Day 28--Omaha, Ne. to Cheyenne, Wy.: A change of scenery

We began our day today out on the road at the bright early hour of around 11am, after breakfast and some swimming, of course. (Speaking of swimming, they are holding the olympic swim trials in Omaha this week, and we looked into getting tickets, but you had to buy a week pass or nothing...bummer! I can't wait to watch the Olympics!) Our hotel in Chicago didn't have a swimming pool so the boys were pretty excited to have one again. First stop was at the Kenefick Park in Omaha to see the Big Boy train they had on display. For a little "Big Boy" info: the Big Boy is the world's largest steam locomotive; the first 20 were built in New York in 1941 as the US was entering WWII, Locomotives 4000-4020. They were built for power and speed, and mainly hauled heavy freight between Ogden, Utah and Cheyenne, Wyoming, at the top speed of 70mph. Each locomotive was 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. An additional 5 trains were built in 1944, Locomotives 4021-4025. From those numbers you can see that this was one of the later trains built. Most of them were out of use by 1960, and a few of them are still on display around the US, but none in Utah (wierd!).
Who cares, you might ask? Well, there is a story behind the Big Boy madness in our family. Way back when, not long after (or was it just before; I don't remember, it's all a blur!!) I had the twins, Daren had a field trip up in Ogden for one of his law school classes one Saturday, so he took Ben. After the class, Daren took Ben, who was just on the cusp of becoming a true blue train junkie, over to the Union Station Depot in Ogden. Daren let Ben pick out a train movie, and he picked out one about the Big Boys. It makes us laugh just thinking about it now, but you really have to see this movie to believe how B-O-R-I-N-G it is!! It's all original footage in black and white, and I know it's at least an hour and a half long. It goes through each of the 25 trains, sometimes chugging along the vast open plains, and sometimes showing it turning, for what seems an eternity, at the round house. It's almost painful, but I kid you not, Ben could sit and watch that video when he was three years old, over and over again. It was hilarious. Sometime last year when the twins were three they wanted to watch it, and when I went in to check on them 20 minutes later, they were both asleep on the floor. Not quite the same love for it as Ben had I guess!! (It's available for your viewing pleasure if anyone wants to borrow it :) So over time we have grown to really like the Big Boy trains; Ben even has a framed painting of one in his room that we bought from the artist at a train show.

This was as close as we could get to show how big the wheels are.

A view from the back with Will.

This was just a cool view of the train. It has been beautifully restored and had a nice shiny coat of paint on it, which really showed the reflection well.

So along the interstate we traveled, the boys once again watching their shows, while we were listening to more of the Grapes of Wrath. We stopped in North Platte for lunch/dinner at Ruby Tuesdays, and if this tells you much, that was the best meal we have had at least in a couple of weeks. I am so tired of McDonald's, PB&J's, and even Subway, that I don't want to eat there again for a long, long time! Just west of there we noticed a huge change of scenery. We have been so spoiled for a couple of weeks with the green lush hills of the midwest, that I forgot we were going back to a desert state. Daren first noticed some sprinklers in the fields just off the freeway, and then you could see how much drier it got the farther west you got. It was quite a reality check that we were getting closer to home.

I couldn't resist this picture, because it was a sight we weren't too familiar with--tons of bugs on the windshield. We got a few bugs on our windshield as we traveled Route 66, but it was nothing like traveling for a day on the interstate!!

And when we pulled into Cheyenne this evening, what did we find but yet, another Big Boy at one of the local parks. This is number 4004. Once again, in trying to show the sheer massiveness (?) of the train and its tender, there is Jake standing to the side of it. Very cool.

At this same park I had to take a picture of our soda junkie, Will (sitting in time out for throwing a couple fists full of rocks, the pebble kind, at Ben). I will be so glad to get home and get them off this total sugar high they have been on for weeks. That's one of the hardest parts traveling with young kids. Will can sniff out a soda a mile away!! And we made it to Cheyenne, where we are in our last hotel on this trip. Back to making beds and cooking our own food, and for now that's ok with me. (But check back in a couple of days!!)

Total mileage to date: 5,493

Weather: sunny and beautiful, 87 degrees

Price paid for gas in Cheyenne: $4.19