We traversed over 650 miles today including stretches in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska. I shutter to think how much corn we saw. Here are my general remarks:
- I knew I was going to see a lot of corn fields. ...didn't think I was going to see this many! Illinois seemed to be the most technologically forward. The corn farms that we saw in Illinois looked like the Bugatti of corn producers.
- Every road is exactly the same: long, flat, and surrounded by corn fields with hardly any traffic at all. At some point today, we started celebrating curves and hills. It's entirely possible that we started making roller coaster noises and waving our arms in the air.
- I was beyond excited to get BBQ in Missouri (just north of Kansas City, nonetheless). We researched places along our route and decided to stop in at Boogaloo's in St. Joseph for lunch. Despite being advertised as open, it was closed. So was our second choice, Pinzino's! I was furious. I had McDonald's snack wraps instead. Therefore, Missouri is awful.
- I want a corn field so that I can buy a John Deere combine and a harvester.
- Crossing the Mississippi was cool. When viewed from a bridge, you have to resign to the fact that you won't see it in all of it's glory. Why? Because the cheapest way to make a bridge is to make it as short as possible. ...we crossed the Mississippi at one of it's more narrow points. ...not quite the image the paint in Geography class and on NatGeo.
Tomorrow is the shortest Stage of the entire trip. We're really looking forward to it. Jake is too. It was over 100 degrees in Lincoln, NE today so we refrained from throwing the ball with Jake. Hopefully the temps will be lower tomorrow and we won't have to worry about overheating.
