Leaving the West behind

Greetings from Des Moines, Iowa! I made it to my ideal destination today and am oh-so-happy to be here.

First thing this morning, I drove into downtown Cheyenne and got my soy latte. That alone would be enough to set the tone for an upbeat day, but I was even more fortunate. The Starbucks was only a few blocks from the Wyoming Capitol Building, which is absolutely lovely. I spent fifteen minutes walking Toby around various state buildings. He even got to chase a squirrel, which made everything right in his world as well. The sky was mostly blue, and it promised to be a good driving day. But apparently the weather gods, who have been so solicitous of my journey thus far, decided to take the day off today.


We weren’t that far out of Cheyenne, when the sky began to look a little ominous. When we stopped at the “Sidney Eastbound Rest Area” a hundred miles from Cheyenne (a very nice rest area, I might add), rain was looking imminent. And eventually it came. And then it decided to stay awhile. We had rain until mid-afternoon, but luckily for us it wasn’t ever very heavy. Several times I had to turn the wipers to the fastest speed, but otherwise visibility was fine. The main trouble with the rain was that it made the world around me seem very small and closed in. For much of the day, no distant vistas were to be had, even grey ones. I was cautiously optimistic when we had a few non-rainy patches, and then quite happy when the rain stopped for good. The skies remained overcast the rest of the day, but at least I could see into the distance once again.

Even though the weather gods abandoned us for a while, the motel gods took up the slack. I am staying at a very nice Motel 6 tonight. One doesn’t usually put Motel 6 in the “very nice” category, but this one is. It is tucked between a Marriott’s and a Candlewood Suites in an office park kind of area west of Des Moines. After two nights of noise (the first room was a stone’s throw from I-80 and the second half a stone’s throw from a railroad track), I now find myself in a quiet room on the second floor (interior corridors here!), which is on the other side of the building from the interstate. It feels like a little bit of heaven. I even have a bathtub tonight!

I don’t know if it was the latte this morning or the extra hour of sleep, but I managed a longer driving day today. I stopped for gas twice, visited a Wal-Mart for some supplies and a McDonalds for a cup of coffee.

Not much to report scenically. I saw quite a few mini oil wells in western Nebraska, which is mostly rangeland. There were also numerous isolated (and very picturesque) small windmills pumping water for cattle. Much later in the day, I passed several large-scale wind farms. At some point today, I left the rangeland of the west and entered rolling farmland. The landscape is much more “civilized” here but no less beautiful. When I crossed the Missouri River and entered Iowa, we left the west behind.


I suppose I should mention that Toby continues to settle into the trip. He was pretty mellow today and is totally sacked out as I write this. Besides chasing the squirrel this morning, the highlight of his day was getting a surprise for dinner. He is not a food-oriented dog and has been on a hunger strike since we left Friday morning. When I was at the Wal-Mart, I bought a couple of pouches of Ol' Roy’s Mini-chunks with Gravy. When he smelled the “Savory Chicken Dinner” hidden under his kibble, he dove in with a vengeance. He has been a surprisingly good travel companion.


Highlights of the day: The Capitol Building in Cheyenne. My latte (simple pleasures and all that). Driving behind a sheriff who was stuck behind a semi that wouldn’t budge out of the fast lane. (The sheriff rode the truck’s tail for miles. I was sure the guy would get a ticket, but Midwesterners are mellow people. Eventually the trucker moved over and the sheriff went on his way.) Crossing the Nishnabotna River twice - another great name! A little bit east of Omaha, I was listening to the Counting Crows and heard the song Omaha – “somewhere in middle America.” And so we are.


Total mileage for the day: 631.6
Total time in the car: 9 1/2 hours
Total mileage so far: 1712 (only 1400 miles to go!)
Destination tomorrow: Hard to say. Somewhere between Chicago and Cleveland, depending on traffic.