Through Wyoming

We wake up and I make some coffee on our burner in the room. We don't eat breakfast because I want to get on the road and Alex isn't hungry. Then we pack everything in the car and I start driving to Nebraska because Alex is still too sick. After driving for about an hour I start to get hungry and I really really want a sausage and egg McMuffin; my family used to eat them in the morning when we moved. So I ask Alex if he wants to go to McDonalds. He says yes and when we get there breakfast is over so we get chicken McNuggets, but my craving continues. Eastern Wyoming is a succession of hills covered in snow. Hill after hill, nothing but snow. Very few houses let alone towns.

As I drive on we are consistently dropping elevation and as we drop the snow gets thinner and thinner. The white hilly expanse gives way to a yellow hilly expanse. We turn off the freeway onto a county highway and make our way towards Scottsbluff and Chimney Rock. I've always wanted to come here since I played the Oregon Trail game on the computer when I was young. You know, you were robbed by bandits and they stole 2 oxen and 1 wheel. I always loved getting to Chimney Rock in the game and always wanted to see it with my own two eyes.

When we get to Nebraska the temperature is 39 degrees, about the same as Sheradin, and 10 degrees warmer than Helena. I look online for a cheap Motel in Scottsbluff and find one on the outskirts of town. We drive by it the first time because it looks really seedy. There are three buildings built in the shape of a U with a parking lot in the center. Outside of the rooms are barbeques and groups of 2-3 guys smoking. The parking lot is filled with cheap cars and trucks. I ask Alex if it's okay and he says "Yes" he's really tired from the road and anywhere with a bed is good to him. So I drive back and park up outside the office. When I go in there's a really haggard looking woman behind the counter smoking a cigarette and she asks me, "Can I help you?"

"How much would a queen room be for tonight?"

"$56"

"How about with a AAA discount?"

"I could maybe go to $51."

I should haggle with her but I don't; "Okay." I fill out the papers and get the key and drive us to the room.
This is when I find out that we have $100 left of everything we made in Helena. A lot of it was used but I had no idea it was that much. When I park I just sit there for a minute and put my head down on the driving wheel. Alex makes a little "Oh" noise and puts his hand on my back and leans over and kisses the back of my head. I'm exhausted from driving 700 miles in the snow and cold for 2 days. At the beginning of the trip I was trying not to get sick, but all the moving has made that impossible. For the past day I've just been trying to hold it off but it looks like now it's gonna happen. I pull myself out of the car with my camera, some Heinz tomato soup, the brew back and my sweatpants. Alex also gets out of the car and we go and lie down on the bed. I take a bath and transfer money from my bank account to my credit card before I fall asleep, now we have $400 until my grandmothers check comes through when my parents get back from Hawaii. Next door some Iraq war Vets are having a party with people coming and going all night. They keep me awake. By morning I'm a bit delirious as the sickness begins.