Day Four (4/1/03)
Mostly a family day in Omaha. We're staying with Val's folks in her family home. Omaha is having unbelievably nice weather...86° or so. That's like 30 degrees above seasonal norms here, and it's beautiful. It's supposed to get down to 30° this weekend.
We ran around looking for some stores that Val wanted to shop at that moved and a bike store for me. We really brought the bikes along for the return trip through the southwest, but I figured there has to be something around here. We didn't get around to looking for the bike shop until it was too late, so it would have to wait. We got plenty of bargain shopping done at TJ Maxx and Marshalls, though. (You can tell I was excited by all of that, I'm sure. ;)
We spent the evening at home with the parents.
Day Five (4/2/03)
More of the same as yesterday, but we got to the bike shop. A perusal of the phone book turned up a bike shop selling bikes of the kind that would seem to indicate a mountain bike slant, and I was right. A guy in the shop pointed us to some local stuff that isn't far at all, so we'll probably give that a shot tomorrow. Wow, who'd have thought we'd get a ride in Nebraska of all places, since there aren't any mountains? We spent some more family time, and had a nice walk around Val's old neighborhood.
We had dinner at this place that was supposed to be Warren Buffett's favorite spot in Omaha (he's from here). I had a Prime Rib that was the thickest cut of meat I'd ever had, but it was done a little too well for me to call it the best I'd ever had, despite the obvious high quality of the meat. Besides, they had to compete with those ribs from the other night. Man, eating like this makes me certainly need to start riding. ;)
Met up with Val's sister Kristin and her husband Khalid for dessert and some conversation. I met them both last time I was here; I've got one sister (sort of estranged), who I've yet to meet. I think I've got the rest of the family checked off.
The plan for the next few days is mostly stuff for the wedding that we're here for in the first place. Tomorrow (after we try and slip in a ride), we're heading for Des Moines, IA, where the wedding will be. Val's attending a bachelorette party and I'll have to find something interesting to do while that goes on. Luckily I'll have the car and my laptop, so I should be able to keep entertained, even in Des Moines. ;)
We've driven a lot of states so far: CA, NV, UT, WY, SD, NE, and IA. NE and IA are the only ones that we haven't completely crossed, but we'll have spent more time in them than the others. We're still deciding what we're exactly going to do on the way back, but it's likely that some southwest Colorado is in the future (great riding down there...I'm dying to see Fruita if we can) and hopefully a little Moab, UT. If we come that way, we'll either take the normal (IA -> NV -> CA) route home, or maybe a southerly route through AZ (and maybe a quick ride there too!) before hitting home. I'm having a great time so far. We'd probably get more done, but Val's got a lot of wedding stuff since she's in it: bachelorette party tomorrow, rehearsal dinner on Fri., wedding proper of Saturday. We'll see Val's grandma in Fall City (southeast NE) on Sun., and probably get on the road again on Mon.