More rain!

Day 4, June 29, 2008

Iowa does NOT need more rain! After a day of driving through flooded areas, it is now dumping more water on the rain-soaked and river-swollen state. Fortunately, I’m off the road and parked at an RV park just north of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. One minute it was bright outside, and then the sky turned really dark and the rain came down. No thunder or lightning, just rain.

It was a fascinating day! First I had about a 100-mile drive to southeastern Nebraska and a short 36 mile drive to Nebraska City where I was able to cross the Missouri River into Iowa. Then I went across southern Iowa on highways 2 and 34. Most amazing was the amount of flooded land. Hardest hit will be the farmers because many fields are flooded and those that aren't are too soggy for farming.

There was so much to look at and so many interesting towns to go through. I had intended to drive about half-way across Iowa, but I was always eager to see what was ahead that I just kept on driving. Of course I made quite a few stops and took the ‘business route’ through the larger towns.

It was a great driving day; cloudy day and relatively cool. When I was not interested in the surrounding countryside and charming towns, I enjoyed the fluffy white clouds.

Since the bridge at Burlington, Iowa, is washed out, I’ll need to go north to I-80 to cross the Mississippi River into Illinois. That will be tomorrow’s drive.

Tomorrow I’ll get most of the way across Illinois.