The Dullest Place in the World: IOWA

The rest of Iowa, after Walcott, which is most of Iowa, was the most boring place ever. It is flat, covered in flat farms, and really nothing of remote interest. The constant rain didn't help matters.

Des Moines is the largest city in Iowa. One would never be able to tell:


The only thing cool in Iowa, outside of a plethora of Jesus merchandise, is their wind turbines. Clearly those blades were getting shipped to some Midwestern farm. The fact that Iowa is producing wind power and I can see it makes me happy inside.


But really the rest of Iowa was terrible. I do not recommend to anyone to go to Iowa on their own free will. At least Indiana, which was also boring, was at least a relatively short drive. Iowa lasted forever and caused me not only to nap during the ride, but also for car games between Web and I necessary to be conscious.

Iowa-80: The Biggest Truck Stop in the World

Not long into Iowa, we stopped at the largest truck stop in the WORLD, Iowa-80 in Walcott, IA. They made sure to give us a big welcome:

But before we could even explore Iowa-80, we observed a parade of super-oversized trucks transporting wind turbine blades! Being that I am a nerd about clean energy, this was thrilling to see in Iowa. Not to mention the length of the blades was impressive:

Iowa-80 had a lot of what I would have expected from the Heartland of America. There was a lot of Christian music for sale, Jesus Ts (I had to bring one home), fast food, trucker hats, confederate flags, white people, military dudes and vets, and chrome for trucks. I was def the only minority anywhere near Iowa-80.

We had brunch at the Iowa-80 diner and I indulged on some pulled pork. Yum.

But enough redneck fun, back on the road!

Illinois Outside of Chicago (Lameness, IL)

Day 3: Monday June 1st, The Rest of Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska:

We got up early on Sunday for the longest driving portion of the trip, Point A: Chicago to Point B: Gothenburg, NE.

Upon leaving Len's apartment and finding the interstate again, we passed through the New Seoul of Chicago, so apartently there is a healthy Korean-American population in Chicago.

But once we left Chicago, we realized the rest of Illinois was way less interesting. It was amplified by the fact it was raining constantly:



But they had what in my mind is the ideal farm in western Illinois:


And after awhile we crossed the Mississippi River. It was nothing like what I had envisioned after reading Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. I guess the Mississippi gets better in the South:


And on the other side, lay Iowa and its fields of opportunities!!!