Indiana and Iowa: At 7:30am we drove to
Highland Park and ate breakfast with Laura "Danger Nose" Christianson (Williams ’11). The diner was spacious and apparently
famous. Some combination platters were
listed as “Obama’s Favorites,” and Tim got one as if to demonstrate his lack of
independent thinking. (I, by contrast,
got the “Glenn Beck Special,” which just FELT like it had more integrity, you
know?) The wait staff was curt but
efficient. My order of three eggs and
corn beef hash was met with a resigned head shake. There was no corn beef hash to be found here,
nor would there ever be. Driving out of
Chicago we saw mist on the buildings. Eventually got on US Route 20, which was very scenic and
very “Midwest.” Drove on it for approximately 700 hours. At some point the cruise control went on strike due to harsh working conditions. Hillier
than expected but still satisfying corn country. Shiny metal mills and silos. Stopped on a whim at Ulysses S. Grant’s house, which we would have
seen more of had there not been a suggested donation. Galena, IL. “Galena” means “sulfide of lead”
in Latin, which is much more forgiving than
“sulfide of lead.” Mrs. Grant was
incidentally very ugly and there were only pictures and sculptures of her all
around. Crossed the mighty Mississippi,
which Tim immediately called “unimpressive.” He recanted before we’d crossed to the other bank. Monstrous looking rainstorm in Iowa turned out not to be that bad. 600 hours later we checked into our campsite in Sioux City and were "greeted" by a park ranger (?) who shook our hands but didn't give us his name and was hugely obese and chain smoked cigarettes. "Only YOU can prevent (or start) forest fires!" We called him "Ranger Rick" but not to his face and we never saw him again. Cooked a delicious repast and were confronted by two baby raccoons. They would have been cute if they hadn't been so terrifying. We went to bed reasonably early and Tim DIDN'T SNORE! We got showers in the morning (SHOWERS!!!) and set off.
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