Driving across Iowa

The truck next to me kept starting his engine every hour for 5-10 minutes so needless to say I didn't sleep too well. It was even on the cool side, but no rain fell.

The rain waited until we were almost done with our morning walk in George Wyth Memorial state park, a small marshy area off the Cedar River. The sky was dark so there was no spectacular sunrise, and walking through the thick forest canopy was like an evening stroll. Highway 218 rolled nearby, too.

Still, this area around Waterloo was nice. The 52-mile Cedar Valley Nature Trail rolls through here, a paved multi-use trail.

It didn't begin to rain hard until almost 8am, when we were finishing our two-mile walk. I got back on US20 westward, stopped briefly at the Pioneer Village in Fort Dodge and resumed my drive. I didn't go inside the village ($6) because it was not a true village, but rather a reconstructred village. I lost my satellite radio connection here, switched to Iowa Public radio and got to hear about the local news: it was a year ago this week that Iowa rivers crested in the state's most recent floods that destroyed the state's corn harvest. Rivers still show heavy erosion along their banks. Any more rain and there may be a repeat as many fields are flooded again. Iowa is also thinking about using Eminent Domain to seize 40 acres from a woman's property to build a reservoir. Despite all of Iowa's recent rains the state needs more water. Apparently there are many polluted lakes and streams in this state due to agricultural run-off.

News about nuclear North Korea, riots in Iran over the rigged elections, Obama's healthcare reform all are making headlines on NPR

US20 had been a divided highway up to this point, resembling an old interstate section despite its rumbling plates. Here the area was the flattest section of Iowa, and I decided to go southward from Sac City toward Onewa and the Lewis and Clark SP, a site the explorers allegedly camped at in 1804.

South of Sac City I drove on IA175 through some pretty rolling hill country, the beginnings of the Loess Hills, fertile ground of soybeans and corn and dramatic backdrops. The sky opened up at 11:30 and with it the temps began to rise, making Sadie pant again. Farmers wearing blue jean overalls were out feeding their dairy cows. The entire country smelled like Bavaria: cow shit!

I enjoyed seeing several barns in Iowa with painted patchwork logos on the front. This is the first state I've seen barns painted in such a matter. I had to think of Kevin who says that Kansas is beautiful. Although I did find Kansas pretty, I must one-up him and say that Iowa is prettier

I thoroughly enjoyed this drive today, but wanted more breaks to walk around. The rain prevented that from happening, so I just drove on. When we made it to the Lewis and Clark State Park the sun was out blazing. The vistor's center was closed for remodeling and since there was not much else to do I proceded west into Decatur, NE, crossing the Missouri River on a narrow steel toll bridge. I surprised the aged attendant, paid my 75 cents and continued north on US75 along Nebraska's Lewis and Clark Trail, a scenic ridge drive through the Omaha and Winnebago Indian reservations with partial views of the eastern valley. The cheapest gasoline I've seen on my westward journey was in NE Nebraska: $2.48

I made it into Sioux City at 3:30pm, in the heat of the day. Sadie was tired so I parked in the shade of a building off 4th Street and had dinner at a beer bar where I had two micros and a cheeseburger, telling myself I can't be eating like this every night. I talked to a couple at the bar, Rick and Julie Hollson. She's from SC but Ricks from CA and a micro-brewer himself. Bot love to travel and try out brewpubs along the way. People of my own heart! They rattled on names about good brwpubs to try while in the Black Hills later this week, and recommended a few in WY.

"Jackson, WY is upscale, Harrison Ford has a home there and you see millionaires fly into town in their personal jets. But they do have a good brewpub there!" That is well-noted.

I could have chatted longer with these people but I wanted to get a few more miles behind me. I got off exit #4 on I-29 to walk a trail of the Adams Nature preserve and took Sadie on a fast-paced walk to the river before sundown. Dark clouds were forming north of us.

When we got back to the van 90 minutes later I learned that there were "circulatory clouds reported near Yankton, SD" said the weather announcer on 93.1 FM and kept repeating a tornado warning for that area through 9:30pm. "This is no joke" said the male voice, "we hve reported winds up to 60mph and that is damaging winds"

By 11pm the storm blew over me and calmed down.

I drove 718 miles sofar since leaving Crown Point: 355 yesterday alone. Now that I am in SD I plan on less driving and more walking/hiking