Ahh, the weird things that keep you awake at night when you’re sick.
We spent Sunday planning a summer road trip, and as I tried to fall asleep that night, I had feelings of panic about being away from the cats for so long (they’ll be fine) and puzzling thoughts like “have I ever been to Nebraska?”
Really, Kim? You are up at night wondering if you’ve been to Nebraska*?!
Yes, I am. And it came to me – I have been there! We flew to Omaha, Nebraska once, but not on purpose. And it doesn’t count as going to the state since we landed there and quickly left to drive through Iowa to Missouri. I looked through here to find details about that fun adventure and was surprised I never shared the story**!
In April of 2011 we had a Friday 8:30 pm flight out of Chicago to Kansas City. We were going for a 10:30 am burial on Saturday, and for a race that Sunday. Our flight to Kansas City was canceled, and we couldn’t get on another one until the next morning. We’d miss the burial, which was not an option, as it was the whole purpose for the trip.
One of the few photos I have from that trip
So we took a 10:14 pm flight to Omaha, got a rental car, and drove two hours and forty minutes to Kansas City, arriving at 4:30 in the morning. We took short naps, went to the burial, went back to Steven’s dad’s house, and went back to bed. What fun guests, right?
I can still remember how horrible I felt all day, but the important part is that we made it.
Hopefully our next Nebraska encounter is on better terms.
And hopefully I don’t spend any more sleepy time thinking about Nebraska!
*Let’s say as an adult. I may have driven through there with family as a child.
**I think I was trying not to complain about the whole travel situation because this crap happens to everyone, and it was such a somber reason we were visiting – trying to keep perspective and all that. But finding the information about that fiasco now was interesting. It happened before I used google suite so I didn’t have any calendar details. Luckily, I had an ongoing email chain with two girlfriends in yahoo and had written to them about it! That’s a good reminder not to go delete old emails, which I have been doing lately…
Ooooh, that’s SO on the edge of counting if you were there or not! I think if you leave the airport, it counts, regardless of whether you do anything in the state or not after leaving the airport. But Omaha is literally right on the border! And I would guess that you crossed the Missouri River right away and drove through Iowa/Missouri to get to Kansas City? “Kinda” really does seem like the best way to describe your time in Nebraska as an adult!
I never thought about it that way – it counts if you leave the airport – makes sense! Yeah, we did cross the river right away in to Iowa! If we do this road trip we’ll drive across the entire state so that will count! Ha!
Now, I can’t remember if I’ve been to Nebraska either! I could totally relate to weird night-time thoughts that keep you up. The other night, I couldn’t fall asleep because I kept thinking “Where is my ring?” (I take it off when I sleep.) Even though I always put it in the same place, I still got up and checked because it was keeping me up. (???)
You’ll have to go back to Nebraska for vegan donuts, so ideally, that trip is better than your first one.
Isn’t that stuff so weird? I would have to get out of bed to find my ring too!
Man, I would be so surprised if they had vegan donuts anywhere on the route we are taking. That would be awesome though!