The best laid plans don’t always execute the way you envision them to. My younger daughter, who had been a hesitant yes to this journey ended up being a last minute no. While I was disappointed with the way it went down, I wasn’t entirely surprised. She is kind of a momma’s girl, doesn’t like being in a hotel room with me (I snore to loud, I breath to loud, etc., etc.) and doesn’t care for long car rides with multiple people in the car. As the forecast chances for clouds increased, her chances for going seemed to decrease. Maybe in 2024, when she will be <shiver> 20 years old, a family trip will be in order to see Totality as it crosses into Texas.

Anyway, I got a late start out of Fargo, but made good time down the all to boring I-29, arriving in Omaha in about six hours, meeting up with my brother, Tom, and his younger daughter, and our dad, David. They had beat me to Omaha but I went to the hotel to check in and inspect the rooms. Inspect? Yeah, due to frequent travel and our employment we have a habit of inspecting our rooms for pests. Sure enough, one of the two rooms I had booked had such a problem. Fortunately my employer provides me with some decent options in military towns, and I called down the road to Offutt and managed to secure some backup lodging. I was lucky they still had space — in addition to the Eclipse on Monday, Lady Gaga had a show here in Omaha tonight and most hotels were booked.

Before heading to our new lodging, we walked around the riverfront and Heartland of America Park before dining on Ethiopian food for our evening meal. That was a first for me, and I was pleasantly surprised. Overall I was impressed with the Omaha downtown area. Normally I just blow by on I-29, and this was the first time I had gotten off the interstate. My wife and I have discussed coming down here before for a weekend trip; the zoo here is supposed to be world class. After seeing a little more of the city, I think we will do so sooner rather than later.

Offutt, by the way, outdid themselves. We got a TLF room, or rather, a three bedroom twin home, for the night. Amazing value. And no pests that I could find.

Tomorrow we bum around a bit. Maybe the Strategic Air Command Museum. Maybe the Nebraska State Capital in Lincoln. Maybe even Homestead National Monument, which we now plan on avoiding on Monday due to expected crowds. The night will be spent in Lincoln. As for Eclipse Day itself? Yeah, I am not sure I want to talk about it yet, but clouds are predicted all over this region. From basically the Wyoming border all the way into Missouri. We might actually go east, on that note, and run SE through Saint Joseph MO, trying to find clear skies. We’ll decide the final chase route tomorrow. Hopefully, and I am crossing every finger and toe, the clouds will break long enough to see totality on Monday afternoon.