Day 24: Well It's a Dry Heat....

I always thought people were a little off when they talked about the "dry heat" of say, Arizona, vs. the humid heat of the Midwest and South. Now, we understand. It was in the high 80s/low 90s the last 3 days. In the arid West, that would've been hot but bearable. In Minnesota and Iowa, not so much. The heat covers every part of one's body with a clammy, yucky grip. Even if the temp is in the 70s, as it was this morning. We were packed up and gone from our nice RV park by 7AM, and we were dripping. (We can't run our A/C at night--too loud.)

But today, the A/C saved the day. Meant gassing up more often, but oh well. Gas is pretty cheap in these parts: $3.85 and certainly worth the A/C.

We intended to be on the interstate all day today, but that really isn't our style on this trip. We managed to be on I-35S and I-80 for most of the day (taking side trips to see a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Mason City as well as "The Music Man" sites there, as well as seeing Iowa State University in Ames).



We were about 1 hour outside of our destination when we had to switch drivers. Lisa, who had been driving, was falling asleep. Julie, as the passenger, was nodding off constantly. We decided to get the heck off the hypnotic interstate and spend an extra hour taking 2 scenic byways to our destination. Ahhhh. Beautiful, even though a T-storm was brewing. Rolling hills, bluffs, and terraced corn fields. This Illinois girl has never seen terraces for corn. Pretty!




We even stopped at a "Good Eats Restaurant" for 1 scoop of homemade ice cream at one point--yum. Our favorite part of Iowa, though, has been the state DOT rest stops. Several of them are spectacular tourist stops on their own; and all have very nice picnic spots AND wifi! Here's the first one we stopped at, just over the MN border:



Plans are all lined up for tomorrow to visit friends, and then we face the apparently soul-killing drive across Nebraska. We'll figure out a way to make it interesting!