Whew! More travel adventures completed!
This weekend Dan and I visited Lincoln, NE, where we helped his younger brother move a couch into his new apartment. He’s going to college there!
Helping lift the couch up a flight of stairs was a nice arms workout for me…
But mostly I wanted an excuse to visit Lincoln.
Any opportunity I have to travel to a new place, I take it. I love experiencing the different “vibes” and energies of different cities. If you’re not regularly putting yourself in a new environment, you’re missing out on LIFE.
Lincoln had a great vibe. It’s similar to downtown Denver, but with a fraction of the population. In fact, there was hardly anyone there.
Mostly a college town but with a downtown feel, Lincoln is like a little secret that the rest of the country hasn’t caught on to yet. The people there are friendly. My prediction is that the city will start expanding and become more developed over the next 10+ years.
We ate amazing food at an Italian restaurant downtown… (see pics below!) We stayed at the Marriott Cornhusker, a hotel with tons of history behind it.
Gourmet AF arancini at MōMō Pizzeria – Lincoln, NE
We checked out the capitol building, the front of which read “Political society exists for the sake of noble living.” Hmm…
Then we drove back to North Platte, NE. Dan’s parents gave us tons of fresh corn on the cob, picked straight from their farm.
We played with Jerry the dog and Sandy the cat before our final road trip back home. (I think Sandy was a little angel who saved our lives! She nuzzled her ears on me and insisted I pet her for a good half hour.)
Finally we headed back home.
Passing through Hillrose, CO, the highway shut down and we were redirected to a small town off I-76. “Wtf?” we wondered.
Shocked, we saw that the town had been partially destroyed by what looked to be a tornado. The damage looked recent.
Large trees were knocked over, ripped out by the roots, leaves scattered across the road. One tree had smashed through a building rooftop.
An entire corn field was flooded, the leaves torn to shreds.
As we passed through the town at a snail’s pace, a long line of traffic in front of us, people stood outside their small rural homes. Looking confused, they surveyed the damage outside.
An ambulance, fire truck, and others were working to clear the scene. The road was flooded with muddy, milk chocolate-colored water.
Dan and I saw large pieces of metal scattered throughout a field. We saw a semi truck flipped on its side.
“It HAD to have been a tornado!” we agreed. We googled, seeing if there any news on the tornado in Hillrose, CO.
Whatever the storm was, it appeared we had just missed it. If we’d left for our drive sooner, we might have found ourselves smack in the middle of a fucking tornado!
God bless my angels, who are always magically working to keep me out of deep shit.
Thankfully, the news reported no fatalities and no major injuries.
Property and material things can always be replaced… human lives cannot!
As we continued driving home, half of the sky — to the left — was almost pitch black from storm clouds. The other half, to the right, the sun was peeking through.
Seemed like two different worlds.
“We’ll be fine,” I declared. And we were.
We made it safely home… and now we’re planning our next trip to Tulum, Mexico!
Talk soon,
Michelle Lopez
Anti-Marketing Manifesto
P.S. The severe whether reminded me of my trip to New York two years ago. There was a massive snowstorm while I was there, which people called “the worst snow storm in history.” I didn’t waste a single iota of energy worrying about it. My flight wasn’t cancelled and I still made it home on time.
We have extraordinary power over our environment, our lives, and results! Don’t ever be a victim to your circumstances. Instead, create the “miraculous” experiences you want to have. This goes for your business results, too!
Michelle Lopez Boggs is a copywriter, copywriting mentor, and author of "The Anti-Marketing Manifesto: How to Sell Without Being a Sellout." She's helped her clients sell millions of dollars' worth of products and services online by using the MEI(S) principle — motivate, educate, and inspire, and sell. 