Day 15 part 2: The Erin Saga

Today Erin went to Nebraska.

Turns out that the above sentence is a lot more exciting than it sounds.

So the thing about Nebraska is that there is a very large amount of nothing in it. The only reason Erin's family is going there in the first place is because her brother and his wife are graduating from fancy medical school... which is in Nebraska for some reason.

Mom and Dad wanted to fly out, but 13-year-old niece, Jordan, swore upon her life that she would throw an apocalyptic teenage temper tantrum if Erin was not allowed to come as well (somehow J-bob has got it in her head that Erin is the raddest thing on two legs... Erin is not sure how this happened, because last time she checked, she was really really lame.) That being the case, they drove instead.

The day was long. There were cows. Lots of cows.
The midwest is flat. Erin worries that the lack of mountains will cause her to be sucked out into the emptiness to float back and forth across the plains in an eternal vacuum of pointlessness.

At about 6 PM some guy in a car with a dog pulled level with them and started shouting incomprehensibly and wildly gesticulating. He looked absolutely livid. Erin, Mom, and Dad speculated for a long time about what he could have been ranting about... Turns out one of their tires was low on air. After a gas station stop in West Podunkington, they passed a fast food sign that said "Buy any drink and get a free straw." Dad would not stop. Erin did not get a straw.

The real excitement didn't happen until it got dark. Dad hit a raccoon going a good 85 mph on the highway. About five minutes later the engine started to sputter and the temperature gauge went nuts. They pulled off the highway and ended up in East Nowhere where a random shirtless man stopped to help and told them that their radiator had a huge crack in it. Raccoons, man... They'll mess you up good.

Not as though Erin was put off by any of these events. She likes to take things in stride, and so spent the evening giggling like a loon at the whole situation. Also, she got to ride to the hotel in a police car. It was so totally rad and she even almost got to ride in the cage.

Now the family is chilling at a Days Inn, and will rent a car and continue their journey tomorrow. Erin is far more cheerful than anybody should be in her position. Though she does worry that Mom and Dad might be feeling stressed out. She's trying to help them laugh it off too. Dumb car adventures are meant to be laughed off.

And so ends day 1 of Erin's Nebraska adventures. Not sure if it can get much more exciting from here, but we'll see.

P.S. Erin misses her dear roommates very very much. She nearly cried when Beth sent her a picture of herself and Gros with their new vacuum cleaner. True story.