It was another wonderful night last night and we woke up to perfect 68 degree weather. We wanted to get up early and get on the road because the drive today will be to Nebraska, about 8 hours of driving, 524 miles. But it was so nice outside, we ended up taking our time instead of rushing out of Indiana. We sat outside for a bit, had some cereal and coffee and watched Toby eat all the sticks he could find. The dump station at this campground is a drive away so Kyle hitched the tote-along to the Beast and took it over there. He went into town to get gas too before we got on the road. While he was gone I worked on breaking down camp and Toby just sunbathed in the dirt/sand.
- Toby clearly is comfy in the trailer. He also likes his new orange water bucket. Towing the blue tote to the dump -
Toby has become much calmer over these last few days. I think he has really started to get used to the fact that we are traveling. Usually he gets anxious when he sees us packing up and will whine or pace around the whole time. Then when we get him in the car he will complain for a good 30 minutes to an hour before attempting to calm down. Usually we will have to give him some sleepy time treats to help with his anxiety. But lately he has been getting much better in the car, letting us know for a short period of time that he's not happy with getting in the car again but quickly gets settled on his bed and sprawls out in the back seat. We haven't given him any of the sleepy time treats in the last 3 days!
- Toby is much better in the car lately -
We got on the road around 10:30 AM today. The 4 states that we are going to drive through are Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. We have 2 planned stops, the Iowa 80 Truck Stop and possibly The Herbert Hoover National Historical Site. The truck stop is supposedly America's Biggest Truck Stop, so clearly we need to check that out. Then the Herbert Hoover NHS will just be a stop to collect a NPS stamp.
The drive was pretty long and boring. Kyle let me drive for awhile which helps. We stopped at the Iowa 80 Truck Stop around 2:30 PM. We ate lunch here and explored the inside. They have everything a trucker needs at this place, including a dentist and chiropractor! They also have a movie theater and dog wash station. The Herbert Hoover NHS was close by so after a quick stop there we were on the road again.
- Iowa I-80 World's Largest Truck Stop -
- Corn and Soybeans for days -
The biggest downside to the drive today was the I-80. Not only does it go on forever, the last few hours of road were crazy bumpy which made for an unpleasant ride.
It was dark when we finally made it into camp around 9:30 PM. Also it was quite confusing at what we were supposed to do about checking in. They had various signs posted at the front office (which was closed) that were all very hard to understand. Finally someone came by right as we were about to pay for our parking pass…but he wasn't much help either. We drove around lost in the dark for a while looking for a place to fill the trailer up with water. We ended up giving up on that idea and just went to set up our campsite instead. We were both exhausted from the long drive and hadn't had dinner either. It took about an hour to get settled in the dark. I put together some sliced tomato, avocado, fresh mozzarella and prosciutto with crackers for dinner. Trying to keep it quick and easy. We ended up going to bed around midnight, but we don't have plans in the morning so we can sleep in!
- Watching the sun set over the Iowa corn fields -
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