Life is a Highway

We hit 9000 miles yesterday as we left Wisconsin and got into Michigan. Traveled across the top of Lake Michigan yesterday and came down into Mackinaw City on the Lake Huron side of Michigan.

On our way here we had an “encounter” with a turkey. He was starting to cross the road and at the last minute, flew up and struck our passenger side mirror, taking it out. I thought for sure he was coming through the windshield. There is no way we can get it fixed before we get home so needless to say, it will result in some interesting travel challenges when we are on multi-lane highways. Have had to call the insurance company and the whole nine yards. Damn Turkeys.

Today we went to Mackinac Island. Very pretty place. Reminds me a lot of a typical coastal community in Maine. They have a huge old hotel there called the Grand Hotel which has the longest covered porch in the world. You could go there and sit on the porch and even go into the hotel for a fee of $12. Well, today they were having a Michigan Democratic Convention there and they weren’t allowing anyone into the hotel. However, we didn’t know they weren’t allowing you on the porch either. Randy and I had walked around to the side of hotel and from there walked on the porch. Now granted, everyone there was wearing some kind of official badge but we just sauntered down through the crowd figuring we’d just exit on the other end. There was no exit on the other end and as we were turning around to go back to the main stairs to leave a gentleman from security stopped us, told us we weren’t supposed to be there and walked us to the nearest steps. Damn politicians.

Today, we hit a milestone (no pun intended) having traveled 8000 miles. And we have more to go.

Yesterday we traveled across about 2/3rds of Iowa. I have to say, Iowa was not what I expected. It had rolling hills, green fields and trees. We hardly saw a run down house. It was really quite beautiful. I must say though, I am in awe of how much farmland there is in this country and Iowa continued to confirm that. There are also a LOT of windmills in Central Iowa. I have posted a picture but it really doesn’t show the scope of how far they stretched across the landscape and the number of miles these wind farms extended.

The sad part of Iowa was the devastation from tornadoes. We were en route to go through the town of Greenfield when we came to a blockade and the State Trooper told us they weren’t allowing anyone to go through there. It had been completely obliterated a couple of days earlier and 4 people had died. When we checked pictures on line later it was hard to imagine what that must have been like. It was not an exaggeration to say the town had been completely wiped out. As we went our alternative route we came across several windmills that had also been destroyed. Either blades broken off or the tower broken in half. So glad we have managed to avoid these.

Today, we visited the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, IA. If you have never seen this movie or it’s been a while, I strongly recommend you watch it. We watched it a couple of nights ago in preparation for our visit and it is just such a great, feel-good movie. It’s hard to believe that 35 years after this movie came out people from all over the US and the world come to visit. Unfortunately, the corn was just coming up but it was a fun experience just the same. As we were leaving, they were hosting a little league game so the field does get used.

Tonight we are in Beaver Dam. Wisconsin which is about 1/2 way across the state. We plan on going up and around Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. More adventures to come.

Courtney had told us that Nebraska’s motto was: Nebraska, it’s not for everyone. And we agree. But Omaha has definitely been the highlight of the state. I had laughed about us coming to Omaha but actually, we have had a fun time here. One doesn’t think of Omaha as a destination spot but it has more to offer than one would think.

Yesterday, we went to the Strategic Air Command (SAC) Museum just outside of Omaha. Randy worked on SAC airbases when he was in the service so this was of interest to him. It was a beautiful facility and had a wide range of aircraft from WWII to the 1990s. They had a B-52 and F-4, both of which Randy worked on so it was fun to have him explain what he did during that time and what he was responsible for.

We stayed in Omaha last night and tonight. Last night there was a “party in the park” right across the street from our hotel. They had a live band, food and drink. It was fun to go there and see people from this area just enjoying the evening and having a good time.

Today we went to the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. It was a very nice (and large) zoo but very crowded as it was a nice day here and the start of Memorial Day Weekend. We did enjoy it though. It has been nice to have just a couple days of minimal travel and a chance to relax a little.

It’s on to to Iowa tomorrow and hopefully, without any weather (aka tornado) issues.