States #24-26: Iowa, Nebraska and Colorado

Circa 2000

My first cross country road trip, right after my Freshman year of college at PSC in the year 2000, took me to a ton of new states, so many in fact, I am breaking them into two posts. I’ve also been back to each of these states many times and they are big, and unavoidable (also CO has good snowboarding.)

24. Iowa

Dexter, IA. Circa 2006

I spent a night in Ames, a college town USA, a college town that could have been anywhere, but just happened to be in the middle of Iowa. On the same trip I skated the Council Bluffs skatepark where I found it highly entertaining to ask people if there were in emo bands and sing Bright Eyes songs at the top of my lungs.

25. Nebraska

Omaha City Center. Circa 2005

On my first ever cross-country trip, some friends had done the trek a week before us. They left us a “present” in Kearny, NB, a nothing town right off I-80. Behind the “welcome to Kearny sign” we found leftover pizza from Chicago with our names on it. Since then I’ve stopped in Omaha and realized there was nothing there, and mostly just driven straight across.

26. Colorado

The money shot. Vail. Circa 2007

On my first cross-country voyage we attempted to drive straight to Denver from Vermont. We almost made it too (minus a few hours sleeping during a torrential downpour in Iowa.) Colorado is cool, although the altitude kills me and I have a constant headache. But there is a Wahoo’s in Denver, and fun riding at Breck, Aspen and Vail. Nice place to visit for sure.