The Drive Begins

Left at just after 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 31. It was an inauspicious enough beginning. Within less than two miles I had to pull over to unhook the ipod cable from beneath the passenger's seat before I could connect my music.

Wisconsin was unseasonably warm. Iowa is too, but the arctic winds here compensate for the higher temperature and still manage to create an uncomfortable, barren wintery environ. Barren and boring. Iowa is not the most exciting place. Perhaps just because it's so similar to Wisconsin. It's a lot of roads with places to go few and far between.

What I remember most about driving is the fog. Thick, wet fog from Madison to Platteville. Thankfully the roads were nearly empty. The fog and the rugged, glacially-untouched Southwestern Wisconsin terrain gave a fantasy novel vibe to the drive. My sweartshirt my traveling clock, my gray Camry my noble steed.

After an enjoyable stopover in stunning Dubuque, IA (no joke!), I continued on to Des Moines. Although the drive was long, the roads were open and at dusk the cold, cloudy sky above the cornfields aired an incredible pink and purple and gold and gray sunset.