It is so depressing when i unpack at each motel/hotel/lodge/inn we go to because i know i'm going to back everything back up and hit the road again the next day. i need some down time...like some time in the hot tub or sauna. i guess i could jump in one of those right when we check into a place but i'm so tired at that point i'd just pass out and drown. Well i wouldn't drown in a sauna but something bad would happen if i passed out in one..
Today's ride was a little boring. Just endless straight road of the Lincoln highway. i didn't mind it too much until it started to rain. Rain in 55 degree weather is not very fun especially when you have crappy riding gloves that don't keep your hand dry.
After riding in rain for a bit we finally pulled into a gas station to get some cover from the rain while uncle floyd and i put one some rain gear. You meet some interesting people on the road. It seems that being on a motorcycle draws more attention than if you were traveling by car. This older guy came up to my dad and i and told use that he use to have a harley that was very small and only a few of its model were produced so if he had kept it, it would have been worth over 30k bones. But he sold it before it appreciated because his wife made him after had gotten in a pretty bad accident. He said it was so bad that he lost all his finger nails, toe nails, and a kidney. Looked like his nails grew back...
The older guy also told us that riding west of Ogallala is dangerous because there are a lot of powerful cross winds that are known to tip over 'high profiled' vehicles. Can't wait for that!
Here are the bikes covered in cold rain..
My dad and uncle floyd like to take a lot of breaks, must be an old person thing. The one stop we made today was at this tiny mini mart in the middle of nowhere. The population was probably under 300. What do these people do for fun?? Tip cows over? Count grain? i'll never know...
Oh! A different Lincoln Highway sign in Nebraska! Just had to get a picture of it. Should really start a drinking game wth these things..
We had the old brick road yesterday and today we found a bridge! The cool thing about the bridge is that it was restored by a boy scout troop! i'm a boy scout! (technically an eagle scout..) Okay, maybe that only seems interesting to me.
i guess you're wondering how we got this picture. Well, i have my fancy camera mount on my motorcycle handle bars, so i put the camera on that and pointed it at the bridge. The only problem was that the road and the bridge were a good ways apart. So i set the 10 second timer on the camera and booked it to the bridge to join uncle floyd and my dad. While running towards them i almost face planted into the muddy wet grass but saved myself with my cat-like reflexes and made it in time before the picture was taken.
me trying to entertain myself..
Around 250 miles from Columbus we finally made it to Ogallala. We found our Comfort Inn, unpacked, and headed out for dinner. Even though we went to a steak house the day before we decided to hit up another one today. The place of choice was either the Golden Spur for Front Street. We went with Front Street mostly because it go better reviews on Google.
Pretty fake rustic looking place...makes you want to be a cowboy.
Another deciding factor was that the place not only had a free museum....but a petrified rock gallery!
Mountain Oysters?!?!?
They had Mountain Oysters for a starter so we had to get that...Uncle Floyd was the first one to eat them.
Turns out that bull testicles have the same texture as oysters...just bigger...and the more you think about what you're eating, the more you want to vomit. So i did my best not to think about round hanging objects. i actually liked the mountain oysters a lot. The only problem was that they were fried and you can only eat so many or else you'll get sick from the fattening fried batter.
For dinner i decided to out do myself from the previous night and get the 16 oz ribeye with a side of grilled veggies, and mashed potatoes.The gravy was ridiculously good. White gravy is so different from what i'm use to. As for the steak, it had a little too much fat on it but i guess that's what you get from a cow raised in the states. But over all the steak was very good.
While being seated uncle floyd caught a glimpse of the dessert menu which featured a strawberry rhubarb pie. Couldn't pass that up so we each ordered that with our complimentry scoop of ice cream on top. The pie was a lot different from other rhubarbs i've had since the rubarb wasn't really cooked...pretty much tasted raw but still delicious.
Walked outside to head back to the hotel when i was greeted by this dog in the back of a pick up truck. He was a little cuter in person than the this picture but very friendly. Ugh i wish i had a dog...sniff.
On the way back to the hotel my dad wanted to take a detour to snag some pictures of some old buildings...i'd post them but they're really boring pictures, more so than the ones i've already posted. Ugh i'm so tired, peace out.
Got an okay start this morning. i slept on the sofa couch even though uncle floyd offered to take it. But i just wanted to be as far away as possible from my dad because of his snoring. The best part about the morning was that there was no on in the breakfast room. Well there was this old lady reading newspapers...
For breakfast i had 4 glasses of apple juice, a waffle (i made myself), scrambled eggs, and sausage. After breakfast i went back to the room to finish packing.
This is the sofa bed. Probably the best feature of the sofa bed is that you can feel the metal frame perfectly through the mattress. 
Going to Nebraska we still had a ways to go before we got out of Iowa so there were plenty more fields of corn to see.
It was a little chilly too, i had to break out the wind breaker/rain gear to keep warm. It was about 56 degrees and on a motorcycle it feels a little bit colder...at least on my bike because i don't ride a car like my dad and uncle floyd.
Another Lincoln Highway marker...
When we finally reached Nebraska we went through Omaha. Since we were going through Omaha my dad wanted to stop at Boys Town. An orphanage that was started by Father Flanagan 1921 that is now a non-profit organization dedicated to help childeren and junx. Apparently its really famous but i've never heard of it...but i have heard their motto before whether it was from a song or a reference to the movie.
Uncle Floyd and my dad spent a good amount of time in the visitor's center where there was a bunch of information on Lewis and Clark. The only thing i thought was interesting was the stamp ball. A ball of stamps that weighs 600 pounds and is 32 inches in diameter. Made up of over 4 million stamps...all uncle floyd had to say about that was, "someone needs a life.."
Babo sure liked the self guided tour around Boys Town. When we were getting some information at the visitor's center the girl said that she couldn't give us a guided tour because all the available guides were female and they couldn't show us around because our little entourage consisted of only men....weird.
Here is the famous statue of the two boys...not sure what the big deal is, i give my nephews and nieces piggy back rides all the time. You don't see a statue of me anywhere.
After cruizing around the campus a bit we bounced and headed to Columbus. He had a nice surprise on the way, the old lincoln highway with brick road! Okay, i didn't really care but my dad and uncle floyd were really excited about it so the took a bunch of pictures and asked me to tape us riding through it. Of course its a brick road so the camera is bouncing all over the place and you're likely to get motion sickness from just watching it...but at least i got it on tape, right?
Its sad we can't share one laptop. What's even worse is that we didn't pose for this picture...(am i balding?)
For dinner my dad suggested Applebee's because they had some 3 cent wing deal going on Thursdays but uncle floyd and i both agreed that we could always go to an Applebee's back home. Uncle floyd then found Husker Steak House. 
This place was pretty sweet. i had the 12 oz ribeye with soup, bake potato, and mixed veggies for around 16 bones. Our waitress had some crazy southern accent that was kind of random. Didn't know people talked like that out here. My dad got the chicken livers...which is gross. i keep trying to eat livers but they're just too gross. i can only get one bite down and i'm done. i guess if i was starving on an island i might be able to get two bites down but that's it.
My dad had also ordered a chef salad that was massive which i ended up eating most of. i was so full afterwards and pretty much passed out right after getting back to the room. Can't wait to go to Ogallala tomorrow!
My dad and i arrived at my uncle's around 3pm Sunday, and pretty much just unpacked and chatted a bit. When we pulled up into the driveway my uncle was working on his motorcycle. The seat was off, the mirrors gone, and wires hanging out all over the place. Pretty clear that we weren't leaving for San Francisco the next day.
On Monday i bugged eric (cousin) for a bit and watched him work on his bicycles. Must of been annoying with me hovering over his shoulder but there wasn't anything else to do. i did however install the headset into my uncles motorcycle helmet so at least i did something helpful.
Later eric took my dad and i to his bicycle shop, Chain Reaction.
i've been to the shop before but i don't think i actually went in it, just watched him lock the back door. eric, his friend andrea, and i watched a movie, Baby Mama. andrea soon left so it was just eric and i watching it...and two guys watching a girlie movie is pretty gay. But i liked it and there were some pretty funny parts so you should check it out.
For dinner uncle floyd busted out chicken on the grill and there were several other dishes such as fruit, couscous, and pasta salad. For dessert there was peach pie and ground cherry pie that my aunt made. i don't think i've ever had ground cherries before but they are delicious. Find yourself some ground cherries, make a pie, and eat it...you'll thank me later.
rachael and tex shared some pictures from their trip to Iowa. They visited the set where Field of Dreams was filmed...i was so jealous. What i was not jealous about was their trip to some crazy farm toy museum. It just looked so ridiculous. Later everyone crashed early and i did some more packing so i'd be ready to leave in the morning.
Every morning we top up our tanks. This time at the pump there was this nice sign saying, "SMILE you are being monitored by our surveillance camera..." Or something like that...what kind of gas station does that??
It was kind of a gloomy day most of the ride and it was really cold. 
We went through several towns today. The smallest town was Dix with a population of 167...pretty ridiculous. Must be some crazy fun times going on there.
Uncle Floyd and my dad were making a million stops on the way to Laramie. Taking photos of who knows what. 
Picture of Lodgepole...
Some old cabin...everyone else was taking pictures of it so i did too..
taking pictures..
i took this picture while waiting for uncle floyd and my dad to catch up with me...
i guess that old fellow at the gas station wasn't making stuff up about it being really windy west of Ogallala because there were wind barrier things along the highway. 
When we reached Wyoming there were a few sights to see. One of them was a tree growing out of a rock. Nothing special...i'm sure there are lots of trees growing out of rocks.
Our next stop was the Lincoln statue..
We where here for awhile. i didn't mind because it was freezing outside. i switched bikes with my dad i was so cold. His bike has a heated seat and grips. i need to get me one of those or at least get some better riding gear.
When we reached Laramie we checked into the Econo Lodge. The best part about this place was that our room had three queen size beds!! Not as big as my bed but sure beats a sofa bed or cot. After we brought our stuff in we headed to the Altitude Chophouse and Brewery. Yes, we like our beer.
For the main course i got the stuffed chicken breast. It was stuffed with all kinds of stuff. i'm not even quite sure what i ate but know some of it was italian sausage and shrimp.
i didn't want dessert but i couldn't let my uncle and dad eat dessert with themselves so i ordered myself the banana caramel xango...and it was pretty spectacular.
Couldn't wait to pass out in the queen. Next town is on the trip is Rock Springs, Wyoming.
