It is getting late and we are almost out of Iowa, thankfully – neither J nor myself liked this state very much, nor the people in it.  We cross the border to Nebraska and already I feel better (I think it is because a few years back me and Norway were on Venice beach sunbathing and this sweet girl came up to us, Kelly.  She was beautiful, super sweet, naive and from Nebraska.  We remained friends until we all left LA.  I heard from Kelly once afterwards, she had become a stewardess and was going to marry this 40 year old man in Vegas and wanted me to come to her wedding, but I was back in Washington, so I missed it).  I believe it was Lincoln, NB where we stopped to crash for the night. They had about 10 hotels for us to choose from, all different price ranges, all different types of hotels.  Of course the first hotel J spots is Holiday Inn, but to me it doesn’t look as nice, and knowing it is Holiday Inn, it will cost more than some of the other hotels.  We search around; the only other hotel that looks nice is one that is $110/night, in Nebraska?!?!  After J takes a cup of their coffee, we head out to look at the other hotels, they all look too sketchy, J is set on Holiday Inn.  I run in to ask their front desk the prices.  A nice gentleman by the name of Joe kindly tells me $110/night, but then I quickly ask, “Military discount?”  He then says “Military, why yes! $85/night.  Military, huh (he looks at me and smiles)… well, we do have a few Jacuzzi suites available if you would like one, we’ll give it to you for $85.” A huge smile comes across my face “I’ll be right back, just one second.”  I run to the car to get J, tell him the good news, he LOVES Jacuzzi tubs.  We come back into the hotel, we’ll take it.

I call my mom to let her know we are stopping for the night and that they gave us a hotel room with a Jacuzzi suite just because we were military (well, J is military).  She reminds me to wash out and run the tub before we use it… eeww.  I am now grossed out and worried about getting some infection from some random person that used it before us…  J on the other hand does not care, men.  I wash out the Jacuzzi tub anyways.  We enjoy our huge Jacuzzi suite for the rest of the night and sleep extremely well, so well that we wake up at 10am (damn blackout windows).  We missed breakfast at the hotel, but that is okay, we saw a few breakfast places around.  We check out and head to breakfast.

Country Kitchen is where we decide to eat (for some reason we thought there were a slew of breakfast places, must have been another town?!), from the outside it looks cute and country, but on the inside it looks and smells like a nursing home (reminds me of memories of Claudia, my ex-step mom who went into a coma and never came out, she lived in a nursing home… but that is a whole other story).  Our plump and grumpy looking waitress, Angel (people are doomed when their parents name them names such as that) comes over to see if we are ready to order.  We check out their buffet, um, nope.  We decide to order off the menu.  J orders a steak breakfast (I guessed it), and I order the senior pancake breakfast (I usually order off the children’s menu, but it was all junk food, and normal portions are usually too much for me to eat). 

While eating our breakfast, J tells me stories of the guys from BUD/S and one in particular fits the restaurant we are at.  One of the guys in his squad has a coon hound and hunts raccoons (with his hound).  He has tattoos all over his body with raccoons, and hounds and both together…. Very country.   We finish our breakfast, both unsatisfied and feeling disgusting, and head out, hoping to get farther today than yesterday, although it is now already noon.