Traversing the West with Air Support

After leaving Chicago, Casey and I traveled through the farmland of Illinois and Iowa. Lots of corn. In the early evening we arrived in Omaha at the home of my Aunt Mona and Uncle Keith where they welcomed us with open arms. Casey and I went for a jog through their neighborhood in oppressive heat and humidity which rivaled the Gulf Coast. I have to admit I was quite anxious about the heavy dark sky above as we trotted off. Mona goaded me with a common Nebraskan reference to the Wizard of Oz, “You’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy!” Luckily we were not swept up by a tornado and we returned to quick showers before a famous dinner of Keith’s smoked ribs, native tomatoes and corn on the cob, and Grandmere’s special potato salad. For dessert we had Mona’s delectable banana-pineapple surprise. Mmmm Mmmm good! Before turning in for the night, Keith took us into his Air Force Intelligence Operations home office to look at pictures of Kyle, their son, competing on Colorado State’s ROTC rifle drill team.

Keith and Mona met when they were both Air Force intelligence officers. They are both retired from active duty now, but Keith still works as a civilian contractor consulting the Air Force on matters of national security. Kyle is in the Air Force ROTC program at Colorado State. He is a senior this year, and will enter the Air Force next summer. This summer Kyle had an internship with law enforcement at Air Force Base F.E. Warren in Cheyenne. When we left Keith and Mona the next morning, with clean laundry and a homemade lunch, we scheduled a rendezvous with Kyle for a mid-afternoon workout at the base. After working out, Kyle gave us a tour. We saw antelope and warehouses where nuclear warheads are cleaned and maintained. Kyle has some ambitious plans to become an air battle strategist, however he may begin his career guarding ICBM silos. Whoa!

We drove on after our excursion with Kyle. We made it into Utah pretty late in the evening. Winding through the Wasatch Mountains at night with the truckin’ 18-wheelers and the periodic construction zones was a little frightening. By 11pm we made it to our destination for the night. Mona and Keith reached into their network of Air Force friends to find us housing in Ogden with Roxie, Jerry and Rory Sianez. Roxie and Jerry warmly greeted us despite the late hour. We only chatted briefly before crashing for the night. But in the morning, Roxie made all of us (including Rory, their 13-year old son, who gallantly awoke early to see us off) a wonderful breakfast – complete with a wicked triple shot cappuccino for me!

Right now we are somewhere in the middle of Nevada, after spending the morning driving across the salt flats of Utah. A special thanks for our wingmen who helped us get this far!