Day 43: And the Amazement Continues

You would think that after being on the road for 7 weeks that the "AwHa" moments would be over.  Not so.  Today we drove through a portion of Wisconsin and were taken aback by a number of different "new" sights to tickle the eyes.  And then driving in Iowa--who would have thought that things could be different?  This blog will look at distinctions in Wisconsin and Iowa.  It was very windy today and our gas milage was way down.

WISCONSIN:  1) there are many taller hills in Wisconsin and planners/engineers/builders did not let those hills get in the way of putting in a good highway system.  We drove through numerous "cuts" to level and straighten the roads that had to have been excavated before roads were built.  The exposed earth under all the fruitful fields are layers of clay.  What the road can be compared to is I5 between Grants Pass and Roseburg except instead

Wisconsin farmland and Lake Winnebago

of trees it is all fields.  2) many barns and silos, grain and corn fields side by side.  The wind that is so troublesome for driving gives a grand picture as it causes ripples in the grain fields.  3) Montana does not have the corner on "big sky".  On the top of any hill there was sky in every direction.  No clouds at all today.  

IOWA:  1) it truly is the corn state.  Miles and miles of corn on low rolling hills as opposed to higher ones. In some fields the corn is only a few inches high and in others it is about 2 feet tall.  2)  a depressing sight when coming into Iowa the way we did was the first billboard you see is inviting you to a casino. 3) we had a difficult time getting lunch today.  We navigated to a Chinese Buffet that was closed because of labor shortage.  Then we couldn't find the Mongolian grill in the indoor mall indicated by the GPS.  We later found it had only an outside entrance.  Strange mall.

God showering His grace.  When we decided to find a lunch spot Chuck used his phone and plugged in the location.  It took us on some roads going through corn fields.  Then we needed a rest area and there was one on these back roads.  In fact the road dead ended at the rest area.  So weird.

General note on weather.  It was hot from the time we left Oregon until we got to the Upper Peninsula. There the weather was more like Oregon--warm in the day but cooler at night.  But that changed when we left the UP--even before we left Michigan.  I became hot and humid once again.

General note on entire trip.  There have been so many experiences with different weather, food, scenery, animals, plants, and people.  It has been overwhelming but also a huge reminder of how infinitely creative our God is.  If we had only seen a lot of one area, I think we would have just begun to take it for granted.  Seeing so many continues to cause us to see a bigger picture.