by Bob Sparrow<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Just outside the city limits of Denver heading east the state of Colorado quickly becomes Nebraska \u2013 not geographically, but visually.\u00a0 Here the world is<\/em> flat.\u00a0 There is nothing but miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles.\u00a0 If in the world of \u2018new energy\u2019, corn is oil, then Omaha is the new Abu Dhabi.\u00a0 Would have made better time, but a McCormick Reaper took 35 minutes to pass a John Deere tractor leading a herd of cattle crossing the Interstate \u2013 I\u2019m having steak tonight for dinner, just out of spite.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Weather is heating up and so is the car.\u00a0 While I don\u2019t know a great deal about cars, I do know that smoke coming out of the front is not a good sign. \u00a0I pull over, pop the hood and assume the requisite \u2018guy\u2019 stance as I stare vacuously\u00a0at the engine even though I have no idea what I\u2019m looking at, much less what I\u2019m looking for.\u00a0 As far as I know, there could be a nativity scene\u00a0under there.\u00a0 I continue to stare.\u00a0 I see a bundle of wires and a lot of . . . parts, and just generally think that things look pretty grimy under there.\u00a0 A middle-aged woman stops and asks if I need help.\u00a0 Not wanting to suggest a lack of masculinity, I assume I can discourage her assistance with some manly \u2018car speak\u2019. \u00a0I give a knowing, Barney Fife sniff, a tug at my pants and nonchalantly say, \u201cNah, it looks like the rotator gasket came off the muffler bearing. \u00a0I got it covered, thanks.\u201d\u00a0 She stares at me like I\u2019ve said something really stupid, shakes her head, turns and goes back to her car, returns with a container of radiator fluid and says, \u201cWhen it cools down, pour this in that thing in the front of the car that looks like a washboard, then I think your muffler bearing<\/em> will be just fine.\u201d\u00a0 She continues to shake her head as she drives off. \u00a0I make it to Omaha for that steak dinner and good night\u2019s rest.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Finally make it through Nebraska and into Iowa, which is just the same as Nebraska, but with museums, and more corn, if that\u2019s possible.\u00a0 In Iowa you\u2019ll find a museum for the birthplace of John Wayne, the museum for former Cleveland Indian pitching great, Bob Feller, the museum of The Bridges of Madison County, the Herbert Hoover museum (be sure to watch the up-beat video, \u2018The Great Depression\u2019), the Buffalo Bill museum and somewhere I\u2019m sure is a museum containing the world\u2019s biggest ball of twine.\u00a0 I drive through the iconic town of Newton, Iowa, long-time home to Maytag, whose repair people could never find work.\u00a0 Now even the people who made Maytags\u00a0can\u2019t find work – they were purchased by Whirlpool.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Just outside of Newton is the \u2018world\u2019s largest truck stop\u2019.\u00a0 Top selling bumper sticker: \u201cIf it has boobs or wheels it\u2019s gonna cause you trouble.\u201d\u00a0 I didn\u2019t buy it, never been one for espousing my philosophy on the bumper of my car, but it gave me something to think about for the next several hundred miles.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As I near Chicago it starts to snow and although the trip was book-ended with storms, the weather for the rest of the trip could not have been better.\u00a0 I considered the light snowfall just as I entered Chicago as a \u2018ticker tape parade\u2019 welcoming the end of my journey.<\/p>\n Factoids of the trip<\/span><\/p>\n by Bob Sparrow \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Just outside the city limits of Denver heading east the state of Colorado quickly becomes Nebraska \u2013 not geographically, but visually.\u00a0 Here the world is flat.\u00a0 There is nothing but miles and miles of nothing but miles … read more\n