Leaving Denver was difficult. It was what I knew and what I knew I loved. From this point on I had never driven these roads or been to these cities. The excitement was pulsing through my veins, but were not as crazy as my nerves were. I didn’t have a friend within driving distance of me and I was all alone… on this wide open… boring eight hour drive. My nervousness and excitement were diminished as my mind wandered. My original plan was to go straight from Denver to Iowa but I had significantly underestimated my driving stamina. Boredom can sometimes creep up on you faster than exhaustion. I think that I called every one and their mothers on this drive. All I saw for miles were cornfields, more cornfields, and two million windmills. I needed a change in mental scenery, I needed to stop, I couldn’t power through all the way to Iowa, so Omaha it was! When I got in a found the cheapest motel I could and then spent hours reading, something you definitely can’t do in the car, and something I desperately missed.

When I woke up the next morning, I had some time to explore. I went downtown to see what this city had to offer. It seemed as though I had brought the Oregon rain, and while locals were covered by umbrellas, I was running around the city with just a hood for protection. Mostly because my umbrella was amongst the things I sold on Craigslist or sent home with my parents. (I am not really sure, but I knew it wasn’t in my car.) My car was slightly packed and extremely organized. I knew exactly every item I had in it and exactly where it was.

As I gallivanted around the city and came across this place called the Old Market Passage Way. This was in a part of town that was almost entirely made of brick. It had a historic feel, but was revitalized with new shops and modern eats. I wanted to stop at almost every restaurant I walked by, but I was on a hunt for breakfast food and good coffee.

I walked up and down the streets seeking my caffeine and came across some very unique artwork. Here, painted on the brick wall was what looked like an awesome coffee company with an old feel. It had an old feel, alright, it was no longer there. What used to be Parmer Coffee Company was now some kind of office and with maybe an apartment on top.

There was even parking for what looked like this historical coffee shop, but no coffee was in sight.

There were many of these businesses around town. There were paintings on the side of the old brick buildings that had nothing to do with the business inside. Most of these paintings were ads and they were the only thing that remained from these seemingly prominent Omaha companies. Kind of crazy to think that something was once seen as a means to sell a product and is now just historical artwork, slowly fading into the buildings that used to house what it once advertised. This city was filled with street ads, but they were done in a way that wasn’t bothersome. The newer painted ones were vibrant in color, but did not overpower the old historical ones, and together they created a cohesiveness between the past and the present. Something that was comforting to me as I left my past behind me to create a new vibrant future.

My exploration was somewhat limited by my stomach, which needed some food. As soon as it was full I decided to be on my way.

Next stop on my 3,000 mile road-trip: Cedar Rapids, Iowa: A place I had never been, to stay with family I had never met.