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Published: September 14th 2010
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Entry 33: Medicine Bow National Forest, Wy. drive to East Moline, Illinois
Tuesday, August 31 - Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010 At a Loss For Words... Well, I’m almost out of adjectives to describe the 100s of pleasant scenes that I’ve witness over the Chicago to Seattle travelblog. This is a good thing—running out of creative ways to say “expansive vista”—because the trip was quickly winding down after 6 weeks of traveling.
Leaving the Medicine Bow National Forest, I was due for an all-day drive. I got out at around 10 a.m., driving back to Interstate 80 in Eastern Wyoming. In 40 short minutes, I was in the small town of Laramie, hoping for some form of an all-you-can-eat buffet (besides the availability of music, the only other benefit of spending time in the vehicle). I had slightly over 1,000 miles to go, and I still needed to find Jennifer a gift (I’d been looking throughout, but had not found anything suitable…).
There were no buffets in Laramie, so I jumped back on the highway, heading east to Cheyenne, where I spent over an hour walking through a large antique store looking for a gift
(to no avail…). I filled my big-ass Travel America mug with some truck-stop coffee, and jumped back on the highway, entering my 10th state of the trip: Nebraska.
I wish that I could say that I remember anything from the drive, but I imagine I spent the time reflecting back on all the places that I had seen—the National Parks (Theodore Roosevelt, Glacier, Olympics, North Cascades), towns (Seattle, and numerous small towns), and forests (many nights of excellent National Forest camping).
I drove and drove and drove and drove. North Platte, Kearney, Lincoln, Omaha. Corn and trucks, trucks and corn. And, for the first time, cops stationed at blind spots on the Interstate.
Finally reaching Iowa, the sun began to set in Council Bluffs. It was around 10 or 11 p.m.—too late for a hotel (a decompression ritual that I had begun last year). If I’m splurging for a hotel (even the relatively cheap Motel 6), I want to arrive early enough to be able to work on the blog and take several showers. So, tonight was my night to plow through.
Rest Stop Rest… Driving along through Iowa, dodging cops
and being glad that I didn’t have to witness the surely boring, boring scenery. For 211 miles, I soldered on, finally stopping at an Iowa rest stop at around 3-4 a.m.
I pulled out the sleeping bag, placed Sophie the dog in the driver’s seat, producing and excellent and comfortable area for me to stretch out in one of 3 positions: Feet on the headrest, out the rolled-down window, or on the floor near the gas pedal.
I’m the only person I know that can sleep 6 uninterrupted hours at a rest stop.
I woke, stepped into the restrooms for a quick trim on the goatee (I was reentering the real world now, and was still sporting my “mountain man” look…), watch Sophie run around a few minutes, called Jennifer, and jumped back on the road.
It still seemed to take a
long time to cover the 140 miles to East Moline, Illinois. Crossing the Mississippi, I realized that I was only 4 hours from Chicago.
Ahh...They Left the Light on For Me... I pulled into the East Moline Motel 6 (only my 2nd motel in over 6 weeks),
got a $45 room, ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant, and retired to the safety of the room to watch bad TV, work on the blog (writing 4-5 entries), and soaking through 3 baths.
Although I didn’t get too much sleep the previous night at the rest stop, I stayed up late, working through the night…
By this time tomorrow night, I’d be seeing Jennifer back at our Chicago condo…
Thanks for reading the blog…Chicago Dave and Sophie the dog
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