From Chicago to Minnesota

Yesterday I left Chicago with no real plans and decided to take a detour off my original route.  Instead of going directly from Illinois through Wisconsin to Minnesota I turned off onto 20 and drove through part of Iowa.  The road was so narrow at times and with all of the construction going on I considered many times trying to find a way to get back up to 90.  I was about 100 miles south of where I had originally planned to drive and I'm sure the landscape would have been much different than the flat farmlands I spend 8 hours driving through.  But had I stayed on the original path I would have missed a few sights that I'm very glad I got to see.

When driving 20 through Galena, Il you drive right past Pres. Grant's home.  Even though I'm not much of a history buff, it was pretty cool to see one of the president's homes and be able to walk around for a bit.  I actually almost lost my car keys I got so distracted taking pictures.  Granted I may actually point the finger at a friend who had called me while I was there since I was not able to talk, take pictures and hold everything at the same time.  But no matter I safely found the keys sitting exactly where I left them sitting next to the presidential china (thankfully they had not fallen along the grass since the keychain they are on is green).

Many hours later... when I was really starting to feel I may have made a bad decision on the road I chose to take this little side trip, I started noticing a few things.  First of all Iowa is almost nothing but farms.  I guess I should have known that but for some reason it didn't really hit me until I was driving through what felt like a live version of Farmville.  It was just farm after farm after farm with no end in sight.  And I mean that literally.  The landscape was so flat where I was that I could see straight out all around me for more miles than I knew what to do with.  It wasn't until I started to see a change in the clouds as they started turning grey and the temperature dropped to around 74 when I actually realized that I was driving into a severe weather area with warnings of flash flooding.  Thankfully it was nothing more than that, and I was also lucky to have gotten ahead of the storm before it hit.  It was odd though seeing the dark clouds miles off and then just over head, and being able to feel the change was wild.  Of course it wasn't until after I pass the dark menesing clouds when the rain hit and I was driving at about 30 as all of the other Iowa drivers were keeping up with the speed limit of 70mph.  Man when that rain hit I don't know how they were able to see while driving at that speed. It was crazy.

I will say that the quick 10 minute rain was more than enough for me.  Once it stopped I noticed a sign just ahead that somehow looked oddly familiar.  I had gotten to an area that was the site of the Field of Dreams movie.  I don't think I had taken an exit so quickly in my life, only to drive another 4 miles past more farms just to park on a farm.  Granted it wasn't just any farm, but a farm with a baseball field that so many of us have grown up with since the classic 1989 film was first released.  It was unreal driving onto the property and seeing the field and all I could think of was a quote from the movie.

"This field, this game, is a part of our past.  It reminds us of all that was good, and that could be good again.  Oh people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."

And I went, as well as so many others.  It was fun to see families throwing around a ball or actually playing baseball out on the field.  So far the Field of Dreams is my favorite stop.

But for now I must hit the road again.  Off to some National Parks today.  I will try and post again soon.

Total Miles Traveled To Date: 1522
States Driven: Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa
Current State: Minnesota
States Coming Up: South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California 

Next Stop: Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Deadwood