Plains states (day 4)

We left at 6am this morning to drive cross-country to California. I was abnormally awake and ungrumpy, but I think it was only because I knew dad (who was driving) needed my help with directions getting out of the maze of Big City interstates and onto the Super-Long Freeway to head west. We started out with a highly nutritious breakfast of champions:

We also were met by an incredible, gorgeous, awe-inspiring sunrise. I got one good picture from the DD parking lot and one other one while driving (looking out the driver's side window -- from the passenger side!); the colors of the sky seemed especially vibrant this morning.

Once we were out of the city, I slept until we hit Iowa.

I decided that the state of Iowa was a kind, friendly state to road-trippers, mainly because the gas was cheap...
... but also because Sonic was an available food choice that was advertised on the interstate boards. Mmmmm, Cherry Limeade!

Next up was Nebraska... which, by the way, did you know that Nebraska is the official home of Arbor Day? That was news to me.

Nebraska has been an interesting ride so far. We've seen everything from beautiful clouds that seemed to scream "quintessential cross-country road trip picture"...

... to a plane on the side of the road that was the "sign" for the Military Vehicle Museum (it's a pretty good picture for being taken while in a moving vehicle, eh?) ...

... to a crazy storm that had a "window" in between the two huge arms. We made it through the window while just experiencing a small amount of rain -- nothing like what was going on in the actual storm.

What else have we seen? Oh yeah, lots and lots and lots of CORN. Here I am, pointing to an old ear of corn on a stalk in the field that is right behind our hotel -- look how tall the corn is:

We did also see a lot of soybeans, so it wasn't all corn, which was nice.

Overall, we drove 758 miles today, and we have about the same plus 20-40 more miles to go tomorrow to get to the Utah/Nevada border. Today was exhausting, but hopefully a good night's rest (my first in a long time) will help us bounce back and be ready to hit the road hard again early tomorrow morning. Thank goodness dad wakes up easily and is happy to drive the first leg each day! We'll travel all the way through the Mountain time zone tomorrow (we're in Central right now and aim to spend tomorrow night in Pacific), so we'll gain an extra 2 hours of sleep tomorrow night, which will be nice. Off to bed I go now...