April 11, 2004

Iowa!
(and half of Illinois)

Waking up in Wahoo, Nebraska after an evening at the Rodeo Keno Bar, we rolled over, rubbed our eyes, looked out the window, and saw ... SUNSHINE!!! Of course, there was still frost on the Giulietta, and she took a little kickin' to get started (thanks, Lesko, for the emailed starting tip), but after a check of all her vital fluids we were ready to roll:

We have to admit that we were worried about coming up with much interesting material whilst traveling across Iowa, but we were greatly mistaken. For example, here is a shot of a personalized water tower that we encountered in Stanton, IA, an hour east of Omaha, NE:

We hope that you can visualize the sights, sounds, and aromas as we motor along:

Yearning for an off-road excursion because the roads were so freakin' straight, this is the closest thing we could find to an Iowan hillclimb. (Note that the road is dirt, Letourneau.)

Another view through the windshield on the road past the wooden bridge above:

Here's another waterside lunchtime shot for Vi. (That stuff in the background is water, despite its murky color.)

In mid-afternoon, we decided to stretch our legs for an hour or so and found a delightful state park not far off the road. We don't have to tell you what the little red splotch is...

Today's major milestone was ... the crossing of the Mississippi River! Here are a couple of pictures of the event, coming and going:

We simply could not resist a visit to the National Old Threshers Museum. Alas, it wasn't open, and all we got was a picture of this stupid sign.


Culture of the Day

As you can see from above, it was extremely difficult to choose our culture shot from among all of the other cultural attractions that we encountered. But we decided on our visit to the Swedish Heritage Culture Center. Yes, we were driving an Italian car, but apparently the Italians didn't make it any further west than Jersey.

Finally, here is a short video clip taken to give you an idea of what the terrain is like in Iowa. Click here to view the 800KB Windows Media file. (Sorry, Macintosh owners — no Quicktime version.)


Beer of the Day

A couple of temporary bachelors, we were attracted to the label (we're easily amused) and the beer (almost any beer, really) and grabbed a couple. The memory of it was gone about the same time as the beer.

  


So far, the Giulietta is still running fine, averaging in the mid 20s on fuel consumption. But, more importantly, it's a hoot to drive, listen to, and just enjoy.

  

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