Betting High!
On this wonderful Memorial weekend, my husband and I traveled to the wilds of Nebraska to attend a friend's wedding. We couldn't afford to fly and our car is in decent running order so we drove up with a couple friend of ours. It was 17 hours of fun. We saw farmland, grazing land and wait...more farmland. It was actually quite beautiful but the vast emptiness was making me a little anxious.
We finally arrived at Ponca and collapsed into a deep sleep. The hotel was booked solid for the wedding and Memorial weekend. When we finally woke up the whole town had closed down around 5pm. So, we had to go to next largest town, Sioux City, to eat some grub and to buy me a sweater since the temperature was 20 degrees cooler than it was in Texas. At the Walgreens they sold not only sweaters but Girl & Boy Scout oufits and fake funeral arrangement flowers, too. I noticed that besides the temp difference, the sun set almost at 10 o'clock at night. They have some long days up there.
The next day before the wedding, we drove around visiting small towns, eating at local cafes and drinking at a winery. I have never tasted Elderberry wine before but I am in love with that stuff after one sip. Also, I've never gambled before and casinos are everywhere as soon as you leave Texas. So, I decided to have my first experience in a convenient store casino in Vermillion, South Dakota. I bet one dollar, played some joker poker, won, then cashed out. Overall, I netted 3 bucks. Not to bad for a newbie. I am posing with my cash ticket in the pix.
The wedding was an intimate affair. The groom's side, which I've noticed is usually the smaller crowd, was representing and was as big as the bride's if not bigger. I tried to listen for the flat Midwestern accent but I couldn't hear it but I noticed that I start dragging out my words when I spoke and I could hear my Texas accent. Weird, I've never noticed it before but now that I am back in Texas it has disappeared. The drive back was long because we kept missing our turn, so we visited quite a number of states, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Missouri. I am glad to be back in Texas. Overall, the drive was long, the trip short but I had a great time.
P.S. I just noticed this is the second time that I have posed in a convenient store in my postings. I think I might have to make it a habit when I visit a new town to take a pix of me in a store.
posted by Angelique at 9:21 AM
4 Comments:
Wow, that's a lot of driving! Glad you guys had fun. :-) I remember driving through Kansas when I lived in Texas - the big bugs freaked me out. :-P
Notta, yep, my bad sense of direction got us a little lost but thank God our friends had an atlas. Kansas was mind numbingly blank but hilly and Oklahoma was full of wheat fields. Nebraska was full of pasture and mosquitos. They ate me up but I am so glad to be home. That ride was way too long.
I lived in a wooded area for so long I don't think I could EVER live on the prairie! Besides, it seems like it's always windy on the prairie, and I HATE wind!
tshsmom, I actually liked it. The temp was cooler and the air was drier. I could almost imagine staying except that it snows in the winter and I am not a big fan of the snow. The sad part was that some parts of Nebraska (and I read it on some signs) were once woods that were cleared for farmland. You can see hints here and there of the woodland that it once was. It was windy but not too much more like a pleasant breeze. Overall, I would visit again but I think I would fly next time.
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