visit to the museum and other exhibits there.

For today, we were simply about making tracks and getting closer to home. My brother-in-law Philip will be glad to know that we spent the night in the city of his alma mater, Iowa City, the home of the University of Iowa.

We had dinner at the Texas Roadhouse and sat under a nice picture of Herky, the Hawk, the great mascot of the University’s sports teams.

Whee, it's Iowa

We crossed into Iowa about 1 p.m. and spent much of the afternoon listening again to Classic Radio programs.

Favorite old radio show line of the day came from a Johnny Dollar episode.

A suspect pleading his innocence to a murder implored to the private detective: “I didn’t kill her, I loved her.” To which Johnny Dollar said: “That’s not an alibi, that’s a motive!”

Love those old radio lines.

Joan also got a chance to go “whee” again as we crossed over the Iowa state line. My daughter-in-law will be proud that she has passed this tradition onto Joan.

Strange artwork entering Iowa

We also spotted a strange sculpture as we entered Iowa from Nebraska. The artwork, done by artist Albert Paley, is supposed to represent the transformation of society and culture. If you are interested you can read more about them at this link.

On Monday while driving through Wyoming we passed by Curt Gowdy State Recreation Area. I was curious enough to look up why a sportscaster had a State park named after him tonight.

Turns out Curt Gowdy was a native of Wyoming, a high school basketball standout and a very accomplished fisherman and hunter. The State, in honor of his accomplishments named the area after him back in the early 1970s. Someday we’ll have to stop there as well.

While passing through Omaha today I thought of my stepmother’s nearby hometown of Blair, Nebraska.

Nice hotel in North Platte, Nebraska

Someday we’ll stop there so I can show Joan the little city that we visited when I was a youngster. Blair was such a cultural shock for kid from Los Angeles that it is hard for me to describe how I felt when I first visited there.

People didn’t lock their doors and there were no fences between the houses. That was a big enough shock for a kid from Southern California where everyone locked the doors and everyone had fences.

I should also say that the hotel we stayed at last night, the Oak Tree Inn in North Platte was a very fine hotel for a very little money. If you happen to be passing through North Platte (and who doesn't) it would be worth the money if you are looking for a decent place to stay.

I did receive some terrible news through the Internet today, however. A very close friend, Angelia Lewis, died early this morning at her home in Flint. Apparently she had been ill, but kept the sickness to a very small group of family and friends.

Angelia was perhaps one of the very nicest people I ever knew. There wasn’t a mean bone in her body and she was always one to look on the bright side of everything. In a bad moment in the newsroom she perhaps saved my career by keeping me from doing something I would have regretted.

I’m not going into details here, but a phone call from her desk to mine and a reminder of what was important in life at a very critical time kept me from an act that certainly would have ended my newspaper career. I was ever grateful to her for that and have told her so many, many times.

Hearing that she is gone was very hard to bear today. May she rest in peace and may her family know that her memory is a cherished one to many, many people.

Tomorrow we'll be in North Aurora, Illinois with my sister and brother-in-law for a couple days. Then home.

Time out: 9:02 a.m.

Mileage out: 78027

Time in: 4:53 p.m.

Mileage in: 78557