Day 2 - A good sleep and let's crack on...

By the time we’d eaten last night and got back to the hotel  fatigue had really set in but I still had stuff to do – charge batteries, download photos from the cameras and make a dent in the blog. Fortunately the Wifi signal was decent so I managed to get some of it done and saved before the inevitable resistance to sleep finally crumbled.

With an 8:30 start I set the alarm for 7:45 as a “back stop” on the assumption I’d wake up early but I slept through clearly now acclimatised to the -6 BST time zone. A mad scramble ensued to get ready and finish the blog which fortunately published without problem. We breakfasted at the local Cracker Barrel, its rustic interior at odds with its location in the middle of a parking lot. Breakfast wasn’t great; I went for the coffee option rather than attempting the usual tea ordering fiasco. I avoided the grits, gravy and biscuits of which I’m not a fan.

We said goodbye to Council Bluffs and headed east further into Iowa. Iowa is another farming state and the birthplace of Captain Kirk. Some small town somewhere in Iowa has declared itself his birthplace and has some kind of visitor attraction. The weather is wet, drizzle and heavy rain as we pass through an Amish town and stop for a coffee in Mount Ayr with its brick cobbled streets and…no coffee shops.

We pass 50 miles south of Des Moines and 40 miles south of the birth place of John Wayne and the Covered Bridges of Madison County, inspiration for the film of the similar name. We reach the I35, grab some truck snacks and head north and I’m dreaming of a crunchy apple or nice succulent pear. Instead I have a Starbucks cold coffee mocha drink which is preposterously sweet.  We’re just north of Missouri, and a potential new state which for now will have to remain off my list.

When you’ve got a long haul to a target area you split up the journey into imaginary legs. Sometimes you have nice legs – sun, scenery and nice places to stop. Other days, like today you have very tedious legs; it hasn’t stopped raining and today I’m in the back of the SUV which is cramped to the extent my buttocks appear to have atrophied.

We head north towards Des Moines (to 10 miles of the afore mentioned attractions) then east and past the turn off to the American Gothic House. The good news, as of 15:30 is that storms are starting to get organised to which the Storm Prediction Centre has attached a 5% tornado risk. Lisa and Leslie very kindly volunteer to swap seats so that David and I can get some relief in the middle seats. We stop at Fairfield and head south, we’re clearly in the right area as the rain has eventually relented and the air is warm and moist. We are well east at this point (not far from Illinois!!!) but now have a storm to play with – persistence has paid off – and it’s the only game in town.

We continue south east and end up at Highway 218 near Houghton. Frequent stops on the severe warned storm rewarded us with some cloud to ground lightning but a lack of surface winds mean that there would be no tornadoes, plus we’re up against the Mighty Mississippi and the Illinois border so we’ve nowhere left to go and book into the Super 8 at Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Had dinner at a local Mexican, ordered chicken fajitas. Too much food and...refried beans...Richard Hammond may have had a point ;o)

Not a huge amount happening over the next couple of days so it looks like an epic road trip south and east of here. Will cross the Mississippi tomorrow into Illinois then who knows where - Kentucky, Tennessee (Gracelands?) even as far a Alabama! We shall see...

Day 2 total miles: 415