I'm less hostile to Nebraska now after visiting it for the first time this summer. Neat state.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5639118&forum_id=2#48373123)

But what I did see was pretty great. On the way there I stayed off the interstates and took a bunch of back roads from Sioux City all the way to North Platte or so. It was far more scenic than I was expecting, lots of rolling hills. The desolation was remarkable too, I was sometimes driving for miles and miles without encountering a single car. Stuff like that is simultaneously spooky & charming when you're not used to it.

And when you do encounter cars out there, you get 'the wave' from a majority of people. I'm used to getting the occasional wave from people in rural areas, but it's a distinct minority of people that do that, and always at much lower speeds. In NE there's almost an obligation to do that even when you're blowing past each other at 70mph.

Had some good conversations with people when I stopped for gas, including a pretty long chat with a Vietnam vet at a run down Sinclair on the border with Colorado. All in all it was way more fun than sticking to I-80.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5639118&forum_id=2#48374313)

On the way home I stuck to the interstates, so it was Denver > Omaha > Des Moines > Twin Cities

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5639118&forum_id=2#48375713)