June 20 - From Colorado through Nebraska to Iowa
Thunderstorms during the night helped me sleep very well. I have no idea why I sleep well in thunderstorms but I do. I love traveling and hearing the thunder, seeing the lightening (of course from the inside of a nice hotel room) since that hardly ever happens in Los Angeles. We get hard rain but not thunder and lightening. I awoke at 6:00 AM and the storm had passed but I was still tired. I went back to bed and fell asleep not waking until after 8:00. That was much later than usual and I knew we had a long ride today and we also lost an hour. We ate the breakfast at the hotel and left by 9:15. We drove all the way to Des Moines, IA and got here about 6:30 PM. We drove around 550 miles today. A little more on the weather: The humidity was around 6% in Las Vegas and about 18% in Utah. This morning in Nebraska the dew point was 61%. What a difference!
Last night our room cost a grand total of $46 because of the $50 gift card. Tonight we are staying in a Hampton Inn and we got this room free because of points I had accumulated. Gas prices were quite high and just now we are paying about what we paid at Costco before we left. This is much different than last year when all prices across the country were much lower than LA. Maybe gas is more expensive there as well right now.
Once we left Denver, we entered farmland and that is what we will see all the way to Milwaukee. In the past, we chose to take the longer Northern route because the land is much more interesting through Minnesota and South Dakota. However, it takes more time and we just wanted to drive to Milwaukee quickly. Now, because of Sirius radio and our iPhone music, the time passes very quickly even though the land is all farms. We did pass through the famous Bridges of Madison County and John Wayne’s birthplace. Driving through this part of the country one notices smells - usually fertilizer - which permeate the air. Today we drove past the cows. Yes there were numerous cows grazing in the grassy fields but we also went past cows who were in what Bonnie said was a holding pen which was full of manure. These cows were better than the ones we pass in central California where they are packed in and can’t move. The smell and conditions are still horrendous.
We did have quite a heavy storm in Lincoln, Nebraska and a moderate one a bit farther east. Then there was drizzle off and on. We also had quite a bit of construction but it is Sunday so it didn’t slow us down much. We made pretty good time. Tomorrow it looks like severe storms all the way to Milwaukee. We have about 400 miles left.
Last night we had a nice talk with the woman at the desk. Again I like talking to local people. Bonnie upgraded and input all the names and addresses in the GPS. I must admit that I really like our new one. Presently, our car is represented by a beach ball so we go bouncing down the road. It also not only shows the speed limit but how fast I am going - in red when I go faster than the posted speed. There is a lot more and I am happy we got a new one.
We ate lunch at a fast food place called Runza because we knew we didn’t have time to waste. Bonnie had their signature sandwich which is ground beef, spices, onions and cabbage in some kind of rolled bread. We never have to go back there. Tonight we went to Cracker Barrel and I again had their vegetable plate with my kind of vegetables. Enough said about that. I do that once a trip when we go to that restaurant.
This will probably be my last post for a while since we will be in Milwaukee tomorrow. On the trip back to LA I think we will make some other stops but I think we will take the same route. Plans for Milwaukee include having dinner with Wendy’s family tomorrow night to celebrate Jerry’s birthday, a family celebration in honor of Shelby’s 13th birthday, the National Women’s Music Festival in Madison, Summerfest and Bastille Days. Beside that, we will visit with all family members and friends. It will be a busy time. We will be leaving the week of July 13th.
Last night our room cost a grand total of $46 because of the $50 gift card. Tonight we are staying in a Hampton Inn and we got this room free because of points I had accumulated. Gas prices were quite high and just now we are paying about what we paid at Costco before we left. This is much different than last year when all prices across the country were much lower than LA. Maybe gas is more expensive there as well right now.
Once we left Denver, we entered farmland and that is what we will see all the way to Milwaukee. In the past, we chose to take the longer Northern route because the land is much more interesting through Minnesota and South Dakota. However, it takes more time and we just wanted to drive to Milwaukee quickly. Now, because of Sirius radio and our iPhone music, the time passes very quickly even though the land is all farms. We did pass through the famous Bridges of Madison County and John Wayne’s birthplace. Driving through this part of the country one notices smells - usually fertilizer - which permeate the air. Today we drove past the cows. Yes there were numerous cows grazing in the grassy fields but we also went past cows who were in what Bonnie said was a holding pen which was full of manure. These cows were better than the ones we pass in central California where they are packed in and can’t move. The smell and conditions are still horrendous.
We did have quite a heavy storm in Lincoln, Nebraska and a moderate one a bit farther east. Then there was drizzle off and on. We also had quite a bit of construction but it is Sunday so it didn’t slow us down much. We made pretty good time. Tomorrow it looks like severe storms all the way to Milwaukee. We have about 400 miles left.
Last night we had a nice talk with the woman at the desk. Again I like talking to local people. Bonnie upgraded and input all the names and addresses in the GPS. I must admit that I really like our new one. Presently, our car is represented by a beach ball so we go bouncing down the road. It also not only shows the speed limit but how fast I am going - in red when I go faster than the posted speed. There is a lot more and I am happy we got a new one.
We ate lunch at a fast food place called Runza because we knew we didn’t have time to waste. Bonnie had their signature sandwich which is ground beef, spices, onions and cabbage in some kind of rolled bread. We never have to go back there. Tonight we went to Cracker Barrel and I again had their vegetable plate with my kind of vegetables. Enough said about that. I do that once a trip when we go to that restaurant.
This will probably be my last post for a while since we will be in Milwaukee tomorrow. On the trip back to LA I think we will make some other stops but I think we will take the same route. Plans for Milwaukee include having dinner with Wendy’s family tomorrow night to celebrate Jerry’s birthday, a family celebration in honor of Shelby’s 13th birthday, the National Women’s Music Festival in Madison, Summerfest and Bastille Days. Beside that, we will visit with all family members and friends. It will be a busy time. We will be leaving the week of July 13th.