Day 7 Denver, CO to Avoca, IA

We head out from Denver not really sure where we're going, just aiming for somewhere between Omaha and Des Moines. Not a whole lot of excitement just a lot of driving and crappy road food for lunch. We've taken to stopping at truck stops for massage breaks and come to realize that all the truck stops now have wireless internet. Yippee! We arrive in Omaha around 8pm looking for somewhere to have dinner. According to the map, which admittedly isn't very detailed, it looks as though most of the businesses are on the other side of the bridge in an area called Council Bluffs. We stop in a pizza place which is closing and ask the woman working there if there is a restaurant nearby that would be open - "well, there's a Red Lobster and an Applebee's right down the road near the Wal-Mart" not to be a snob but this isn't exactly what we're looking for. We decide to disregard this lady's advice and head back over the bridge into what we later learned is the heart of Omaha. We come across a Cajun Jazz club that looks promising - we go inside and ask them if there's a good pizza place nearby. They direct us to the old market district a few blocks away. Unfortunately the pizza place they recommend is closed, however, there are tons of other restaurants still open just down the street. This little area of Omaha is actually really cool - restaurants and bars line the cobble stone streets and people were actually out eating at 9:30pm on a sunday. We decide on a "contemporary Italian" restaurant called Vivace that looks pretty nice. As an appetizer we are offered a watermelon and strawberry soup with tarragon and champagne that is absolutely delicious. I have some goat cheese pizza and Marc some scallop ravioli while we eavesdrop on the older couple next to us as they get their fortune read. We are very pleasantly surprised with Omaha, but decide to push on a little further so we can make it to Chicago at a decent hour the following day. As soon as we hit the road a huge electrical storm starts. The sky is lighting up every couple of seconds with bolts of lighting. It's really pretty cool looking minus the fact that I'm driving and it's happening right over my shoulder in my blind spot. Marc's bi-minutely exclamations of "Wow, did you see that?" directly in my ear don't really help things for me. Coming to realize that there's not really a whole lot outside of Omaha, Marc gives Young Dave a call for some internet assistance. Dave directs us to a town called Avoca which apparently has some hotels. We pick the first one we come to after getting off the freeway which is run by an Indian couple and smells strongly of curry. Our room smells a bit like cherry cough syrup but we settle into bed anyway. Good times.