For as long as I can remember, I have loved cars. As I have grown older things didn’t change, fast forward 8 or so vehicles I was looking for my next. This time I wanted something sporty that I could take to the local AutoX events, and ideally some tracks around Minnesota (and Wisconsin – I’m talking about you Road America).
After missing out on a local MX-5 I began to expand my search, within a few minutes I was sending an email. I had found THE MX-5 (well it’s not
Thursday afternoon I talked to the owner, and then called Amanda to deliver the message “We need to be in Omaha, Nebraska on Saturday.” Amanda was on it, finding someone to watch the girls, and planning our transport.
Within a few hours, we had exhausted the options of fast travel to Omaha. Last minute airplane tickets were outrageous, driving down and then taking 2 cars home sounded boring. trailering a new convertible home in the middle of summer also didn’t sound very fun. As Saturday morning rolls around, we find ourselves at the Minneapolis Greyhound depot. Yep, you read that right, a bus. We didn’t have high expectations going into the bus ride, but actually, it was quite pleasant! We listened to some podcasts, music, did some reading, and now days having a few hours of “nothing to do” is actually very enjoyable.
After a little bus lunch we arrived in Omaha around 3:30pm, I took the car around the block jumped on the highway with the owner. We chatted about my goals for the car, and his plans for his next car. After we got back, we did the “exchange” on the side of the street in downtown Omaha. With titles and checks in hand, Amanda and I got a quick dinner tip from the previous owner and off we went (top down of course)!
We ended up grabbing some Tacos and Margaritas. If you end up in Omaha check out Hook & Lime.
We then went exploring in Omaha’s Old Market, this was a fun little area and I’d actually love to go back.
With the sun setting, we headed “home” – not our home, but instead my Uncles in Des Moines, IA. This was a perfect halfway spot for us to stop and allowed us to get closer to home (and the girls).
After a late evening chatting and enjoying seeing family we got some much needed sleep. The next morning sipping our caffeine of choice (coffee and Monster) while overlooking the property was really blissful and relaxing. After trying to bring home a flooring sample and realizing that the MX-5 holds basically nothing, we started the trip back to Minneapolis.
A few hours of driving at the speed limit (HA) we made it back to Minneapolis, got the girls, did the “rides around the block”, and parked.
Mission accomplished!