A white knuckle ride to Des Moines

A day that started out with the first clear skies we had seen since we left California deteriorated quickly as we approached Omaha and turned to white knuckle driving from inside Iowa to Des Moines.

Fortunately, the temperature never dropped below 31, although it hung there for a long time on the ride across I-80, and we made it safely to the Hampton Inn this afternoon.

Even when it was clear at the beginning of the drive there were tail winds (which is actually good for gas mileage) of up to 40 mph as we drove the long, boring stretch across Nebraska.

Dodging, not always successfully, the tumbleweeds flying across I-80 was the only entertainment that I had for several hours.

Temperatures ranged from a high of 57 somewhere in the middle of Nebraska to the 29 degrees as we pulled into the Hampton Inn. It was 42 when we started out in Cheyenne in the morning.

About 12:30 p.m. (Central time) we passed field after field of Sand Hill Cranes near Kearney, Nebraska. The big birds are the same ones that we enjoy watching during the winter at Whitewater Draw in Arizona. We always wonder if we are seeing some of the same birds we saw there.

Kearney, Nebraska is the breeding ground for the birds, but this is the first time we have seen them in such large numbers as we drove across the state. In one farmer’s field the birds shared the forage with a bunch of pigs.

Because of the wild ride there are no photos of today’s drive. Sorry. Tomorrow we are stopping to visit my sister Laura and brother-in-law Philip outside Chicago and will be with them a couple days so this will likely be my last post until we get back to Michigan, which is scheduled for Wednesday, barring any more goofy weather.

Mileage out: 103315

Time out: 8:09 a.m. (Mountain Daylight Time)

Mileage in: 103938

Time in: 5:49 p.m. (Central Daylight Time)