Me and the Trucks

greetings from laramie, wyoming. eeks. i've been on the road for about four
hours so far today. i said goodbye to nebraska in a pretty incredible way. it
was the most amazing thing i've ever seen.

when i left at 7, it was still really really dark and VERY foggy. scary foggy.
i camped out behind a truck, put in American Beauty and just hoped it would
burn off soon. i got off to get gas at a tiny little town called Chappell.
tiny and weird. i pulled into a gas station, filled up and went in to get
coffee and pee. a crowd of norman's were in there drinking coffee looking at
me in my ripped up shorts and elmo shirt like i was an alien. i asked if they
thought the fog would burn off soon and they just shook their heads. oy.

so i get back on the highway, find another truck and just camp out behind it.
i can see only about 600 feet ahead. and i felt like i was in a tunnel. i
hate driving in fog. the sun was coming up behind and it was coloring my fog
tunnel in really weird ways. one minute it would be blue, the next it was
orange. so creepy.

all of a sudden, and i mean ALL OF A SUDDEN, like someone had flipped a switch,
i was OUT OF IT. and it was crystal clear, beautiful Nebraska. just
beautiful. as far as i could see was just highway and land. rolling little
hills. green and brown. blue sky with some sprinkling of clouds. it really
was incredible. probably the most beautiful and shocking thing i've ever seen.
i kept thinking to myself "everyone must do this drive at least once in their
lives".

crossing into wyoming was pretty cool too. how quickly the landscape changes.
and i could see mountains. the colors of the leaves on the trees were changing
and it was all just so overwhelming and beautiful! and there was some snow on
the ground.

finding internet was difficult, but melissa suggested i get off in laramie and give it a shot. i filled up with gas and asked nora if she knew where i could find internet. when she said "find what?" i knew i was in trouble. i decided to just check out the town and found the coolest coffee/internet place called The Grounds. it's awesome and perfect and it's where i am now.

i am seriously loving this trip. seeing the country this way and feeling so lucky to be able to do it. so lucky! and knowing what is waiting for me when i reach my destination gives me so much energy to keep going. seriously, four hours felt like NOTHING.

Dorothy tells me i have about 300 miles to Salt Lake where i will stay for the night. i'll try and post a couple of pics from yesterday. i tried this morning, but blogger wouldn't take them. hmpf.
hope you all are doing well. can't wait to tell you more when i get to utah.
i miss you!!neils