Mission 35

We are most definitely showing our age.  After leaving Lincoln at 2:00 pm yesterday we started talking about how far and how long to drive since we got to leave a whole day earlier than planned.

We have to admit though, that after the first 15 minutes, we were totally set and at ease with many things.  Mostly the court date and any necessary appearances needed by Bill concerning the assault and robbery he had to endure last November.  The prosecuting attorney called him while we were still within city limits and updated us on the case - which was ALL good.  No appearances needed, the assailant plead out to 5 years on two counts.  So SMOOTH sailing the rest of the week.

But back to the 'old' thing, when we hit GI town Bill looked at the time and he stated we were 20 minutes ahead of schedule.  WHAT SCHEDULE, you goof!!!!  I laughed so hard.  This vacation is not about schedules, time, or anything like that.  We live every day dealing with time, schedules, deadlines..... but not this week.  It was a good checkpoint for us both - to relax, not worry, and enjoy.

So back to the beginning of the story....  I suggested as we pulled out of the driveway that we make it a Mission 35 trip.  Anything we see with a 35 on it we would photograph, notate or talk about.  At our initial gas up before leaving town, yep, you guessed it.....

Our first "35"!!!!  Just knew we were destined for "35" success!

As we neared Kearney and the magnificent archway, we were greeted by a group of hawks - 9 of them to be exact.  Yet another showing of God's blessings.

Pull off the Kearney exit, and immediately we were like two little kids.  "We have to see this, and this, and this, and go here and here and here!"  Kearney was our first home as a married couple.  So many memories in Kearney town.   One goal was to find the tiki bar "The Elephant's Eye" which was in the Holiday Inn back in our day.  We found the building, but it wasn't a Holiday Inn any longer, but it still had the tiki bar and huge pool.  So yeah, sign us in and take our AARP card!! HA On a side note, if you are ever in Kearney, Nebraska, give the Ramada Inn a try - it is fantabulous and the staff is great.  We are all about the people and these people are great.

After taking care of the necessities, off we go again to drive around the big city.  First mission:  find our original apartment.  Without much effort, the car managed to find it with no problem, even though Bill was totally lost.  No more drive-in theater in our back yard that would always tell us we were almost home.  What we found, though, was sad.  The measure of time took it's toll on the apartment house.

The overgrown bushes, trees and grass, along with the sad sloping of the porch roof only solidified the years we've been gone from here.  We couldn't even tell if people lived here any longer and if I had had my wits about me, we should have rang the doorbell to see.  I think we were just dumbstruck at its sadness.  But that was one AWESOME upstairs apartment and still remember Bill's dad helping us move in and only slightly complaining about taking my piano up a flight of stairs.  At $160 rent a month, we were blessed.

As time went on though, we wanted to start a family.  So we needed more than a one bedroom walk up.  And in 1977, living in a trailer park was a-okay and totally wonderful!  So our next stop was off to the other side of town to R-Villa Trailer Court, #28.

We honestly could NOT believe that this trailer home was STILL there and lived in after 35 years!!!  This is where we took in our first dog, Woofer #1.  She was a great dog and I can still see her sticking her nose out that front screen door.  This is also the home where we welcomed our first baby, Season.  Oh, the stories we had to tell for the next hour about this home.  Here is where we were now called "a family".

More driving around was called for.  Bob's was now SUPER Bob's, the music store had moved and grown, Central Avenue was simply divine to drive 5 mph down and have people wonder what was wrong with us.  Hey, we're on VACA - get over it.  :)

On the way back to the hotel, we wanted to make one actual stop - and that was at the Big Apple.  The only place other than Shakey's pizza (which isn't there anymore) we would go entertain ourselves during our first pregnancy.  Video games were just at the Pac Man stage, and bowling was huge.  It was a great weekend haunt for us.  But it also grew!  Amazing sports bar that not only had pool tables, but ping pong, Keno, state of the art video games and great service!  We kicked back for a beer and one game of Keno.  Talked to the assistant manager a little and of course, handed him my business card JUST in case he would ever have vinyl banners to unload.

Back to the hotel, and the Elephant's Eye Tiki Bar.  An evening of unbelievable fun, service, people and these photos to share........

The evening started out meeting Dennis and Sue from Colorado, Jamie and Jenny from Iowa, 3 architects from our own town Lincoln, and ALL THESE PEOPLE who stepped up to make our 35th anniversary even more memorable!!!  Take a look at this.......

Dennis is a mining engineer and between him and the 3 from Lincoln (playing with straws to design the number 35 before they went to task) they had this rolling down below the tiki bar.  And then a wedding group came in and these kids did the same....  but they didn't have to think about it as long as us old codgers.  They had their formation done in about 2 minutes.  Oh, to be young again.......... nah.

We definitely had many blessings on our first unplanned and unexpected day of vacation.

Now it's time to get moving and get further west.....................  we'll keep you posted.  :)

Champagne Dreams on a Beer Budget

Have you ever experienced a time when you know you're reaching a milestone and want to celebrate it like there was no tomorrow, and then realizing that your champagne dreams just don't add up to your beer checking account?

Bill and I have been trying to figure out how to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary this coming August. We've thought of re-visiting our honeymoon trip, trying to see everything we saw then. But that was a long time ago when we had more energy than we knew what to do with. So that idea sat on the stove for a month or so cooking and stewing. But the other night, Bill looked at me and said, "If I could, I would take you to Paris for our anniversary." WHAT? We are blessed to be able to afford gas to drive to and from work, but Paris? But it was exactly the spark that was needed to the following conversation that led to us deciding on a trip that was just screaming our names: Nebraska. The state we were born and raised. The state we love, and we really wanted to see more of it and enjoy more of its history, quirkiness, and of course its beauty. Oh, yes, Nebraska is beautiful - it's "The Good Life".



Visit Nebraska was a good starting place to plan. We are also going to get our Nebraska Passport to collect points on our trip to redeem for prizes and get into a drawing for a grand prize in October.

So over the next three months, I will try and let my blog friends know what's in the works, the little side trips taken before the BIG trip happens in August. I want you all to enjoy Nebraska and it's offerings right along with us.

So our champagne dream (of Paris) on a beer budget (our own back yard) will be coming to you very soon - so keep watch and ride along with us for some history, beauty, and of course humor for those of you who know us. :)