Tomorrow (Friday Nov 11th) is ‘Kiss a Veteran’ Day.  At least, that is what Ann tells me.  Having served in the Air Force and been blown up during a terrorist bombing, I will take her word for what Veteran’s day should mean.

Ann is a survivor of the 1996 Khobar Tower blast.  She had just come inside from playing volleyball during some downtime and was sitting against a wall in the apartment (where the arrow points in the picture to the right) when a  driver neared the building with a truck, jumped out, and started to walk away. The threat was recognized immediately, but not everyone could be warned in time.  The bomb exploded. Ann’s fellow volleyball players were killed, along with the terrorist. Despite being inside the apartment, the explosion left her with lingering physical issues, but never damaged her spirit.  So, find a veteran, kiss them, and thank them.  I promise to do my part.

TRIP UPDATE:

I haven’t seen a classic jeep in two days.  I think I am getting the shakes.  Fortunately, we are headed to Bob’s where I can get my fix.  The Willys sickness is unforgiving.

We spent last night in Cincinnati.  I liked the town enough that I’d like to go back some time.  The Cincinnati Art Museum was particularly nice, as was Eden Park which surrounds the museum.  While in Cincinnati, I also got lost once, which lead me to Kentucky.  After quickly turning around and then turning on the GPS, we found our way back into the city.

In addition, I managed to run only one red light the entire time driving in the city.  But, as I pleaded to Ann, after running through it and then almost missing my exit, it wasn’t my fault because the car in front of me also badly ran the light and I was just following that car.  And, in my defense, the lights were positioned oddly in the intersection, so they weren’t very obvious.

Now, if my mother read the above paragraph, she might just be getting a little nervous.  Because, only two days ago I called her and asked where her insurance card was.  She immediately realized that I had been stopped for speeding.  I escaped with just a warning, because, again in my defense, I thought I was only going 79 in a 75, but the very understanding officer clocked me at 82.  Then, the officer educated me on driving in Nebraska.  He told me that Nebraska had zero-tolerance for speeding, so vehicles traveling at any speed over 75 would be stopped.  I wanted to inform him that many states in the West have a softer stance on speeding, but thought that wound’t go over so well.  Instead, I thanked him for the information and we proceeded at 75 for the remainder of Nebraska.

Don’t worry mom, we are having a great time and the car is safe!

Yesterday we drove, through rain, winds, and fog, from North Platte, Ne, to Springfield, Il, where we spent the night.  Today we got up to more gray skies and winds.  Fortunately, our purpose there was to spend time in the Lincoln Memorial Museum, so we didn’t have to worry about the weather.  However, we found a different storm inside the museum:  classes of young teenagers running, talking and noisily exploring the museum.  Some were paying attention to the things they saw, others weren’t.  Our favorite quote of the day came from a teenage girl who thought the re-enactment of the Lincoln’s showing in the Capitol following his assassination had a coffin containing the body of Washington rather than Lincoln.  Ann and I looked at each other rolled our eyes and walked onward.

However, apart from the noise, the museum itself was creative and interesting.  The hall of voices was particularly interesting.  The exhibit was designed to show how many differing voices Lincoln faced when deciding how to deal with the Emancipation issue.

Tonight we will head for Ann’s great aunt’s house.

Below is the Lincoln Museum and Lincoln Library.

That Lincoln gets all the women ….

It is a gray, drizzly day on I-80.  We are approaching Omaha, Nebraska, where we will sell a camera lense, grab some lunch, head south on I-29 and then across on highway 36 through Missouri in hopes of reaching Springfield, Illinois tonight.  Tomorrow, Nov 9th, we will visit the Lincoln Presidential Museum, because according to Ann, it is one of the best Museums she has visited.  She also can see some potential in leveraging some of their ideas for a jeep museum. On Nov 10th we will land at Bob’s, who will put us weary travelers up for the night.  The next day we head for Tonowanda, NY.

My intrepid co-pilot spotted this horse walking across the road. She pulled quickly to the side, so I could get the shot.  You just don’t see that everyday.

I had a wonderful day with my kids today. Tomorrow brings a couple meetings and then a drive east as fast as possible in a hopeful attempt to outrun the snow.  So, expect updates tomorrow evening, connectivity premitting.