i don't need a girl, don't need a friend, 'cause my friend lonesome's unconditional...we're flying forever bored

I am in North Platte, Nebraska, which is 491 miles from my house. This means I should make it there before sunset tomorrow night, assuming that I can leave reasonably early tomorrow morning - and it's key to make it home before dark, because apparently the roads around my house have all turned into pure mud, and so the last 2-4 miles of my journey will probably be the most treacherous. My family will not appreciate hearing this, but most road fatalities occur within ten miles of home, so I'll have to be extra careful!

I've had a great trip so far. As you know, I made it to Salt Lake City yesterday, which meant that I drove across all of Nevada and most of Utah. I stopped for lunch yesterday in Lovelock, Nevada (town motto: 'Lock Your Love' - what does that even mean?). I decided that I should patronize local businesses rather than just going to McDonald's, so I went to a barbecue place instead. I had this lovely barbecue tri-tip sandwich:
















which was delicious. However, ninety minutes later, I stopped at this rest stop:

















suffering from some mild intestinal discomfort, which I'm assuming was brought on by my foolish decision to veer from the beaten path. Pioneers crossing the same lands 150 years ago probably knew all too well that risking an unadvised move could lead to disaster, and while my five minutes of distress were not on par with the travails of the Donner Party, for example, I've decided to stick to 'safe' foods for the rest of my trip. Whether the corn nuts and convenience store cappuccino I had for dinner tonight counts as 'safe' is up for debate, but at least I don't feel ill.

Today didn't start off on such an auspicious note either - I decided to wear the prescription sunglasses that I'd gotten shortly before my departure (blowing my pre-tax medical flex spending money on Kate Spade sunglasses seemed like a good idea at the time, since I'm going to lose the money at the end of this month anyway). However, while I'd tried them on, I hadn't actually driven with them - and it was only after I was driving that I discovered that the lenses are incorrectly centered about .25" below where they should be for optimum performance. I switched to contacts, but the snow in Utah was blinding me - apparently all of my gorgeous sunglasses aren't actually designed for any sort of real sun conditions. Luckily, I was passing through Park City at the time, which I knew meant that there had to be a Sunglass Hut somewhere nearby - and sure enough, it was no time at all before I was speeding away with a new pair of sunglasses. The good news is that they have polarized lenses, and the difference it made in driving today was amazing. The bad news (or better news, depending on where you fall out on the 'practical-fashionable' scale) is that they're Dolce&Gabbana, which was completely unnecessary, and yet oh-so-stylish.

After that, the rest of the day was pretty much the same as yesterday, although with more mountains and fewer areas that were reminiscent of the Dead Marshes. I drove straight through Wyoming, with a brief stop in Rawlins for lunch, and made it almost 200 miles into Nebraska before stopping. Tomorrow, it's mostly a straight shot through the most boring, lackluster 300 miles in the US (eastern Nebraska is not a fun place), then 191 miles through the promised land before I'm home. Now, it's time for bed!