Corny Tales

Marilyn and her latest hero!

Den's crew

We've traveled through the 3 "I"s - Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, crossed the Mississippi River, changed to Central Daylight Time, and are spending 2 nights in Gretna, NE. Den is watching the LSU and Texas College World Series final baseball game which is being played up the road in Omaha. Have we seen the corn! It started out ankle high in Indiana where there has been too much rain and became almost waist high in western Iowa. The farms, cornfields, and particularly, the barns, have been so picture perfect.

I've been keeping a list of the funny things that have happened on our adventure so it's time to share some corny stuff with you. In South Bend, the smoke alarms went off at our new motel...Den jumped up and tried to turn off the alarm clock and he was all over the room trying to find the right button to push! We evacuated but thankfully, it was a false alarm. It rained alot while we were in South Bend, and Den decided to push the water off the top of his jeep canvas - it all landed on his chest instead of the ground, so he got a good cooling off. We've found out that streets with names, like 220th Avenue, are really gravel roads between section lines, out in the cornfields. Yesterday, we saw a field of longhorns, right in the middle of Iowa. Thought we had taken a turn south! After the rains, one of our dueces (a 2-ton truck) had to pull out our Sheriff's escort that got stuck in the mud on the side of the road. Speaking of the side the road, one of our rest stops was actually in the cornfields - men to the corn, ladies to the RVs! We've stayed in so many motels now that I tried to get in a room with the number from the previous night and couldn't figure out why the door wouldn't open. Then, one evening we heard glass breaking, and Den saw an assault in progress outside the back of the motel - several women were beating up on a man. Classy place!

We were caught by a terrible thunderstorm in Woodbine, Iowa, Tuesday afternoon. Today we found out that the National Weather Service clocked winds at 73 mph. The main convoy was able to shelter safely in the town, but Den and the maintenance crew got caught on the road as they were still approaching town after dealing with a broken down vehicle. Hail was blown sideways through Den's jeep, but all of them made it into town, soaking wet but unharmed. Many trees were blown down in town, but no injuries were reported. Entire fields of corn were laid over, but they should straighten up according to the farmers driving in the convoy.

We've enjoyed our trek through the farming heartland, and we are glad to see the corn growing tall. At one time, the convoy numbered over 100. We've been surprised by numerous windchargers we've seen on the farms. We are beginning to be stopped by lots of long coal-carrying trains. We've travelled more than half-way on our journey, and we received our commemorative pin this morning. It will take us 2 more nights on the road to cross Nebraska.

More later on our next "rest" day - love to all, Marilyn