Westward Ho! Day 2: Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska

A long day of driving for about 11 hours which saw begin the day by bidding adieu to Elkhart, Indiana, after a throughly disgusting Perkins brand breakfast. We then set ourselves on the road, travelling through two and a half of our United States until we eventually came to rest just off the interstate in Kearney, Nebraska, home of the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument. (most would proabably recognize this as the location of Jack Nicholson's denoument in About Schmidt.)

What in effect has become a journey down Interstate 81, we passed through one timezone from Eastern Standard into Central (-1 hour) and through the rolling hills of Indiana to the flatlands of Nebraska. It was a ride full of rains, sunshine, cornfields, plains and wide open horizons. I greatly enjoy being able to see the "end of the world" 360 degrees around you... there is something about being under a big sky that makes a man feel less small.

I've also come to realize that somewhere on this long national interstate is a book to be written about how each state has a series of consistently designed service/rest stations ranging from the ridiculously oppulent (Ohio) to the downright rustic (Nebraska). They all serve a purpose (which I've already begun to experience to the fullest!) but it would be interesting to see what they say about the communities in which they reside... what you're probably thinking they "say" about me is that my mind is wandering.

There is much more to share, but it is time to get some shut eye after my next post about running this evening in Kearney, Nebraska. Tomorrow, we make the final four hour or so trek to Cheyanne, Wyoming.

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!