(Listening to “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers)
My good friend threw a 40th birthday party this past weekend, so I went. It was 500 miles away and I surprised him. He had sent out the invite a few weeks back, so I got in touch with his wife and said, “I’ve always joked with John about stopping by when he posts about watching the Royals or having movie night (he has a projector that he sets up outside and displays it on his garage door). Well, I figured his birthday party would be the perfect time to swing by. I want to surprise him by just showing up. It’s a pretty short drive from Denver to Lincoln. Do you think I could pull up some floor or crash on a couch that night?” She replied, “He’d be surprised and honored. Of course! You always have a place to stay with us!” I cleared it with the wife and put it on the calendar.
I love to drive. It gives me a little introvert time. It gives me time to think. I really enjoy driving this stretch of I-80 from Denver to Lincoln. I’ve made the drive across Nebraska many times, going back and forth from Iowa to Colorado. It’s flat and boring, but it’s a nostalgic piece of road for me. It reminds me of making snowboard trips in college. We’d leave Friday afternoon after class, ride Saturday and Sunday, and head back Sunday night. We were young, we could do anything we wanted, and we did.
Through college and into my 20’s, road trips were pretty common. I’d drive from Washington to Iowa for school, spring break trips to snowboard, and trips up to the twin cities. Driving a thousand miles was nothing. My friends and I would do them on a whim. Now, I need a pretty dang good reason to hit the road, and John’s party was a great reason.
John and I are great friends from college. For three years we lived two doors down from each other in Northwestern’s Colenbrander Hall. If I think of any memory from that time, chances are he’s a part of it. We have kept in touch over the years, but like a lot of college friends, I hadn’t seen him in a while. Life just gets busy. People get real jobs, get married, have some kids, and before you know it, 5 or 10 years go by since you’ve seen a really good friend. That’s what happened to us. What separates great friends from the rest, is when you do see each other again, you pick right up where you left off. That’s exactly what happened.
When I pulled up to his house, he was outside setting up for the party. He saw my car and immediately knew it was me from the Colorado license plate. He was shocked. He asked what the heck I was doing here, and I told him I just happened to be in the neighborhood. We had our “Red and Andy hug” then got right back into the old rhythm; cracking jokes, conversations, and talking about old stories.
The party was a great success. He had a ton of friends there. We tapped the kegs, we ate, drank, played Polish Horseshoes, and fired up some old school Nintendo on the projector and garage door. Then once the party cleared out, we cleaned up and talked into the morning; about stuff that was going on in our lives now, and funny stories about the past. We had a couple of beers and enjoyed some cigars. We brought up people and names we hadn’t talked about or thought about in years and filled in blanks in each other’s stories. There’s not many people I would drive 500 miles for, but John is one. He’s a great friend and my life is better for knowing him. Isn’t that the point?
With that said, here are some pictures from the trip:
I-76 heading East in Colorado. When people think of Colorado, they think of mountains, but once you get about 40 or 50 miles east of Denver, this is what you get.
Enjoying the drive and enjoying the tunes. Introvert time!
Nebraska…the good life.
My first stop for gas was in Cozad, NE. I always try to stop in smaller towns along the way. They just have more of a midwest vibe.
Nebraska is also the home of the Runza. If you’ve never had a Runza, you haven’t lived. It’s basically bread stuffed with ground beef, cabbage, and spices. It’s delicious. My buddy John introduce me to Runza at Nebraska football game.
I had to sneak this photo, but this is what I want to be like when I get older. Sitting around, chewing the fat, and living the good life. They talked about everything from high school sports to the upcoming solar eclipse. It was fun overhearing their conversation and it sounded like some of them had lived there their whole lives.
The Archway (also known as The Great Platte River Road Archway or Kearney Arch) is a museum of and monument to Nebraska’s and the Plate River valley’s role in westward expansion. The Archway is directly over Interstate 80 three miles east of Kearney, NE. I have never been in it.
York, NE. I know two things about York. It has this rainbow-colored water tower and you can get meth here…so I’ve heard.
I made it to Lincoln! The tall building is the state capitol.
Another picture of the capitol building.
Sadly, this is the only picture I have of the party. This is the Nintendo setup John has on his garage door. Yes, that’s RBI Baseball with 2016’s rosters. It’s amazing people spend their time making RBI Baseball with current day rosters. I didn’t take a picture of Polish Horseshoes, probably because we got beat every time.
The road back to Denver. This sign says, “Jesus, I trust in you.” It’s great to see.
Before I left Nebraska, I had to hit up Runza one more time. This one is in Ogallala, NE.
Welcome to Colorful Colorado. I always find this sign a bit funny because for the next 180 miles or so, the only color you see is brown, which coincidentally, is the color of the sign.
“That John Denver is full of…”
This is my favorite picture of John. I think this was 1997 judging by the Austin Powers poster on the left of the picture. That’s a root beer 40oz by the way.
This is John and I at graduation in 2000. He’s a great friend and I hope I see him again soon. Happy 40th!
Dad vs. Human 