Day 6, 7, & 8

Friday we drove from Omaha to Chicago. Ended up eating dinner and crashing at my cousin's place, hospitality was much appreciated :)
Saturday, had some Chicago pizza. Did not try the deep dish (I know, I know, it's the whole point of Chicago style pizza) but had their thin crust, which was still pretty damn thick. What was really delicious was the french bread with 3 kinds of melted cheeses on it with marinara dipping sauce. Om nom nom. I think I filled up on that more than anything and that's why had so little of my pizza. Anywho, we headed out to Cleveland, OH. Nothing much special other than our Mexican food dinner was also quite awesome.
And then, Sunday came. Driving through Pennsylvania, I forgot how goddamn GREEN everything is. I do really miss it. Kind of makes me feel like I want to don a pair of fairy wings and go prancing/frolicking in the woods causing mischief. They may not be the Sierras, but the Appalachians are still pretty awesome. It's a different kind of mountain range, more rolling and fluffy (weird description I know, but I hope you'll get what I mean with the pictures).
And I also forgot how much nothing there is in Penn. Mostly woods, the occasional farm, some horses and cows. There is also this huge SCA (medieval camping, remember?) event that happens there, and is actually going on right now, and I kept hoping maybe I would see signs for it or something, but I didn't. Boo.
Ok, here are the pictures:

 Just outside downtown Omaha. This dude who worked at the B&B in Boulder said he'd driven to Omaha a few times and told us about the painted silos, in his own words "I guess they had nothing else better to do?"

 What Cheer? Who's Cheer? Why Cheer? and so on

 So yeh, this is new- offering wireless internet at a rest stop. Color me surprised.

 Something was on fire.

 ...
That's really all I can think of in reaction to that name.

 So, actually kind of awesome. I think there were about 10 parachuters (2 had landed and 8 were still in the air)

 Dude, nowhere is normal. No. Where.

 Do you see what I mean by rolling and fluffy?

 What with the trees all growing to nearly the same height, I realize it's probably for power lines or something, but it really looks like someone took clippers and accidentally used the wrong length setting and shaved a strip right down the center.

 Pardon the streaked bug guts on the shield

I thought it was kind of a cool bridge.
And so wraps up my trip back to the east coast. Will post more pictures on facebook. Eventually.

Day 5

Last night had Ilana and I sleeping in this awesome B&B. The breakfast was amazing. A little fresh fruit to start with. Yogurt with some raspberry sauce thing they make, and home made granola. Then scrambled eggs and toast. All delicious. And organic, environmentally friendly, etc.
We drove from Boulder to Omaha, NE today. Good god it really is just clouds, sky, and corn fields. Since today was kind of boring, I'll post some pictures from the last couple of days.

I was impressed with downtown Omaha though. We went to this spot called the Old Marketplace. Many really nice restaurants, art galleries, boutiques. Kind of surprising considering the area surrounding it. Picture was a very cute Cinderella looking carriage. It had little lights on it and everything.

 I'm not quite sure what those pillars are from, whether they're man-made or just happen to be there by awesome happenstance.

 Some random graffiti on a boulder

 This ridge was called the Devil's Backbone. Had to take a photo.

 Something about the rock formation to the left makes me feel like it's giving me the finger. Like, "Fuck you! I hope you enjoy the S curves and crash into the river, sucker!"

 ....said river.

 Cheeky chipmunk mentioned in the previous post. It was weird, there were these tiny skinny twitchy chipmunks, and then these fat ones. Although, this one is a little trimmer.

 Water was soooo cold but refreshing after the hike.

 It's so green!

 This chipmunk- I narrated him. He kept approaching and bobbing his head and standing up, and skittering back and forth like an overexcited puppy so I said "Oo! Oo! Nuts?? Do you have nuts? Gimme! Want!"

 Dick joke

 Boob joke
They never get old.

 This is not a statute.

 I've seen cars before with the "clean me." Never one with :( before.

 Weird bales of hay formations.

 The corn, clouds, and sky.

Random dinosaur
Tomorrow- Chicago!

Day 2, 3, & 4

Will try not to make this too long.
So, Day 2 on Monday we drove from Salt Lake City to Moraine Campground just outside Estes Park, CO.

 Flat but pretty scenery

Yes, I'm 5 and bug guts on my car fender is amusing

Yes please?
Following are just outside the park

 

We got there early evening. After setting up camp on our way back into town to get some groceries, there was some serious rainbow action.

The rainbow on the left was full across the valley. The one to the right is a little faint, but it's there. Really want to say 'full-on double rainbow all the way across the sky' but I can't.
Monday night we started prepping for dinner kinda late. Starting the fire was kind of a task. It was windy. The lady who sold us the firewood was all "it's bone dry, you don't need kindling." Bullshit. We totally needed kindling. I finally got it after an hour. It was kind of a Cast Away moment, all Tom Hanks "Fire! I made fire!"
Amazing hot dogs, corn and s'mores later, we were satisfied.

Hiking Day 1. Classy, no? (and the hiking boots totally came off shortly. Ended up in my teva hiking sandals).

 Thank you Ginger for the coming from underneath shot idea. Makes for awesome photos.

View at the top. Pretty lake. Adolescent ducks kept approaching. Also cheeky chipmunks. I could pet one if I so chose they got so close.Tuesday night fire starting was easier- got kindling, and lighter fluid. Ilana had chicken/veggie kabobs while I had a piece of tilapia. So good.
We had planned to go on a hike that was a little longer than the first and a little higher in elevation, but me with the lack of physical activity, was so not able to. So, instead we went on a 2 hour horseback ride.

Then we took a shuttle to a short hike, about an hour round trip.

We had already packed up our campsite, so after lunch we made our way to Boulder, CO. This was dinner:

I find the heart rice to be amusing. It's sesame tofu. Pretty good.
Then, we walked around a little and came onto this most awesome downtown area. There was a beer garden, lots of shops. An 80s band:

And then a group of break dancing boys (and one girl). Some of their moves:

All in all, a great few days. Camping was awesome, and we lucked out with the weather. It always started raining after we finished whatever it was that needed accomplishing. Have to say though, gonna enjoy the soft bed. And the shower after we first checked in, was sooooooo needed.