Great Grandpa and the Orpheum Theater, Omaha (posted by Tomcat)

I called my parents from Omaha and asked them for some sites we should see. My Pop reminded me about his grandfather who emigrated from Germany in the late 1800s. After landing here in the New World, Great Grandfather made his way across the country painting frescoes on the ceilings of various churches, theaters and opera houses. Pop told me on the phone that his grandfather had painted the ceiling of the old original opera house or theater in downtown Omaha. After some searching, only one such theater remains, The Orpheum. It’s possible he painted the ceiling of this one. But it’s more likely he painted one of the opera houses that burned down 100 years ago. Either way, it’s fun to think about and now I’ve got a research project to do over the next few months.

A nice man directed us to the Orpheum and we found it easily. I desperately wanted to get in a take a peek. No go, it was closed. But I’m definitely going to come back and take a look in person on a future trip. I also heard from a local here that there was some reconstruction done at the theater a few years back and the ceiling was almost painted over, but was saved in the nick of time by the historical society. I’m anxious to learn more.

After painting the ceiling of (whichever) theater, my great grandfather settled here in Omaha for a few years. We found his house and snapped a pic.

Memories of Omaha: Lighter Fluid and the Patented Kung-Fu Grip (posted by Tomcat)

I was able to fly out to Kansas City and meet up with the fam for the weekend. I was particularly thrilled because this meant I was able to check off my personal state number 47, Missouri. We spent the afternoon exploring the town and driving through some of the old neighborhoods. Street after street of beautiful old houses. And, a highly walkable city center with lots of restored buildings, lots of feet on the street. Vibrant city. Wish we had more time.

After a couple of hours, we hit the road and headed north to Nebraska. I lived in Omaha when I was kid. Kindergarten and first grade. Some of my first memories were made here. Learning to tie my shoes. Riding my bigwheel down the street. Taking shelter in our basement from a tornado one year that nearly destroyed the whole town. Snowball fights. Snow. Lots and lots of snow. One year it snowed so much and so high that my three older brothers and I literally tunneled our way from the front door to the sidewalk. I was so mad when the sun started to melt the snow several weeks later. I hadn’t been back here to Nebraska since, so it was fun to come back.

We found my old house. Still there!

As a kid, I remember my elementary school being behind my house and down what was in my memory an enormous hill. It was really fun to see the hill as an adult and compare it now to the mighty size status it held in my head all these years. In my memory, that thing was the size of the Rocky Mountains. In reality, it’s about 12 feet high. Kid perspective. Funny.

Seeing the hill reminded me too of how younger brothers can get mixed up in dangerous fun when there are more experienced and knowledgeable big brothers around. One afternoon, two of my older brothers and I got up to no-good with a favorite toy. We quietly sneaked out back to the top of enormous hill. We took our Real American Hero GI Joe and some other poor soul, another toy from the Adventure Team. We stuck Joe in the driver’s seat of his toy jeep. We secured him into place with his patented Kung-Fu Grip holding the steering wheel. Joe’s buddy got to ride shotgun. We doused them both in some mysterious intoxicating liquid (older brothers knew all about things like lighter fluid), set Joe and his buddy on fire with a pack of matches (something else big brothers know about and where to procure) and sent the jeep right down enormous hill, blazing, flaming, smoking. Joe’s patented Kung-Fu Grip couldn’t hold him place. When the jeep crashed at the bottom of enormous hill, it’s a wonder the hill and our house didn’t catch fire.

My eyes and nose and throat burned with the devious taste of melted Joe. All kinds of questions were asked by my mom when she saw Joe’s curly crew cut hair melted off his head, along with most of his face. These were questions I proudly answered in my 5 year old stupidity. Not knowing the wrath I was innocently creating for me and the older, supposedly more responsible siblings.

To be sure, “You wait till your father gets home!” were words we never wanted to hear from our mom. But we heard them…and a lot more. I don’t remember exactly what happened, but I’m sure it wasn’t good…and probably involved “the red paddle” which lived in the kitchen drawer. Whatever my punishment, it probably paled in comparison to what my older- lighter-fluid-equipped-and-matches-wielding-brothers got.

That was the best day of my life to-date. I wouldn’t trade the memory of that flaming jeep for anything.

Arbor Day Farm

We hit this little kid festival in Kansas City -- what luck! They did face painting, balloon animals, etc. In the pouring rain, we were protected and happy! A nice woman talked to us about the trip and said we really needed to hit Nebraska City on our way to Omaha.

Always one to take advice from locals, we decided to stop. Lied Lodge is an enormous, gorgeous building with Macintosh styled lettering stenciled all over the walls. It was like the Arts and Crafts Movement meets modern REI.

I went in just to check it out and when I got back to the car I announced, "We need to hustle! We need to eat dinner and be ready for our carriage ride in just 30 minutes!" Raucous shouts of glee from the kids! Tomcat looked perplexed, "You mean we're staying here for the night?"

Nearby is the Arbor Day Farm, 260 acres of comely grounds, and a cacophony of birds on the forest trails. This is the place Arbor Day started back in the late 1800's. This Farmer Brown was way ahead of his time.

Nebraska - State #24

The kids' legs are finally scabbed over and they're no longer clawing at the multitude of grass flea bites they got running through the evening fields in Arkansas.

Nebraska welcomed us with minor head colds, but this hasn't kept us from appreciating the surprising beauty here. Tomcat, Grandma and I have all previously been to Southwest Nebraska,
which isn't anything

like this part of the state.

8 year old Peanut took these great nature shots!

Nebraska License Plate

She's Made for This (posted by Tomcat)

I love to travel. I love the thrill of going to an unknown place, the experience of the unknown. Meeting new people. Struggling with a language I know little about. Fumbling my way around an unknown downtown. I like all of this. It’s part of the adventure.

My job of recent years has had me traveling a fair bit, both domestically and internationally. So much so that I’ve had plenty of opportunities to build up an “immunity” to unpleasant necessities of travel. The fluorescent inhumanity of airport lounges, cramped coach seats on 16 hour flights to far away places. I’ve flown for work so much in the last decade that I pretty much zone out when I hit the airplane seat and am usually happily asleep before the plane taxis toward the runway for liftoff. I’ve got a rolodex of travel services cached in my head: which airports have a good shoe shine (MSP), which restaurant in NRT has the best-priced sushi, how long is the cab ride from airport such-in-such to downtown whatever. Yadda yadda. Facts of necessity more than anything.

But it’s been a long time since we took to the road. Sure, we take vacations. But it’s been ages since we took a real road trip. Just for the pleasure and adventure of it.

It’s been way too long. So long that I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to see Curlytop truly in her element. Sure, I enjoy travel. But I don’t experience nearly the way Curlytop does. Travel is who she is. It’s what drives her and what she is most passionate about in life. Travel resonates in her soul. Especially road travel. The hum of the road, like some tuning fork resonating deep inside her. Inaudible to everyone else.

I knew that. Knew all about it. It's one of the things that's always fascinated me about her. Drawn me to her. Made me fall for her ages ago. But it’s been so long since we road tripped that I almost forgot about it. This trip is reminding me. How it brings out her adventurous spirit. Her fearlessness. She is meant for the road in a way that I almost can relate to but will probably never really understand. She wants to stop everywhere, see everything, experience every place. It’s almost like a madness. She wants to talk to everyone we pass. Strangers everywhere become friends. At dinner she strikes up conversations with the people at the next table over and 10 minutes later she’s taking their picture and scribbling down the address of this blog to share our adventure with them. She’s so incredibly happy when she’s moving and traveling and exploring. It’s been too long since she’s been on the road. I’m really glad we’re doing this. I’m more glad she’s doing this. I’d almost forgotten how much a part of her travel is.

Here When I Can Be (posted by Tomcat)

I’ve only been able to join for about half of this 50 States Trip. Flying back and forth throughout the adventure. “Forth” being wherever Curlytop and the 3 kids happen to be that week. “Back” being home…aka work. Someone’s got to actually pay for this 50 States thing.

Prior to the beginning of the trip, I’d been to 44 of the 50 states. I’d made a goal to get to all 50 by the time I hit 40 years old. And the clock is ticking on that, so this idea of this road trip is certainly convenient.

Flying into Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago for the MN, WI, MI, IN, IL leg was excellent. Chicago was cemented as one of my favorite cities anywhere and I’m anxious to get back and see more.

Something that road-trippers in the US often remark on is how diverse the land is in America. I’d moved almost a dozen times by the time I was 20, so I’ve always felt like I had a pretty good sense of the great distance of this place and the variety of what one can see by traveling across that great distance. I'd not thought about that for a really long time. So, it’s so excellent to be reminded of that as part of this adventure, and for the kids to begin that awareness now. One of the goals of this trip is to continue to build these kids into travelers; help them become people who have seen interesting things and are filled with an eagerness to see more. They’ve each traveled a fair bit already for their respective ages. But it’s really fun to be see them start what I hope will be a lifelong journey and love of travel.