Touchdown

Touchdown planet USA Minneapolis 25th May 2009

All pretty cool so far, a decent flight by NWA and a big thanks to my buddy Jel for the ride down to Heathrow...... 4001 miles apparently Heathrow to the Twin Cities.. reckon I will be driving around the same sort of distance of the next couple of weeks or so.

So its grab a car from Avis.. pretty slick quite expensive though.. and round to a motel I have used before near Mall of America.. couple of beers ( well I have a reputation to live down to ! ) food and a good nights sleep before the road trip starts.

Day 1

Minneapolis to Omaha NE

I35 and I80 383 miles according to googlymaps, Pontiac gassed up and ready to go, guitar ( never travel without it ) only just fits in the boot (trunk). but all is good , so headed south down to Des Moines.

Cruise control not working ( prolly me ) but hey these roads are empty by UK standards so it made a nice change to take a cruise.

I must say I do like the fact that the speed limit is the same for all vehicles , keeps traffic flowing nicely and averts the mayhem we have in the UK with trucks at 56 mph and cars at 70.

Daily highlight of any trip to the USA for me is breakfast... pull in at any roadside diner, coffee, Hashbrowns ( can't get them like that in the UK ) more coffee, two eggs, coffee and bacon (plus more coffee). Yep that sets me up every day.

Always ( well midwest anyways) seems like someone is willing to chat, must be my quite thick northern UK accent, most welcome when travelling on my own (otherwise I could go days without speaking to anyone.

Good time to Des Moines... tip 1 for anyone making a road trip in the USA .. they have rest areas on the interstates where you can usually pick up free road maps and coupon books ( more on those later )

Now headed east on I80 and have finally realised that the clock in the Pontiac which was showing 10:18S actually has a compass because now it shows 14:20 E... cool always did navigate like ome old time sea captain.

Always plenty to see when driving in some foreign land the miles just disappear.. some cool radio stations to listen too (I really liked coffe_shop radio , a channel of singer songwriter stuff )

Now I have never seen a real life American steam loco, may as well start of at the top and work my way down... according to the tinterweb, Big Boy 4023 was just off to my right as I crossed from Council Bluffs Iowa into Omaha Nebraska at Kenfic ? Park.

Caught some glimpses of coal trains on the road , must put aside some time to have an hour or two watching.

Lots of railway infrastructure visible as I pass through Council Bluffs BNSF diesels ( nice paint schemes).

Cross over the river and yep high up welcoming all I80 travellers into the state of Nebraska is a very large and shiny Big Boy , the union pacific logo standing out just as bright as the yellow liveried DD40X centennial ... a nice welcome.

This couldn't be easier next sliproad (ramp) hang a right and then first right again is gonna get me somewhere near.. easy ( never been lost in my life ... I might not be in the place I want to be but I always know which direction to head :-) )

Pleasant grounds to Kenefic Park and some nicely laid out steps leading upwards to the UP display..

Not bad first USA steam loco is a Big Boy.. they don't come any bigger than this (or do they )

Very Impressive a great display with a fantastic location looking over the valley towards Council Bluffs.

This trip has been worthwhile just for Day 1.