Five States and Over Eight Hundred Miles
The second and third days were primarily just putting the miles down. I left Tennessee Monday(8/20/18) morning and arrived just north of Sioux City, Iowa this Tuesday afternoon(8/21/18). I think that I have calluses on my hand from holding the steering wheel so long. I am so close to South Dakota, that I will reach it by 9:00 am in the morning(actually I was less than 10 miles away). I will arrive in the Badlands, SD a day earlier than originally planned. In my original planning, I thought that 300-350 days would be long. Then I realized, what else do I have to do but drive.
A little while after leaving Tennessee, I decided on a quick detour to Paducah, Kentucky. After all, I am driving to see America and Paducah did not disappoint. I saw a town that was once a very busy and bustling town right on the river. Back into the olden days, river towns were the crossroads on America. I drove down to the “art district” and walked around a bit.
Wonderful local restaurant in Paducah Kentucky
They are doing a lot to rejuvenate the town, but it is in south west Kentucky. It was getting to be lunch time, so I saw someone walking down the street with “Doggy Bags”, so I had to inquire. They were locals and recommended Kirchhoff’s. The food was great and I now understand why all of the locals eat there.
Boy, I have never seen so much corn in my life. Who eats all of this stuff? I guess the pigs and cows as well as the ethanol plants. There was corn in every state, but Missouri and Iowa were blanketed with it along with soy beans. Once I got to South Dakota, I continued to see corn in the fields and also at the gas pump.
Monday, (second day) it was raining all day, so. I decided to bag camping and stayed at the Drury Inn in Columbia, MO. That was really luxury. A nice, big hot shower and free breakfast got me raring to go on Tuesday morning. I made it to Kansas City within a couple of hours and then headed north west to St. Joseph and Omaha. The landscape really flattened out once I got past St. Joseph. I skirted Omaha and went right through to Sioux City.
As the last two days have been nothing but interstate surfing, there is not a lot to write about. I did treat myself to a Chik-fil-a sandwich today once I got passed 1,000 miles. I love how you can drive a half of the way across the country and still get the best quick service sandwich there is. Oh, I also cheated tonight and picked up a 6 inch turkey on wheat from Subway for supper at the campsite.
Tuesday night I stayed at Stone State Park, just north of Sioux City. A quaint campground deep in the woods. There are less than fifteen campsites and much fewer level ones. I found a good one, however, I think it is a couple of degrees off level. I have the Sportz Cove set up with a view into the deep forest. I can have the Sportz Cove set up within five to ten minutes. I have recorded a time lapse video of me setting it up, however, I do not have the bandwidth to upload it.
view out of the back of the CRV
BTW, the blood suckers here are just as aggressive as those back home. I am learning how to quickly dive into the back of the CRV. You should see this sixty eight year trying to be quick and nimble.
On another note, I had intended to generate a video log of my trip. I have since realized that this takes a lot of effort. Especially, if I wanted to show all of the interesting corn fields and … the corn fields. I just ddi not want to stop every once in a while to set up another camera to capture B roll images, nor did I want to interrupt my effort to get in the miles. Maybe when I have an easy day, I can spend time piecing together the many different events of the trip. I have come to really appreciate those YouTubers who Vlog all of the time. It really takes a good deal of planning and effort.
One comment on “Five States and Over Eight Hundred Miles”
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Hank Edwards
The Value of Experience 
This is awesome!! I’m glad your getting done good miles!
Can’t wait to read more!