I haven’t been back to my hometown (Cozad, Nebraska) since my class reunion in September 2009.\u00c2\u00a0 The main purpose was to spend Easter with my sister Nova Walker, she was diagnosed with cancer 6 months ago.\u00c2\u00a0 Linna and I flew direct from Seattle to Denver on Alaska Airlines, just a little over 2 hours.\u00c2\u00a0 Cozad is located on Interstate 80 halfway between Denver and Omaha; taking a direct flight from Seattle is much easier than flying into Omaha with a connection and still driving 4 hours.\u00c2\u00a0 The Eastern side of Colorado is not much to look at and all it does is encourages you to drive as fast as you can through it.\u00c2\u00a0 Speed limit is 75 and I usually drive 85 to 95 to make sure I get to Cozad for dinner…..well this time I had Mr. State Trooper stop me to say hi.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
After we settled in with my good friend AJ Hudgins and his girlfriend of 27 years, Colleen Favinger in Cozad we headed out to\u00c2\u00a0Bella Italia for dinner.\u00c2\u00a0 There isn’t much in Cozad, but I have to admit I am totally\u00c2\u00a0impressed with this Italian restaurant located in my small hometown.\u00c2\u00a0 After dinner, AJ and I sat up until 4 a.m. gossiping about the 4,000 residents in Cozad.\u00c2\u00a0 The next two days AJ and I spent driving around Cozad seeing old friends and neighbors.\u00c2\u00a0 We stopped in to visit with Mark McKeone, Scott Diehl, Eric Seaman, Marty Munster, Verna Story, Ardi Wilcher, Heidi Bazata, John Dorsey, Scott Hergenrader, Sherry Armagost and even dropped off a dozen tulips to Ardi Wilcher.<\/p>\n
Linna and I spent Easter Sunday with my sisters Nova and Alicia and their families.\u00c2\u00a0 We started the day off with church service at the Nazarene; I haven’t been to a church service for 9 years or so…..and it might be another 9 before I go back.\u00c2\u00a0 After church we drove over to Gothenburg, ten miles west of Cozad for brunch at Walker’s Steakhouse.\u00c2\u00a0 After munching down the Midwest buffet, we headed back to Nova’s house for pictures and an Easter egg hunt for the kids.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Most all small towns in the Midwest, especially Nebraska….the towns are pretty much closed down on Sundays….which means there is no place to dine.\u00c2\u00a0 The nearest town for a decent dinner\u00c2\u00a0on a Sunday is Kearney, a college town 50 miles East of Cozad.\u00c2\u00a0 We first stopped at Hunan’s, a Chinese restaurant that Linna rejected after taking one look at the menu.\u00c2\u00a0 After another late night, we got up Monday morning and headed back to Denver.\u00c2\u00a0 I took a small detour to Sidney, Nebraska\u00c2\u00a0and stopped in at Cabelas to pick up a new shotgun case for my over\/under Browning Citori 12 guage shotgun that I was\u00c2\u00a0flying back to Seattle with me.<\/p>\n\n\t\t