In May/June of 2008, Kim and I took a vacation - Back to Wisconsin to visit with friends and family
Day 11/2 Jun: Our last day in town. We slept from 2330-0800. Sharon prepared a breakfast and we packed up the Volkswagen. As I expected, the farewell was teary eyed and prolonged. We had a really good time on our visit, and said our goodbyes reluctantly. We left in the late morning, stopping for gas in De Pere we paid $4.16 a gallon for super.
We drove a fair distance before we stopped for food and gas in Bellmont, Wisconsin. We paid $4.10 for super and ate a light lunch as well. A French dip sandwich, an order of fries, and drinks. The sandwich was excellent. Our next stop was Neola, Iowa for gas at a Kum & Go. We paid $4.20 for premium at this place. Iowa is usually lower. It's amazing how much the gas prices have varied during our stay. This inconsistent pricing is unexplainable.
As the day drew to a close, we found ourselves approaching twelve hours driving time by the time it got dark out. We stopped for the night in Kearney, Nebraska. We've stayed in Kearney before. It's a nice town, and we didn't have any problem finding food and lodging. We ate at a nearby Old Chicago's. This time we got lucky on the food. I ordered a personal pan pizza. Ground beef, mushrooms, and roasted garlic. Yummy! Kim had a favorite mushroom, swiss, burger.
After we finished eating, we booked a room for the night at the nearby Country Inn and Suites. $89.99 for the two of us, and that's with our AAA discount. The room smelled of cigarettes, but it was otherwise clean and comfortable. The air conditioning worked, and it was relatively quite. Kim called her mother and talked for a few minutes. We crashed immediately afterwards.
Day 12/3 Jun: Back in Colorado. Our vacation ended on the 3rd, but I still had two days off in order to readjust my sleep pattern. I had to go in for a mid watch on the 6th. We slept from 2230-0500. We both showered before re-packing the Passat. We went downstairs and made the best of our complimentary breakfast. Soon after the sun came up, we were back on the road.
Our first and only stop on the way to Aurora was North Platte. This time we stopped for gas on the East end of town. The gas at a Conoco/Flying-J was considerably cheaper than gas on the West end of town. We paid $4.06 for premium, and headed back onto I-80 for the final leg of our journey.
We arrived back home in Aurora at 1100. Unpacked the Passat, and crashed for a nap at noon. We had a great vacation, but it's nice to be home. |
