MotoSlow

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Day 15 McCook, Nebraska to Lincoln, Nebraska

Miles Riden: 270
Number of Deep Fried Twinkies Eaten by Zena: 1

We made it to Lincoln, Nebraska (state capitol) and home of the famous Nebraska State Fair (started in 1868), Check it out at http://statefair.org/. We pitched our tents in the fair campground around 4pm and then walked over the the fair. Here's a quick rundown of our fair activities:

5pm - entered west entrace $6 a head
5:30pm - watched vintage tractor parade (garnered ideas for next SF City cruiser)
6:30pm - watched Giraldo Family Circus Troupe
7:00pm - Kevin ate entire Funnel Cake ($4.50)
7:15pm - Lost a combined total of $9.50 at Bingo Tent
7:45pm - Watched Zena Devour Deep Fried Twinkie ($3.00)
8:00pm - Got Nauseous in the Vortex Tunnel ($2 each)
9:00pm - Zena & Kevin bought unlimited passes to the fair rides ($10 each)
9:01pm - Dave is stuck carrying both backpacks, waterbottles, and all jackets while Z and K run around the park. As the designated "Dad" he also got to take all the pictures.
10:00pm - Kevin lies down to fight his second attack of Nausea after the rides.
10:30 - Zena buys a Pineapple Whip ($2.50), Kevin gets a super size fresh lemonade ($5) and nachos with jalepenos($4).
11:00pm - Enter Beer Gardens to enjoy live Country Music - bummed we left earplugs with the motos
11:30pm - Watched an honest-to-god, beer induced, bar fight break out & immediately broken up by the Nebraska State Troopers.

All in all, we left with an euphoric feeling of having had an authentic Mid West Experience.

Miss August 2006

Zena poses for the "Go Army" calendar as Miss August 2006.

Go Army!

The US Army Recruiters were displaying their tools of the trade at the Nebraska State Fair. This is a 1987 Hummer complete with a gun turret in the top. Kevin is left to his imagination, so he climbs in and pretends to shoot man eating bees.

Bumper Ninja

No really, if you look at the hood of the bumper car you can see that it has a name....Ninja. No other cars are even around him 'casue he's in Ninja Stealth Mode. He would only appear momentarily to perform a catastrophic BUMP on his opponents.

Funnel Cake

No fair is complete without a classic funnel cake. White dough deep fat fried layered with powdered sugar. YUMMY in the TUMMY. (feels more like a rock afterwards)

Moto Heads Unite

Dave, Zena, & Dave pose with one of the Globe of Death riders inside the globe of death. She was riding a 100cc Honda motorcross bike.

Globe of Death

It's a bit hard to see, but that's a guy on a moto inside the globe of death riding in circles. He is currently at the top of the globe.

Circus Show

Dave waits patiently in the grass for the Giraldo Troupe to begin their tight rope act, motorcycle stunts and other craziness. It was a free show sponsored by the Nebraska State Fair.

Let's get Sick

We each paid $2.00 to experience the "Vortex." It's a catwalk surrounded by a rotating tunnel of different colors and patterns. Simply walk through right? This nausea inducing 3-d effect is purely mental, but effective nonetheless.

BINGO!

At 25cents a card, why not double up each round. The Lion's Club of Lincoln Nebraska sponsored a 'straight bingo' tent. Kevin lasted three rounds, losing $1.50, but Zena and Dave persisted, but never hit bingo. They were both out $4.00. It was a wild night of gambling at the State Fair.

Freshly Fried Twinkie

Zena accepts her "freshly fried" twinkie from a young and fit employee who said, "I've already had three of these myself today." Let's just say, that this employee was not representative of the typical person at the Nebraska State Fair.

Death by Twinkie

If you think twinkies are bad for you with, how about a deep fried one. Zena whipped out her $3 as fast as she could.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Day 14 Denver, CO to McCook, Nebraska

Miles Riden: 24o
Number of Times Kevin got stung by a Bee: 1

With bags packed with fresh laundry, we headed east to begin our Midwest Conquest. After many people suggested that we bypass Kanas, we altered our route slightly to drive the Southern route of Nebraska. Thanks to Zena's forthought, we were well aware that the Nebraska State Fair was running over 10 days. We were primed to hit it.

Not counting the Bee String, we had an easy ride to McCook, Nebraska. We ate dinner and breakfast at the local 24hour family restaurant and enjoyed some incredible all-american food. Homemade apple pie and fresh cut ribeye steak. We also had the very tasty vegetable soap, but quickly learned that vegetable soup in Nebraska means beef soup with carrots, celery and potatoes.

Bee Sting #1

While driving out of Denver on route 76, a bee flew up the left arm of Kevin's red super suit. It sneaked in the space between his gloves and overlapping sleeve of the jacket. The bee immediately paniced and stabbed it's stinger into Kevin's forearm. Kevin pulled over, jumped off his bike and began stripping. This is the resultant squashed bee sans stinger, which was removed from the forearm forthwith.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Peaches Grow on Trees

Zena eats from a tree of life. It was a self pay, self pick orchard. They provide bags and a scale, post the cost per pound and trust people to drop the right amount of money in the metal box. Plus, the orchard was in the middle of a national park in a high desert climate. Overall, a bit surreal.