Heartland Roadtrip..Day 1

18 days, 3684 miles, 8 states...why? Well, it's been a few years since I did a good old fashioned road multi-week road trip and I felt in that sort of mood! The last few years I have either flown to a particular destination, or driven to and from a particular destination. Since I had 18 days off (plus one to recuperate upon arrival home!), I thought it would be a spectacular time of year to explore a new region and visit friends and family along the way, some of whom it had been way too many years since I had seen! So, I plotted out my route (Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and back to Michigan!), contacted everyone on the route, my usual research on "things to see and do", packed and was off!

Friday September 30 did not start out as an ideal weather day! I was quite surprised at how blustery it was! As I neared Chicago for a lunch date with old friend, Jan, I heard reports of Lakeshore Drive being closed to pedestrians as the near shore waves on Lake Michigan were at 20 to 25 FEET and furling large blocks of cement and debris on to Lakeshore Drive! Oh, how I wished to go downtown to check that out! But common sense took over and I looked at the clock (early afternoon) and with over 300 miles to go, and being Friday, I decided that it was not the best idea.

So, south I drove! And actually, the further south I got on I 55, the better the weather got! The clouds began to break up and the winds died down. Near Kankeekee I spotted not a wind farm, but a wind metropolis! There must have been a few hundred! I was so mesmerized that I wished I hadn't discard the brochure about wind farm tours! Oh well, another time!

Traffic thinned as I turned off onto 72 and was in farm country. Dozens of farmers were in their tractors harvesting, soy and corn. I thought about stopping, but darkness was coming and I was fairly certain that I would have the opportunity to check harvesting out more later in the trip, especially in Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. (I was correct on that one!)

That evening, I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets that I have seen in my entire life! And definitely the most panoramic view I have ever had, except for perhaps while on a large body of water or the tundra, both of which locations lend themselves to some pretty fantastic sunsets! Unfortunately, my camera was safely packed away in a pretty inaccessible place, and I really wanted to get to Hannibal, Missouri before it got really late. I really regret that decision that I did not stop! I used my phone (as best I could going 70mph) to at least capture the colors! The sun sunk below the horizon directly in front of me, a glowing deep red fireball. The sky was devoid of any clouds and purples, pinks, peaches, yellows, all just painted the evening sky in lovely layers like a prism! For a few moments I was so mesmerized that I actually considered cancelling
my reservation and pulling off and spending the

night in the fields that flanked the highway so I could continue to be amazed at the colors and the darkness that was taking over. Since the night was clear, I was certain that millions of stars would be twinkling overhead and how serene would that be to just lay back and gaze at the heavens. Sigh. But common sense interrupted my daydream and I continued on, but I do wish I would have stopped for even 30 minutes! You can be certain my next vehicle will have a large moon roof so that if I want to camp out, in or outside of my vehicle, you can bet I will!

650 miles later, I crossed the Mississippi River and pulled in to Hannibal Missouri. Not realizing this was a small, sleepy town, I was fortunate enough to find one tiny restaurant still open at 8pm! So, the moral of today's journey was, STOP and see the sunset!