this is a museum in Nebraska
and the coffee joint next door
what to do if there is a tornado while I'm at the motel
Day six saw me crossing state lines (again) from Iowa to Nebraska, but also a much more significant shift. Iowa is the midwest. Clearly. There are Hummer stores and Power Tool stores and a different vibe than NY or PA or MA, but its still very much the midwest. At some point Nebraska shifts from midwest to the "west". There are signs for pioneer this and that, ye olde western typeface everywhere, even a big, wooden arch over the highway with a covered wagon next to it. I stopped at "Lasso Espresso" which was next to "The Sod house museum".
This morning began in Des Moines, uneventfully leaving Motel 6 and determined to get back on driving schedule and truck at least 400 miles today. Doable, b/c the speed limit out here is 75, with 65 in "work zones". (in NYC work zones are like...30 mph). I zipped out of Des Moines with no events till Nebraska. I've felt like I was in "corn country" for quite some time, but any hint of hills vanished, and towards the end of Iowa it started to feel western - "ye olde western type face" began to appear around Council Bluffs, Iowa. I was tempted to stop and be a tourist (this is getting very interesting!) but committed to staying on track with driving. Next up was going through Omaha, and a pit stop shortly thereafter. Nebraska is flat. With bluffs, and cows, and corn, and wind that seems to blow strongly in one direction. When I stopped, there was a distinctive drawl in people's voices that wasn't present in Iowa, and a sense, that yes, this is the beginning of the west, but perhaps not the "deep west". (Is there such a thing?).
Top photo: My lunch at a rest stop. Long gone are the rest stops with restaurants and starbucks and gas stations-- now its eating spaces and vending machines. Cooler still stocked from Chicago, I had the most yuppie lunch (arugula and salamon and middle eastern salads) in Nebraska. On hot pink plates , no less. While eating I saw a woman in full on "Little House in the Prairie" gear--- the 1880's prairie dress, long grey braids, and I *think* a bonnet on her back. Love it! Go Nebraska.
Next pit stop was for gas, where I also saw the "sod house" and "lasso espresso".
After lunch I drove for about another four hours, crossing into mountain time while blasting Pat Benatar's "Heart Breaker". The music and the new time zone sent me into bliss---and I spontaneously erupted into a "whoo hooo" (LOUDLY) while punching the air.
I've been thinking about a lot of things while I drive. Today, it was intense, like the literal and symbolic meanings of this trip, and how I *knew* I'd make this journey one day. That this is more than a road trip: step by step, mile by mile, state by state I am claiming more and more of me. ( I "saw" this journey when I was ten years old). As well as random things, like "what state did Little House in the Prairie take place in? Gosh, I should re read that....".
I'm tired. I didn't sleep well the past few nights. At the same time, there is a profound energetic shift, a letting go and unwinding going on. Geography is powerful. As one of my beloveds put it "Jessica, this is your vision quest".
Tomorrow: the rest of Nebraska and part of Wyoming.
Miles clocked: 425
Soundtrack: Annie Lennox, Amanda Palmer, Pat Benatar, Bananarama, etc
Surprise: Woman in prairie garb at rest stop
Naw, you ain't hit the west yet, lil lady, you just durn hit midwestern cowboy country!
ReplyDelete