Following a lovely farewell gathering at Quartino last night, went to The Baton and had an interesting time till very late!
A grumpy taxi-driver took me to the car rental place, and I am now custodian of a dark grey Chevy Impala for the next 6 weeks or so. Packed all my goods and chattels into it and hit the road; I was almost hit by a lunatic driver weaving across all 4 lanes just about 2 minutes into the trip! Fortunately he missed me and everyone else. Perfect weather for driving, clear and sunny. The trees through Illinois and into Iowa are all just starting to turn colour, and in the next week or two they will be at their autumnal best, so I have timed my trip well.
Going from Illinois to Iowa entails crossing the Mississippi river - I had not realised quite how wide it is! Iowa is a charming state, gently rolling hills, farmland, lots of trees, grain and soybean all ready for harvest, small farmhouses, barns and silos providing some vertical emphasis in the landscape. I don't know why it has the reputation of being flat!
Roadkill in the US is bigger than in the UK - today I saw several skunks, a couple foxes, a raccoon, and a large deer. None of them seemed to have crows in attendance, also unlike the UK, where they feast on the fallen and hardly notice the cars zooming by.
I arrived at my destination in good time, just as Tim and Becky came home from the football match they had been at in the morning. Tim and Becky Kresowik work with colleagues at the AMA on measure development, and are very kindly hosting me tonight. Early in the evening, we all went to an Obama fundraiser BBQ, full of teeshirts, badges, posters, and very enthusiastic supporters both of Obama and the local Democrat candidates. Excellent pulled-pork and beans, and of course - apple pie!
Tomorrow - westward ...!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I'm going to enjoy reading this!
Hey Sheila
This is the 1st blog ive ever read (no. really is) i'm really looking forward to keeping up with your travels as your life never seems to have a dull moment in it! You take care and by the way doe it really read pulled then had pork n beans......... :-)
I have been waiting for some sort of political comment and at last one is included. Contains no surprises of course! I am going to enjoy this - keep it up Sheila. Jacky
Hi Sheila! Sounds like you're off to a great start. If you think the Mississippi is big in the Midwest you ought to see it in New Orleans...Funny though, I was in St. Paul, MN a couple of weeks ago and was shocked at how puny it is up there, relatively speaking. Reminds me of a time when I was a kid and we took a family trip to the Adirondacks, where the mighty Hudson River (2 miles wide in my hometown near NYC) was a small creek you could wade across...Happy travels and don't hit any elk!
Post a Comment