Almost there!

We are almost to Minnesota. Actually, we're almost to North Dakota, from which we'll cross into MN before long. This has been an insane trip.

First off, we left slightly later than we were planning on because it just took a lot longer to get everything done that we had to do before leaving. Then we got across the New Mexico state line, and Thak said nonchalantly that he hoped the cat hadn't gotten shut in Orren's room by accident. I was under the impression that he wouldhve checked on to find her in there before shutting the door, but no, it didn't occur to him until we were in New Mexico. So we thought about what to do for a minute, and couldn't figure out a way around going back and finding out 100% where the cat was. If she was stuck in one of the bedrooms, she'd have starved to death before we got back, so it was literally a matter of life or death. We turned around and went home. She WAS stuck in a bedroom. It was Erin's, not Orren's, but she was stuck in a bedroom no less. I'm glad we went back. Of course, that put us roughly 3 hours later than we had planned on originally. Not cool.

We drove through New Mexico, which is a GIANT pile of crap. I mean, I thought parts of that state were pretty, because people said that, but they were wrong (and from there for the most part... you can't ever take anyone's word on the place they're from as far as how good or bad it is). What's more, it's a pretty big state, and it took forever to get through, because we more or less had to go on somewhat of a diagonal path up it. Then we crossed back into north Texas, and that was beautiful. It was nothing but beef ranches, and it felt like we were in the US again. New Mexico has this creepy feel to it like the whole state is haunted by Mexican banditos and aliens (extraterrestrials... you know, Area 51, Roswell, etc). It was nice to get away from that in north Texas.

Then we crossed the Oklahoma panhandle, all 34 miles of it. It was ugly, but not horridly so. Kansas took a long time also because we had to go basically diagonal across it also. Kansas, I can safely say, is a butt ugly state. It really is. I am trying to find something good to say about Kansas, but I'm not coming up with anything. It's just a nasty place.

It was night when we crossed into Nebraska, and the first thing I noticed about it was how much snow was there. Nebraska has a ton of snow, more than I've ever seen before, and remember, I lived in Missouri for a winter once! Nebraska was very cold and gross, weather-wise, and their road signs were completely archaic. It looked like they hadn't been replaced since sometime during the Nixon administration. Nasty weather and old road signs aside, I envy every person stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha. Omaha is what I pictured for a big city before we moved to El Paso. It's pretty, and the roads are good. The houses are adorable, and while I'm sure they have poor neighborhoods there, it can't be many, because the city in general looked very middle-class. It was an adorable city. I now know why people stationed there get upset when orders come down for them to move elsewhere.

Shortly after Omaha, we crossed into Iowa, which is actually really pretty. We weren't there for terribly long before we crossed into South Dakota, which seemed 10 times as snowy as the other places. We stopped for the night there. By then, we'd been going for over 36 hours, and just really needed sleep.

We have been in South Dakota all day, and are close to the North Dakota line. South Dakota is gorgeous. It's exactly what people picture when they think of the heartland. There are farms everywhere, with red barns and concrete silos, crop fields as far as you can see, old farm houses with big front porches, and pines covered in snow. For all the wasted time in ugly states like Kansas and New Mexico, I am glad I have seen South Dakota. It is extremely beautiful, despite being inhumanely cold and windy.

We are roughly 100 miles south of Fargo, driving north on I-29. Slightly before we reach Fargo, we will cross into Minnesota, and from there, it will not be long.

I've taken a few pictures along the way, and will post them when I get home. I forgot the USB cable for my camera, so I can't download them yet. I will when I get home, though. There's even one of me with a Pamida! Pamida is me and Thak's oldest inside joke, and only people who are from the midwest (plus me) will ever understand it!!