I drove to MN a couple weeks ago to spend time with family.  Could have flown. Would have been a hell of a lot cheaper, BUT I had two motives:  carry my bike with and camp in the Black Hills on the way back to CO.

Mother Nature had other plans.

There’s been NO rain there all spring. Wierd…seems I am the rain charm.  (See the trend in the last travel posts of mine?  Rain…)  Hardly biked and got rained out in the Black Hills.  Now I’m not opposed to hiking in the rain. HOWEVER, hiking in split pea soup fog/rain, so thick you can’t see the sights, well, that’s a drag.  I did get to putter around Deadwood, SD on the way back. More on that later.

So, for those of you who haven’t driven across the Midwest (1,000 miles each way to my folks) here’s a glimpse:

 

IMG_6532 by you.

 

Nebraska, never as green as this, rain must be stopping here and avoiding MN. 

  • Truck stops with $4.99 Big Boy breakfast specials
  • Truck stops that make the diesel price larger on the sign than unleaded
  • Bad truck stop coffee and bags of cornuts
  • State Parks along the interstate (Many in NB only.  None in South Dakota, very few in Iowa)
  • NB State Parks with swimming beaches (on almost pond sized holes) similar to the ones I grew up swimming in
  • Unbelievable amount of deer carcasses on the side of the Interstate
  • Ginormous semis
  • BIG pickup trucks

 

Then Iowa.

  • Rolling hills, some terraced for farming
  • Green!  (Again, the rain stops there?)
  • Gas stations with an entry through a silo
  • Wind power (see pic below)
  • Signs that point to exits leading to famous covered bridges (mental note: check out someday!)
  • REALLY nice, really clean reststops
  • Mature, treed windbreaks
  • Old red barns next to newer pole barns next to old houses
  • Ginormous semis
  • HUGE pickup trucks

 

There were windmills, in Iowa,  for miles on end, Cool!  Saw some blades being hauled down the interstate.  Perspective is all. They looked MUCH larger driving by.

 

IMG_6550 by you.

 

Took around 16 hrs driving to get to my folks with a sleep-over at a NB State Rec Site.  Watced/heard a wicked thunderstorm off in the distance. It rained that night but not the heavy storm that must’ve pelted homes in the distance.  Popped in earplugs to block out the interstate noise and slept like a log. (Figured out my sleeping pad’s sprung a leak!  Note…fix it!

Was good to get to family and start my visit!