Day 63 + 64 (Wednesday 8/23/12 + Thursday 8/24/12)- North Platte, NE + Sterling, CO

Spending much of the day driving through endless highways of dead grass and lazy cattle made for an uneventful day. We found our destination of North Platte, NE little better. We were swimming in the humitidy. Enough that when we saw a sign urging the community to "pray for rain" we had a religious experience. We would have prefered to swim in the affordable outdoor pool, but it was closing down. Also, we found that in North Platte it is strange to ask if you can get a discount for not actually swimming. (We would just bring our water wings into the glorious and elusive shower). We would go tomorrow and smuggle all the hot water we could.

Instead in an awkward moment (this time asking if we could use the facilites for free) and with a flimsy excuse (we were going to go check in at our hotel and be back in an hour-they closed in an hour) we ducked out of the historical museum (I am starting to think this Internet thing is full of unreliable information with dubious sources and profit making motives-except this blog of course which is straight gospel-as several things, including this museum, were represented online as free) On to the library where the distrust is free. Libraries are perfect places for us to research the next day's adventure. Research is expedited when both you and the librarians desperately want you out of town.

　
We tried to make up for the dissapointments with carbs. We gorged ourselves on garlic rolls and an italian loaf w/ spaghetti sauce. For desert-mini eclairs. We chased it all down with indigestion, though that could have been due to our movie choice-The Dictator. (We both thought that Borat, despite its desperate nudity was entertainingly perceptive. I now think it only worked because of the real life idiots-characters were weirder than any creation, more funny because serious, more scary because real. The Ali G show could be hilarious too, again when interviewing people not in on the joke).

Feeling that our skin was on fire after just the shortest of walks to return the movie we collapsed in our mobile oven (capable, as you know, of heating liquids to near boiling).

Morning rain pelted our roof. Hallelujiah! Wait....crap, there goes the pool. Instead teenage thugs in training whose bling included ankle monitoring braclets secretly entertained us as we tried not to make eye contact. It was hard to turn away.

On to the next state, on to our next adventure-Colorado. We've both been looking forward to it (especially after cutting through Nebraska) and crossing over into the clearly superior terriortory was heartening. The town of Sterling, CO was in some ways similar to North Platte, but spectacular in its small town modest, sorta dumpy way. The librarians-nothing like the trolls in NE. The musuem lobby, for we didn't make it past the register here either-vastly superior (Again about to close when we found it. This time we were sad about it). The thug lites-more muscley. The pool-less judgmental. As we sat out on the library's verandah watching Comedy Central "news" we saw a librarian quickly approaching. Thinking we were about to be scolded for having the volume up on the lap top and encouraged into the next county, we were completely blown away to be handed candy. It was the first day of school and free candy for all! Jack Johnson beamed from the library speakers (the only documented occurence of Jack Johnson being rebellious). I didn't think you could play music, not even mellow man Jack Johnson, at the library, well, at least I did before the rocking performance at the Cody library.

　
After literally sputtering into a gas station (there is no warning light and the gauge is a little off) we made it to Walmart to re-up on discounted garlic rolls. Sleep didn't come easy as an oil tanker parked beside us and left the motor running all night. All I can hope is that he left the windows down and suffocated before he ran out of gas. Sorry, I get a little irratable when I don't get any sleep.

In the library courtyard