Browncoats of the Corn

Sun Jun 10 - After  a leisurely morning doing laundry and just hanging out with our friends, we headed north to Iowa. We saw lots more of - you guessed it - corn. Who knew there was so much corn in this country? Today was much hotter and humid, we were trying to beat a forecasted thunderstorm. We arrived under threatening clouds but no rain, and had an authentic Iowa Italian dinner with our Browncoat friend :) After looking at the forecast weather patterns, we should manage to miss any storms - thankfully no tornadoes!

We came to the realization that the travel times that the AAA TripTik had given were off by quite a bit. Thankfully the GPS on our phones (Google-based) is very accurate.  We realized there was no way we were going to drive 13 hours tomorrow, so we figured out we were going to have to cut out our side trip to Colorado Springs. We changed our hotel reservations from 2 nights in CO to a night in NE and one in WY, and added a night in Reno, NV (best to not drive 3 hours through the mountains after 8 hours in the desert!) We're still on track for our two nights in SLC for the major Browncoat shindig. :)

Crossing the Mississippi

Sat June 9 - Leaving Indiana early, we crossed into Illinois. Still saw lots and lots of farmland, rolling hills and fields of corn, soy and other crops. We crossed our first time zone line into Central Time (a bit disappointed that there was no marker or indication of it.) We stopped at a Tourist Information Center just inside Illinois and talked with the agent there. Her name was Molly, and she was a hoot! So friendly and helpful, she let me behind the counter to take a picture of the white squirrel poster - Olney, IL, the home of a population of white squirrels (albino grey squirrels) that are protected (they have the right of way in traffic) as well as celebrated. She also gave us a bottle from Route 66 Beer (root beer) since we were near the beginning of the historic Route 66. That was especially meaningful, since we'll be living near the other end of Route 66 in California! She talked our ear off before we were able to leave, but was just so nice, we felt very welcome. Other major events for us were spotting the world's largest catsup bottle and world's largest free-standing cross (Collinsville and Effingham, respectively.)

We took a slight detour through St. Louis to get a peek at the Gateway Arch - Lil' BC tried to jump into the Mississippi while Carol was shooting the picture - guess he doesn't appreciate the fact our car's AC doesn't work - it's getting a bit warm. We continued through Missouri, and stopped at another Tourist Information center. This time, we found an older gentleman who was, oddly enough, an avid Red Sox fan! (small world, eh?) He regaled us with stories of trips to Boston with his grandkids - wonder if talkativeness is a requirement for the Tourist Centers? He was fun, though.

We arrived in Kansas City, MO about dinner time (today's drive was one of our longest for the trip) and were treated to - of course - barbecue! We crossed over into Kansas to a place called Brobeck's for some of the best baby back ribs and burnt ends (BBQ beef brisket) we'd ever had. We topped off the evening with some homemade cobbler and another viewing of "The Court Jester"with our friends.

Heartland

Thu & Fri Jun 7 & 8 - We had no idea that our friends lived in such a rural area! After a jaunt through Indianapolis (for the requisite Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts) we drove north into serious farmland. It was interesting to see how the roads were numbered and laid out in one-mile grids. The corn is still very short, as we are early in the growing season, apparently, so visibility was amazingly far. Our friends had bought an old farmhouse and had done some serious remodeling and renovating - it was gorgeous! We got the full tour, and relaxed, catching up with our friends. As it got dark, we enjoyed seeing the fireflies and listening to the SILENCE - not a hint of traffic noise, and sooo many stars!!
The only down side to today's travels was that Fred (our plant) was seriously wilted by the afternoon heat in the car. After some discussion, we decided to leave Fred with our friends (as foster plant parents) for his survival's sake. After a hearty breakfast, we set off to another friends' house. This time, the house was in a more suburban area, but still lovely and relaxing.
One amusing thing we noted on the drive - we saw a number of sets of signs and sights in odd juxtaposition - like the "No Passing" sign next to the graveyard...

Blue skies, finally!

Wed June 6 - A beautiful morning, blue skies and sunshine, as we drove through more rolling farmland of Ohio. We saw a giant wicker basket, which turned out to be the home of Longaberger. As we passed Columbus, all of a sudden, the land was flat as far as we could see. Shortly after entering Indiana, we realized that we'd already driven 1000 miles - almost 1/4 of the way already! We made it to our friends' home in the early afternoon, and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and evening.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Through Amish Country

Tue June 5 - We set out this morning heading westward through the rolling farmland of Pennsylvania. We wove through the Allegheny Mountains, and several looooonng tunnels. We made a slight detour (and several circles through downtown) to Pittsburgh to pick up our Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts. We were amused to see that Pittsburgh had two funicular (elevated tram cablecars on their hills) just like the one in Orvieto, Italy. We also discovered that natives of Pittsburgh call themselves (no joke) Pittsburghers.

Heading west into Ohio, (after a brief 10 minute passage through West Virginia) we drove though more farmland and lake country. After arriving at our next stop, our friends took us to an Amish restaurant - great broasted chicken, and especially good was the peanut butter/honey spread they had on the tables.

Westward Ho!

Mon June 4 - after tossing a few last minute things in the pod, we headed west. We got to New York City in time for lunch with Len's son Ryan. He took us to John's Pizza in Greenwich Village - awesome authentic New York pizza. After lunch, we grabbed some New York bagels and cream cheeses. Even though it was only half a dozen blocks or so in New York City traffic to get into the Holland Tunnel, it was MORE than enough of an 'experience' to make us glad to be on the highway.

We made it unscathed through the Holland Tunnel and continued west - through New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. Despite off and on drizzle we made it safely to our first stop. We shared a lovely dinner with our friends, and watched "The Court Jester."

The Migration is about to begin...

It's almost all packed - laundry is done, addresses changed, farewells said.
Now just to try and regain a bit of our energy for the 4200 mile drive. Thankfully, we have a route planned that will hopefully allow that, as well as time to relax and refresh with friends.