Day 2 of the Adventure!

Ok -- Comfort Inn is nice. We spent a nice night 40 miles east of Des Moines and woke up to a crisp, clear fresh world. I had a real treat at checkout. The gal comes out to take our keys and trudging at her heals is a sweet little black lab pup, maybe 9 weeks old. "Ohhh let me see!" I exclaimed, up she came onto the counter-top and into my arms. I was immediately immersed in puppy kisses, wiggles, nibbles and even a hug -- how sweet.

There's all these fat round silos with a small "house" on top, windows, peaked roof and all. Maybe that's where the missile control room is located. A guy is just sittin there waiting for the signal. He better bail out in time though or that rocket'll come right up his ...... Maybe they gave him an ejector seat.

I love seeing trucks carrying trucks. Hey guys, load those suckers up and make 'em carry their own weight!

Crosses by the side of the road, marking where some one had a fatal accident -- you see them here and there, little white sentinels, sometimes with plastic flowers. Lou saw one up in a tree, near an overpass. Does that mean that some poor fool launched himself into a tree???

I just can't tell you how exciting it is to see a guy in a 36 foot long big rig, 13 or so gears, talking on a cell phone, "Hold on -- gotta down shift"

So I'm trying to drink more water today, but Iowa has, oh let me see TWO rest stops in the entire state! So I see an Iowa information sign -- let's go there. Off the freeway we go, turn right and just keep driving up hills, down hills, by old barns and victorian houses -- 6 miles later we're in this little Danish immigrant community and the Danish information center -- they've got you, they're the only game in town, so you go in, use the facilities and start looking around, like you really came to see the shop -- $36.00 later you're back on your way. The T-Shirt and cups are cool though, and the barn pics were worth the side trip. Oh yea, and there was FLOODING everywhere -- guess the rains were fairly torrential -- we laughed to see the Adult Super Store under water -- wrath of God.

Crossing into Nebraska -- up comes that wind again, go figure, I thought Indiana was bad. I've just solved the energy problem, put a few hundred thousand windmills in NEBRASKA! I think sails on the cars would be good too, or some kind of vents to catch the wind and move a turbine -- wind powered cars. Ladies -- have the driver's side window down, while driving west and you get a facial -- we're talking extreme exfoliation! The cops must have a HELL of a time giving sobriety tests -- yeah -- walk a straight line in Nebraska, I dare ya!

Driving across this country you realize that there's really a WHOLE LOT of space. Lots of Room, hardly any people, just a few farm houses and outbuildings sprinkled here and there. Then you start noticing the cattle (and horses for that matter); they've got these HUGE pastures and what do they do??? they gather in one large bovine/equine clump, jostling about and grazing. Man If I was one of those cows, I'd be way over at the other end of the pasture, free of the smell (which is overpowering) and eating clean grass, not the stuff every other cow has urinated on! Have you ever noticed that people are the same as those stupid cows, crowding together in cities and oblivious to the mess??

Dinner was in North Platte, it is not a very blogable experience, it was food, it was ok, nuff said. A coupla hours down the road and we cross over into Wyoming. State lines are MAGIC, all of a sudden you enter a completely different world, new state, new look. Wyoming is treeless, almost shrubless and deserted. There are all these phone and power lines marching off to -- where?? An alien ship could land here in broad daylight and NO ONE would know it. Come to think of it, maybe they have!