Corn, Cattle, and Conservatives

Low clouds of Iowa

 I am writing from the Valentine, Nebraska Comfort Inn, which is sandwiched between "The Gun Locker" and a steak house. The past couple of days have been good for the most part but also trying at times. I seem to have found the Bermuda Triangle of the Midwest. Either that, or I can attribute the past two days to what I believe are my Yuri Geller-like spoon bending abilities. Electrical things frequently and inexplicably break in my presence. I was in Iowa where I filled my tank with 10 gallons of gas. When I turned my nearly new car on, the gas gauge didn't rise. I tried to fill it again but couldn't, so I assumed that the gauge was broken and the gas tank was full. I started to drive again and the gas gauge dropped. I immediately pulled over to buy yet another 10 gallons of gas and this time the gas gauge rose. I should also mention that my credit card was simultaneously shut off when this happened. I know this story is tedious, but if anyone can solve this riddle, I'd welcome any explanations. My midwest curse continued when  (mom and dad, don't read the next sentence), I was pulled over in Nowhere, Nebraska and given a speeding ticket. This area was so unpopulated that I only saw another car every hour or so. I swear, this cop materialized out of thin air.

Besides this drama, my drive was quite normal. Although I have driven cross country three times before, I was pleasantly surprised by the beauty of this one stretch of I80 in Iowa. It brought me back to a bus ride I took in Italy from Florence to Sienna. There are endless rolling hills and instead of the reddish-browns and greens of the Umbrian landscape, the palette leans more towards saturated yellows and greens. The fields are spotted with picturesque cows, tractors, and farm houses. Iowa provided some good weather watching as well. There were times when the dome of the sky was completely filled with dramatic and oppressive cumulonimbus clouds. The clouds almost felt like they were pushing down on the earth like a too-low ceiling. There were also times when I could see a clear line in the sky where two weather fronts met. In Iowa and Nebraska, I have been constantly reminded of the map illustrating where blue and red states are located. Every twenty minutes or so there is a pro-life sign, oftentimes hand-painted. I In addition to the pro-life signs, I spotted several billboards with the words "ADULT STORE" in all capitals nearly filling the picture plane. Below this in parenthesis, it said "For men! And women!"

Anyone who has ever travelled with me or sat next to me during a slide talk knows that I am a talented sleeper, or maybe even a borderline narcoleptic. Driving long distance solo has definitely been a challenge and I consistently take much longer than the estimated driving time on my GPS due to frequent breaks and catnaps. Trying to find ways of entertaining myself during 10 hour driving days has been a challenge. Along with car advice, I also welcome any non-NPR podcast suggestions. My latest podcast recommendation is "Anything Ghost". The first story was aptly about a ghost in Nebraska. I have also listened to hours of Ted Talks, This American Life, and my secret guilty pleasure, Pop Culture Happy Hour.

While in Nebraska, I unfortunately didn't see any ghosts, but I did spend a night in Omaha visiting my friend Kelly and her family. I had my car checked by a mechanic which set me off to a late start and placed me in this odd little town. There are cowboy hat-wearing men walking down the street and the main drag looks like a set from an old Western movie. Tomorrow I hope to sketch in the Badlands, visit Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse, then point my car towards my Sheridan, Wyoming, where I am told it had its first snowfall the other day.

Valentine, Nebraska