Loop Trip--Salt Lake to Bettendorf IA

Our major 2020 trip got canceled because of the coronavirus.  It was discouraging to imagine ourselves touring Iceland and then cruising the Norwegian fjords during June 2020, only to be jerked back into our quarantined Utah reality.  Since the Scandinavian trip was David's choice, he got to choose the substitute--looping east along I-80 to see Jonny in Bettendorf, Iowa, traveling farther east to see Nancy and Darrell Moench in Kirtland, Ohio, and then driving home by way of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota. 

Our first stop was Little America, three hours from Salt Lake in the desolate end of Wyoming.  Since June 10, 2020, the day we arrived, was our 50th wedding anniversary, Dave paid an extra $15 to rent a suite with blue satin couch and pale blue carpet.  We easily fit the 75 cent twisty chocolate and vanilla soft ice cream cones into our budget!  Cheap ice cream cones are a Little America tradition.

We paused at the large statue of Abraham Lincoln that marked the highest point on the old Lincoln Highway, now I-80.  Dave has been interested in the Lincoln Highway as a result of his travels along the Pony Express Trail in Utah's West Desert, which was once part of the Lincoln Highway System.  The Lincoln Highway System was the first network of roads traveling from one coast to the other.

The Lincoln Highway was finished in the 1930s.

We also stopped at the Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie.  This was the second territorial prison I had visited, and I enjoyed it almost as much as the Idaho Territorial Prison in Boise.

There were large photographs of some of the inmates around the walls, and it was fascinating to read about their lives and crimes.  There were many cattle rustlers, as well as murderers and even an accomplice to a botched abortion.

There were no juvenile detention centers in those days, and young offenders accused of petty offenses were mixed in with the hardened criminals.

Butch Cassidy was one of the inmates in the Wyoming Territorial prison, since Laramie is at the north end of his bank robbing territory.  Butch Cassidy grew up in the Ashley Valley, near Vernal, my dad's home town, so I feel a special interest in him.

We stopped in Cheyenne to eat steaks at the Rib Chop House.  We thought of our grandson, Michael Flindt, whose mission service included helping out with the Cheyenne Rodeo!

The next day, June 12, we stopped at the magnificent Omaha Zoo for two hours.  We were delighted that the zoo was open, during this time of Covid.  All the buildings within the zoo were closed, and we followed a one-way path past the outdoors highlights of the zoo.  We missed the aquarium and ape house, which were inside, but we still saw many of our favorite animals--giraffes, lions, bears, elephants--as well as some unusual choices, such as opakis and a red panda.  David is surprised that I still like zoos, but I expect to visit them even as a 90-year-old, hobbling around with a walker!