Granite Falls, Minnesota to Omaha City, Nebraska

Well, we are ticking off the states with monotonous regularity at the moment.

Today, two more have been struck from the list - Iowa and Nebraska. This leaves just five to go: Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Alabama.

Before we left Granite Falls, I went and filled the car up with diesel. Every time I do this, I find it difficult to believe that it costs less than half the price we have to pay in England. The diesel is costing an average of $4/US gallon, which equates to 68p per litre!!

We then drove the short distance to the dam in the centre of the town to see the 'falls'. The falls turned out to be a long weir, part of the town's hydroelectric scheme.

In front of the weir was a group of white pelicans. Wendy had read in the AAA road book that the pelicans use the river as a migration resting place.

We left Granite Falls at about 10.30am to head due south for the 350 mile journey to Omaha.

When we reached the town of Worthington, just short of the state border with Iowa, we were directed off the road on to the I-90 Freeway because of roadworks. There followed a twenty-five mile detour before we managed to get back on to our route to Omaha. It was a total waste of valuable sightseeing time in Omaha!

The remainder of the journey was pretty uneventful and sadly, as we crossed into Iowa, there was no state sign, hence no photo for the blog - one of the few times we have failed to record a state as we have entered it.

Most of the small towns we drove through had giant grain silos which you can see from miles away.

Our route took us south-west towards the Missouri River, which is the boundary between Iowa and Nebraska. We drove past the town of Le Mars, which is known as the 'Ice Cream Capital of the World'. The Wells Dairy of Le Mars makes Blue Bunny ice cream, a brand I have never heard of, and their factory in Le Mars produces more ice cream from one location than anywhere else in the world. A useful Trivial Pursuit fact?

We reached the I-75 freeway near Sioux City, which took us the final 100 miles to Omaha. On the freeway we came up behind this truck carrying enormous earthmoving truck tyres. They had to be nearly 12ft in diameter!

The freeway had regular signs saying we were following the Lewis and Clark trail.

Before crossing the Missouri River into Nebraska, we stopped at a town called Council Bluffs to buy Wendy a new camera, as her old camera was a bit damaged after she dropped it getting into the car!

Approaching Omaha and the city skyline.

We crossed the bridge over the Missouri River, which is the state border line between Iowa and Nebraska and, like the Iowa border, there was no sign for Nebraska, hence no photo! Once across the bridge, we were in the downtown area of Omaha where our hotel was located. When we checked in, we learned that Kenny and Dee Anne were already there and we met up with them to have a drink in the Old Market area.

Bob and Thelma arrived soon after and we all enjoyed a few beers in the lovely afternoon sunshine.

As we walked back to our hotel, we saw this bicycle carriage, where each passenger peddles.

This weekend happened to be High School Graduation, which explained the hundreds of students enjoying themselves in the Old Market, like these four girls about to go out on the town in the lobby of our hotel.

In the evening, we went to Rick's Boatyard restaurant which was located on the bank of the Missouri River. It was a great place to end another very enjoyable day.

Having seen what Omaha has to offer, Wendy and I decided that we would spend a second night here. This will give us a welcome rest day before we continue our journey south.