So after putting in the requisite eight plus hours, I left work just as the rain started. Once home, I nationalized the garage so I could pack without getting wet.
I started waking up well before my normal time for work and finally got out of bed a little early. It didn't take too long to get ready, check and recheck that I had everything, and hit the road. I pulled out of the driveway right about 4:00 AM.
I crossed into Indiana quickly and took 2-lane roads for about an hour to get to the interstate. This required one reroute due to construction, but it looked like the construction was nearly complete. Once on I-74, I headed north and west. Traffic was just starting to pick up through Indianapolis, but getting through was relatively easy.
Continuing north and west, traffic on I-74 remained relatively light. I crossed into Illinois just as light was starting to build to the East, and traffic became oddly heavy for a while. West of Peoria, almost all traffic seemed to vaporize.
I was listening to the book A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron. I was a bit more than surprised when the first incarnation of the dog is euthanized very early in the book. The second incarnation of the dog made me miss my dogs a lot. It especially made me miss Mandy and Jackson as the descriptions of Bailey sounded a lot like those two dogs. Listening to the end of Bailey's life was difficult. The incarnation as a police dog was only mildly interesting. The final incarnation into a life with a trash family followed by bliss was a bit predictable. But I enjoyed the book. The only frustration was that since the book was transferred from a CD, the ordering of the tracks put tracks 1-10 at the end of the directory list, which required adjustments twice every CD. Once I figured this out though, it was easy to deal with.
I crossed the Mississippi River on I-280. SO always takes pictures of the Mississippi when we cross it, so I did too. But the pictures out of the frame of the truck window don't really have the same significance as when SO and I are on the motorcycle.
Once into Iowa, truck traffic picked up a lot on I-80. I know things thin out to the west, but east of Des Moines always seems lousy with tractor trailers. I took I-380 then US 218 to I-35 up to I-90 in Minnesota. Interstate 90 was gloriously open. Although I did see the remnants of snow on the shoulder in a few places along I-90.
After A Dog's Purpose I switched the USB to The Billionaire's Vinegar which is a book about ultrararefied wine collecting. It felt odd to be listening to such a book while headed on a western hunting adventure, and I'm not even sure where I heard about the book. I only got a few chapters into it, but it was very interesting and it goes into detail about the realities and idiosyncrasies of wine collecting. Much like anything where there is lots of money to be made, fraud, ego and snobbery plays a big role. The history interspersed through the first few chapters added a lot to the book.
Eventually I made it to Sioux Falls South Dakota. The 13-hour, ~850 mile drive was tiring, but not painful. Weather had been clear and dry all day with temperatures hovering just above freezing. This is great travel weather (for the Ridgeline, maybe not for the motorcycle).
I ate from my box-o-buffet but hadn't drank much through the day as beverages force more stops. Once at the hotel, I attempted to rehydrate while also eating more junk food. I survived a long day on the road, but pork rinds and Quiznos may prematurely end my life. Maybe the ice cream sandwich will save me, even if it doesn't help me sleep.
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