Day 7 and 8 Council Bluffs, Iowa & North Platte, Nebraska

After a pretty good breakfast in Columbia we headed off on a sunny 306 mile drive to Council Bluffs, Iowa. The roads were clear of snow but everything else had a few inches and it made the landscape and surroundings really stand out. We checked in the hotel around 2 and quickly figured out that there was nothing food wise in Council Bluffs that looked interesting, so we drove over to Omaha, Nebraska to the Old Market District. It's an interesting, cutesy four square block of old renovated market structures. It would have been nice to spend some time walking around but the temperature was in the single digits and there was no way Sylvia was having any of that. Instead we went right to the Jackson Street Tavern, sat at the bar and chatted with a couple of the bartenders. The place was empty and they were more than willing to share their stories about the area, especially Warren Buffet. We ended up eating there and I had Berkshire Osso Buco and Sylvia had Steak Frites. The food was good and way more than we could eat. Sylvia went next door and bought an ugly sweater.

Iowa's a kind of different place. Sylvia got up this morning and on her way down to breakfast she met a couple that were carrying their pet pig down the stairs. They told Sylvia that "He didn't do stairs very well". When they got to the bottom they put the pig down and he wandered off on his leash. I think this only happens in Iowa. Anyway, when we got up there had been about four inches of new snow. The side roads were covered, but the highways were clear and no problem. Nebraska's 415 miles across and I didn't feel like driving the whole thing so we decided to overnight in North Platte, 280 miles from Omaha. I though we would have a rather mundane drive across route 80, but I was pleasantly surprised how scenic the landscape was. The snow cover made everything look great. North Platte, home of the worlds largest rail yard, is apparently a touristy town although not much was open this time of year. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant called San Pedro. From the looks of things, this seemed to be the best choice around. The tamales were good. That's about all there is to say about North Platte. Tomorrow it looks like Denver and good weather. I think we're going to stay there two nights.