Hello from Omaha - RAGBRAI Day -2

Here I am at the layover in the Las Vegas airport. Check out the slot machines! Cha-ching!

Brent and I are having dinner with our new friend from Washington, Cathy.

I love my lime-green RAGBRAI wrist band! I will wear this all week long (and be sad to take it off).

Rocky was helping me pack this morning (sorry these are out of order - not quite adept on the blogging yet.)

Love my new hard-case. Hate to see my bike in pieces!

Brent and I arrived safely in Omaha today. No issues with baggage, flights, or airport shuttles.

After dropping our baggage at the hotel, we took a short rest (okay, I napped for 30 minutes before the gardener with the roaring leaf blower took up his post outside my window), we took the “dinner shuttle” from the hotel to downtown Omaha. On the shuttle, I met my first new RAGBRAI friend, Cathy from Bellingham, Washington. We hit downtown, walked around a bit, and had a spaghetti dinner. (Must start the cycling carbs right away!).

Downtown Omaha was uneventful. I met a nice couple who were locals who came out to people watch. The only out-of-the ordinary people I saw were a group of young Mormon lads who were singing on the street corner.

The highlight of the outing was Brent convincing the shuttle driver to take a detour on the way back to the hotel so Cathy could go to Wal-Mart and buy a rolling duffle bag – much better for the rigors of RAGBRAI where we must haul our backs into the back of the charter company trucks each morning.

After our Wal-Mart adventure, we are now back at the hotel, ready to tuck in for a nice sleep in a nice bed. After today, we will have 7 straight days of tent camping, air mattresses (if you are lucky), and sleeping bags. I can’t wait!

Love to all.