June 27th, 11:57 pm
The moving van came yesterday – the day that I, for so long, never thought would come and all of a sudden the van was outside my door, loaded and at the end of the day full … and my house – empty. It looked so big – my tiny little 1261 square footer!
Today I signed off on the house here … it is no longer mine. And the paperwork for the other is in transit.
As are we!
Our first leg … getting TO the highway was 27 miles which took us a whopping 90 minutes in horrid Friday afternoon, get-out-of-Dodge traffic … except I don’t know where everyone was going because as soon as we hit I-80 we were fine.
Fine is relative, though, because if one is talking about going the speed limit, we were fine. If one is referring to finding a radio station that was pleasurable to listen to – at best, and tolerable – at worst, well, we were not fine!
Somewhere around mile marker 20, somewhere between the ultra green Land of Oz-esque glittering corn fields of Dixon, IL and the IL border Cyndi Lauper’s brother was (apparently) the DJ or the guy had a major crush on her because he played non-stop every CL song ever recorded … hit or not! I found myself wanting to wear a vest and perm my hair as I sang along and belted out, in agreement, that girls do just wanna have fun!
When I crossed the mighty Mississippi I also crossed some apparent, invisible time dimension, as well. Nothing but the 70’s music to be had … except for one odd station that I picked up that was reminiscent of Lawrence Welk but with a polka twist thing going on! In any case – I was left thinking that Iowa needs to come into this century with their music selections!
As we headed westward, without a/c (it’s a 19 year old car – I’m not going to push my luck) the breezes flew through and buffeted the car cooling down the dogs who were half-baked from the 90 minutes of 88 degree, 56% humidity, blaring sun in stop and go traffic. Mobes and Dori were on the dog beds in the back … Gertie, my co-pilot, was next to me in the passenger seat. The dogs, asleep as they were, missed the best part of the trip so far … the beautiful rolling hills and farmlands of mid-Iowa.
Somewhere around mile marker 265 in Iowa (after we passed some very much over-its-banks river) the scenery was similar to what I’d already passed but the topography changed – where once there was long “as far as the eye could see” vistas of farms and acre upon acre of fields … the hills replaced the flat lands and the patchwork of fields were woven together like a rumpled bed quilt of greens and browns. The hills hid the farmhouses and as we gobbled up the miles, one or another, big farmhouse would surprise me hidden in a glen here or a valley there – so, perfectly perfect and farmy and picturesque in their pure simplicity and beauty.
There is something innately comforting about farmhouses. Perhaps its their presence … one of strength or duty or family. I don’t know – but I know I like them.
I also like the smell of cows. Somehow traveling along the highway with the summer air coming through the open windows and the smell of cows, takes me back to my childhood (must have been all those road trips) and it’s exhilarating and comforting all at once.
I lost track of the miles as we zipped along … the heat of the day giving way to the cooler temps of evening. The humidity was so high you could see it in the air – a sort of foggy gauziness that shrouded the trees in a gray veil of mystery and mist. I can’t remember the last time I watched a sunset and this one did not disappoint … all watercolory in its pinks and blazing oranges. It was lovely and the dogs missed it – still asleep – as that fireball slipped from view. It was 9:00 on the dot when the sun actually set and still light out for a while longer as we continued driving westward.
I wanted to continue on – wanted to watch the twilight (my favorite time of day) creep in in its lavender beauty … but fatigue overtook me and my senses acquiesced to the idea of stopping for the night.
And so we are here … an hour or so east of Des Moines and I’m ready for bed. As for the dogs? They’re still sleeping!
And, as Scarlet said, “Tomorrow is another day.” and come 9am I’ll be saying, once again, … and we’re off! Stay with us as we journey across America!