I had to spend lot of time last night to figure out the best way to re-route myself and yet do NE & KS before reaching MO. I-29S was closed for repairs and I didn't want to tack on another 100 miles of drive to an already long day. With multiple options up my sleeve, we set off early at 6:30 am on today's adventure. The drive from Des Moines, IA to Omaha, NE threw a new challenge in the morning - dense fog. For two hours, it was so thick that I wondered if it would ever burn off. Eventually it did, just as we drove into Nebraska. We spent some time by the IA/NE stateline border that is divided by the mighty and majestic Missouri at Omaha. Apollo got to run to his hearts content - it was so early in the morning that we were practically the only people in that area.
I had re-routed myself to drive via US-75S thru rural NE and cut across to I-29S at Auburn, NE using 136. But the bridge across Missouri was closed on 136. So we drove down south on US-75, into Kansas and joined I-29S driving the Pony Express Highway - US 36. While US-75 goes across both NE and KS, for almost identical driving conditions, KS had upped the speed limit to 65mph from 60mph that NE allowed. But then, in KS, as well as in NE and IA, at times there were more trucks on the highways that cars.
Lunch today was cold pizza. Thanks to my friend Adam who had mentioned that cold pizza has its own unique and enjoyable taste, I had the left over pizza from last night, kept in my ice-box at Troy, KS when the temperature outside was a balmy 80 degrees. When I ordered the pizza last night in Des Moines, the girl at the counter offered me a large pizza for the same price. I told her a medium would do, as I was traveling by myself. She was shocked! She promptly called the manager and asked her if it is ok for me to get a medium for the same price as a large. Once the manager gave her the permission, the order was baked in!
After lunch, we drove east on I-70 to St. Louis crossing Missouri couple of more times. That river has created havoc in mid-west recently and the road damages are still being repaired. Yet, it seemed so calm and majestic everytime I crossed it. The last time being just as we were entering St. Louis.
In the last rest stop in Missouri, I ran into another Californian who was driving cross country with his dog. What are the odds of you running into someone from the same state some 3000+ miles away from home who is also traveling with his dog? George was traveling to help a friend of his move some heavy equipment and chose this journey to bond with his dog. He was quite amazed and impressed at my journey across all 48 states. Apollo and Annie bonded well allowing us enough time to chit chat in some remote rest area in Missouri!
Day 7 pics
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