Arching our way across Nebraska

5:00 am wake-up this morning. No, I didn't ask the front desk to wake me. Just woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. What to do, what to do? Workout in the fitness center, that's what. I walked a little over 2 miles in about 40 minutes on the treadmill. Not the most strenuous of workouts but it helped get the morning started. Grabbed a coffee for Marsha and headed back to the room.

Guess what day it is? Hump Dayyyyyyy! Yeah! Nothing like a camel walking through the office asking anyone who would listen what day it is. Makes me laugh every time I see it. OK, so I'm easily entertained.

Following a smooth "bags out" this morning, The Great Platte River Road Archway in Kearney, Nebraska was our first stop of the day. This our second time bringing a group to the Archway it's a great stop if you happen to be traveling I-80 through Nebraska. Rather than go into any gat detail about the archway I would invite you to open a browser and checkout their website: www.archway.org and learn all about it. I will say this, though, the greeting we got when we entered plus the walk through the settling of the west through their very interesting exhibits and audio descriptions made this stop a hit among the group. Definitely a must see on any drive across Nebraska.

Dickies BBQ at the Chuckwagon Restaurant in the Archway handled the group quite nicely. The food was hot, servers were helpful and pleasant and all in all a great start to Day 2 of the Safari.To quote the side of my big yellow cup, " I really love adventure. I'm a great travel buddy! Let's face it, you can always pick me out of a crowd. So...Where are we going?" We can answer that!. . . on the The Great American Scenic Safari.

The Great American Scavenger Hunt has started! We have broken down the group into 11 teams, all trying to complete the scavenger hunt in the allotted 24 hours. There are 50 "facts" about each of the members on the bus, plus a couple of bonus questions in the event of a tie. Husbands against wives, roommate against roommate all playing for some high stakes prizes and to have a lot of fun. This icebreaker game was Marsha's creation and everyone seems to have jumped in with both feet and having a good time with it.

Team: Geysers

Team: Boiling Mud Pits

Team: Crazy Horses

Team: Glaciers

Team: Hot Springs

Team: Old Faithfuls

Team: Tetons

Team: Yellowstones

Not pictured are the Team: Badlands, Rushmores and Little Bighorns

Dinner tonight was at The Cavalryman Steakhouse in Laramie, Wyoming. I love it when we choose an event location or in this case a restaurant based on research and a few phone calls and it turns out to b a hit like The Cavalryman.  We pre-ordered our meals choosing from Prime Rib, Chicken or Veggie Pasta. We had been following this place on Facebook since we made the booking and we aware of a cosmetic change they had done. New flooring which gave the place a rustic, historical kind of look was immediately noticed (by us) and commented on. Back o the food. One word. Delicious! Everyone immediately got quiet when their food arrived, a sure sign of enjoyment. Following our bread pudding dessert and settling up, we boarded our coach and traveled all of 7 miles to the Hampton Inn Laramie for the night. The hotel staff greeted us and got all of our bags to their respective rooms in short order, very much appreciated by all of us. 30 minutes to clean the bus, rotate seat assignments and we were ready to call it a night. 

Jackson, Wyoming is our destination with three nights at Togwotee Mountain Lodge but more on that tomorrow . . .