Day 22 - Still heading east...

This was a very, very long day in the car. We managed to pack up and leave the hotel before in record time! We were on the road by 9am Central Time, which for us is an accomplishment. I’m liking these “breakfast included” stops. We decided to forego camping and stay in some Best Western hotels on the way back. They aren’t terribly expensive and breakfast is provided which means it’s one less meal to make/think about for me. The cooler is at the bare minimum now and we are just heads down driving at this point.

I did look up Nebraska on the AAA site and there really aren’t many captivating points of interest to warrant hopping off the highway for, especially because we are trying to cover some pretty significant miles. I will say, it was not as boring to drive through Nebraska as we thought it might be. The corn fields are actually kind of a nice change to the barren fields and cow pastures of some of the other states. In some cases, the farmers plowed designs into some of the corn fields. Not sure if there was on purpose or if it was just to keep it interesting. Either way, we enjoyed the sights and it did help keep us more interested during the ride.

Nebraska also is kind of creative with the highway overpasses. Some of them are these intricate architectural designs, usually monuments of some sort, but still interesting none the less. Also, on the more mundane overpasses we would see windsocks; guess the winds in Nebraska are so strong it warrants notification to drivers. The coolest thing we saw in Nebraska though was a helicopter rigged with special wings for dusting the crops. It was so impressive to watch it fly so low over the fields and make such tight turns at the end of each pass. The traffic was moving a little slower at this point so we were able to watch it make 3 passes…it was very cool.

From Nebraska we moved into Iowa. Kind of more of the same as far as the landscape is concerned. Still not nearly as uninteresting as people had indicated to me. Lots of corn fields and some cattle farms. But, we here we were also entertained by the Iowa crop dusters. They didn’t use helicopters, they use little planes that fly similarly to remote control planes. The way they make tight turns and go into stalls at super low altitudes is really impressive. We watched one plane that looked as though it was going to run straight into some power lines. But, it gently dipped below the lines so nonchalantly we knew they must have done this 1,000 times before. The planes fly so low over the corn that you can almost see the spray landing on the crops. Truly amazing to watch the whole process. It does make you think a lot though about how many chemicals are on our foods. It was a good teaching moment though. The kids will be washing their fruit from now on without me asking ;-)

Another semi-interesting thing in Iowa were the wind-powered mills. In other states, these wind farms were usually off in the distance. In Iowa they are right along the highway in some cases. Driving right by them gives you such a perspective in the enormity of these things. Often, we would see tractor trailers driving down the highway with just one blade on the flatbed. It was HUGE! It kind of looked like a giant rib from a whale. We would see multiple trucks drive by with just the blades. Never saw the main shaft. Wonder how many trucks would be needed to move one of those?!?! One interesting thing the kids noticed is that not all the windmills are spinning. Some would be standing stock still, even during strong winds. We never did find out why. That is something to research when we get home. 

Late in the afternoon we crossed into Illinois. Iowa was our last big, long state to travel through on the road home. Our destination was just west of Chicago, traffic permitting. It’s hard to be traveling like this and not forget that the weekdays still celebrate rush hour. We were approaching the Chicago area just at 6:30pm and I was really concerned that we were going to hit the same traffic we managed to get ourselves locked up in on our way out west. Thankfully, we were far enough outside that it didn’t affect us. Found the hotel and checked in by 8pm. The kids wanted to swim, but we still hadn’t eaten dinner. Off we went in search of food. Not sure if this hotel thing is more cost effective or not. Using hotels over campsites is taking 2 days off the trip, but the food stops can be brutal. I can’t wait to get home and eat fresh fruits and veggies again!!!! Our cuisine for this night was Thai, just for something different. Not bad, but not like home.

Back at the hotel, Mark took the kids for a swim while I prepared for the next day’s travel and sleeping. The time change is making this a little tricky because the kids just aren’t hungry or tired on a schedule. I, on the other hand, can fall asleep in a moment if given the chance. It’s finally dark at a normal hour. I’m hoping they will be tired soon.