Flatlanders on the Road

THE TRIP – Day 1

Antioch, Illinois to Lincoln, Nebraska

570 miles

Except for my undergraduate years in a college in the foothills of New York's Catskill Mountains, my life has been lived on flat land. I spent the first 18 years of my life on glacier-leveled Long Island, then various flat upstate New York cities, and the past 27 years years on the prairie of northern Illinois. The first day of the trip was mainly over familiar and previously traveled roads – mostly flat, with a few rolling hills in Iowa. (It was also the only part of the trip that would see any rain for three weeks.) We headed west across northern Illinois, crossed the Mississippi and entered Iowa, a route we had taken many times to visit our son during the five years he spent at the University of Iowa. We spent most of the day driving Interstate 80 through the familiar farm fields of Iowa.

Iowa is not without its charms. Green with early corn and soybeans and other crops, Iowa is an agricultural patchwork. Over 60% of Iowa's land is farmed, with another 30% used for pasture and hay. My son once quoted a statistic I'm unable to document, but believe it to be true: Iowa is the most developed state in the U.S., if developed is defined as “most changed from its original natural state”. Farm fields everywhere, to within several yards of the interstate, as far as the eye can see. Later on in the trip, after traveling hundreds of miles through states such as Nevada and Wyoming, land looking untouched since the beginning of time, I can easily believe the statistic about Iowa is true - most developed, but still pleasing to the eye. In the western part of the state, massive wind farms have taken over the farmlands, but even they have a certain performance art beauty to them, spinning in faux unison against the sky and the landscape. Still on I 80, we left Iowa and entered Nebraska, the first “new to us” state we encountered, and spent the night in Lincoln. Because of the excellent driving conditions (despite the 100 degree heat) we had ignored our daily mileage “guideline”, driving 570 miles the first day. This bought us some flex time which we planned to use a few days later when we were in the higher altitudes, far from the flatlands.

This is probably a good place to stop and thank the person who in part made this trip possible, or at least, pleasurable – President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He championed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 which planned and funded the construction of the interstate highway system in this country, now named for him. As a very young child on vacation in northern New Jersey, I remember a friend of my mother's took our family to a mountain overlooking the construction of a large road down below. She pointed to the road, said it was to be called Route 80, and that some day it would go all the way from New York to California. I remember thinking I was looking at something amazing. One road that would cross the country! I've spent a good deal of time since driving I 80 from New York through Iowa, and now, on this trip, I would travel parts of it in Nebraska, Utah, Nevada, and yes, California, as well. The interstate highway system, in general, is wonderful. Not always the most scenic route to take, it is, however, fast, safe, has great rest stops, and so far has maintained mostly good road surfaces. And in certain sections of the country, it is, indeed, very scenic.

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. – St. Augustine

Next:

Mountains' Majesty

THE TRIP – Day 2

Lincoln, Nebraska – Denver, Colorado

470 miles