Driving home; Indiana and Iowa

Hello Everyone,

We are making our way towards home and this is the tedious part of the trip.  As we did coming out, we try to get an average of 300 miles in each day but allow ourselves leeway if needed to end the day’s travel early.  Whether to just get out of the vehicle or to stop to check out an interesting area you need to be flexible in your travels.

We stayed the night on Friday just east of Cheyenne Wy at a campsite just off the highway.  All the laundry and groceries got done that day and then we rested and recovered from the busy day.  It was pretty loud at the campground from all the interstate traffic.  Ron and I both had ear plugs in in order to block out some of the noise.  It was quite the contrast from the few days before (and from much of our trip actually) where we were in areas that were VERY quiet.  Getting used to these sounds again is a bit of an adjustment.

On the way to Cheyenne, we came through an area just east of Laramie that was quite the climb.  It was a summit with an elevation of 8640 and is the highest point on transcontinental I 80.  What a view!  The area just off to the west was the Medicine Bowl National Forest and it was beautiful and we’ve put it on our list for a future stop....

As we’ve driven along this section we’ve begun to notice vehicles loaded up and even saw one with ‘Boston” written on the rear window.  Apparently, there are lots of people headed back to school :)

We stayed Saturday evening at Wood River, NE and settled in for the late afternoon.  It was VERY hot, too hot to be doing anything active anyway.  The truck thermostat registered 98 at one point!  We made this stop in this area purposely since there were a few nature preserves and recreation areas around but it was simply too hot to go to them after a long day driving.

After closing up camp in the morning, we stopped at the Crane Meadows Nature Center a few miles away.  Unfortunately, it was closed on Sunday but at least the trails were open.  We walked the trails for about an hour and saw lots of birds in the region.  They were, however, very easily spooked and had lots of cover to hide in and were not easy to see.  The property was quite beautiful though with lots of great habitat.  It would be a fabulous place to get new birds during the migration season... 

The walking area was loaded with wild sunflowers which seems to be the predominant wildflower in Nebraska.  They are abundant along the roadside and in the fields and are quite striking and the seeds would be a great source of food for the birds.  We climbed up an observation tower and it gave a great view of the Nature Center but the birds still weren’t cooperating... On our way back to the Nature Building we happened to notice there was activity inside a fenced off section.  There were 4 bison in there! They must have roamed in there when we were birding in the other direction.  The Nature Center advertises that you can see a bison herd but I had forgot about it... These bison appear quite used to people and headed directly towards the fence as Ron approached it... They were impressive to see up close but I couldn’t help but compare them with the wild ones we saw in Wyoming.  I’d much rather see them in that setting than caged up... 

It was getting very hot already and the wind has been picking up today again (20-25 MPH) just like yesterday, so it was time to get traveling.  I was getting our cooler set up for the drive in the camper so Ron went over to the Nature Center building to peer inside.   He happened to notice a swallow nest just above the door with babies inside!  They were very quiet he said until Mom came flying back with food :)

As we drive through Nebraska all you see for miles are acres of cornfields on both sides of the highway!  I’ve never seen so much corn in my life.... They have an apparatus that is set in the fields that irrigates the crops and is quite the impressive machinery.  Ron and I noticed that some of the North Platte River beds were very low (one was even dry at the Nature Center) and realized just how much water is being used to keep these crops healthy.  With temperatures continuing to be in the Nebraska forecast  into the 90’s for the upcoming week, I can’t imagine how much water will be used! 

We crossed over into Iowa and in seemed that the landscape was changing pretty quickly.  The endless flat, miles of cornfields stopped and became gentle, rolling hills and different vegetation and mature trees along the roadside and into the fields that gave made the drive more interesting.  There were still crops but they were broken up with grazing cattle and horses.  It was quite pretty.  However, the relentless heat continued.  It was up into the high 90’s again for the day...

Along this part of the drive we began to see wind turbines that stretched off into the distance.  These wind farms are controversial but both Ron and I think that they are actually quite pleasant to view as they all turn in the breeze... It certainly is a clean source of energy for us as a society to tap into and avoids some of the hazards of other types of energy sources.... 

We spent Sunday evening in Des Moines IA at a state park called Walnut Woods.  I had gathered info at a welcome center which had listed it as a good bird watching area.  It was a beautiful campground next to the Raccoon River.  There aren’t many sites available so we were lucky to get one with full services that allowed us to use the A/C.  After dinner we scoped out the place and made plans to go for a walk around in the AM before leaving.

The hiking paths around the park are very nice and sections of it go through the woods and also along the river.  The best thing about the park is that they have a bird blind set up so you can comfortably see the birds without disturbing them while they eat at the feeders.  It was simply lovely to sit for a while and just observe them.  We saw several juveniles of different species which were very cute to see as they learned their way to navigate this big, wide world they live in....

This park is certainly a hidden gem.  You would never know you were in the middle of a city!  Ron and I have never seen a park in a city like this that had a campground.  That’s the fun stuff about being impulsive and getting information ahead of time so you can take advantage of these places.  We also saw a new squirrel called a Fox Squirrel!  He was so cute and a beautiful shade of red.  Ron has been using the fur from Fox Squirrels for a long time to make some of his fishing flies, but he had never seen one before; it was new to both of us....

We took off at 10 this morning and are heading towards Illinois (Hi Bob and Cam; I miss you!) and should plan to stay the night just west of Chicago... 

Pictures to follow