The Final Frontier: Iowa & Illinois

Seward, NE to Romeoville, IL and finally Carbondale, IL: New Home

After reluctantly saying goodbye to Seward, we continued on our journey to the final frontier.  Despite the fact we had been driving all week we were still very optimistic about the day and in good spirits.  Our destination was Romeoville, IL where Tyson goes to school at Lewis University.  (It is a suburb of Chicago)  However, we first had to conquer Iowa!

Welcome to Iowa: Check!

Chris was really adamant about me getting a picture of the farmland here because apparently they 'tier the land' to prevent erosion.  I think he was mostly excited that he knew that fact.  It was interesting to see the farmland on several levels.  Most of Iowa was brown because corn isn't in season yet so all the fields are just dirt, but there are patches of green grass on groves of trees in between the farms.  With the blue sky as a background and cotton ball clouds drifting above us it was beautiful.

Jesus.

We were excited to check out the World's Largest Truckstop - thanks to the heads up from a friend in Chicago. They were definitely not joking, this place was like a mini-mall!  They had a whole downstairs area of chrome and lights and do-dads to deck out the semi's.  They also had an extended gift shop sections and a few little restaurants.  It was a much needed stop, because even though Iowa was pretty we were getting anxious to get to Illinois and Tyson.  

Em-I-Double ess-I-Double ess-I-Double pee-I River

What a spectacular entrance to Illinois!  The Mississippi river is the left side of the State of Illinois' border.  I'm so glad that we were able to cross it while it was still light out and the clouds above the river were gorgeous!  

Welcome to Illinois: Check!

After the excitement of the Mississippi and the Welcome sign the truck got silent as we both started to realize that we actually made it!  We were now in our new home state.  We looked at each other with a little bit of bewilderment and excitement and just started grinning from ear to ear.  

Visiting Tyson was so much fun that we ended up staying another night.  It was a little bizarre being back in a college dorm, not going to lie, and even a little more bizarre staying with Ty on the boy's floor.  Lewis is a really pretty campus and Tyson's friends are great.  We hung out with his freshman teammates and his lovely girlfriend Cindy - who I for some reason keep calling Sydney accidentally.  We even got to see where he swims and meet his coaches.  We were both sad to go on Saturday morning, but we went out to the best breakfast place ever!  Niko's Breakfast Club is a must to add to any travel list. So good!

The last day of driving and we couldn't be happier!  We were so anxious and excited to see Carbondale and what it is like! The whole was down we talked about our future and our plans and life - it was so special. 

OMG! OMG! OMG! Our Exit!

 

Highway 13 East towards Carbondale - ironically very similar to Highway 34 to Corvallis 

Welcome to Carbondale: Check!

Day Three: Sidney & Seward

Third Day Agenda: Cheyenne, WY to Seward, NE

[Cabela's headquarters]

Welcome to Nebraska: Check!

Day three was all about Nebraska.  Once out of Wyoming we noticed that the landscape turned into rolling farmland.  It was charming to drive past the fields and look out at the traditional looking farmhouses with the barn next to it and the white picket fence separating the yard from the fields.  It was exactly how I pictured the midwest country farms to look like.  Unfortunately none of the crops have been planted yet so when we drove by most of the fields were still brown.  In addition to being in the 'corn belt' of America, we also noticed we were heading to the 'Bible belt' of America.  As you can see above we came across crosses and many barns that said 'Jesus' across the top, or billboards with verses or redemption warnings.  Something that is definitely not very common in the Northwest. 

Our first stop of the day was in fact Cabela's.  This was not just any Cabela's store, it was actually the original Cabela's and now the world headquarters.  It was my first experience being in a Cabela's and it was interesting.  Chris of course was in heaven!  It only took five minutes and I lost him to the fishing and hunting section.  I decided to check out the women's clothing and footwear sections, which I was actually fairly impressed with.  They had Columbia, NorthFace, and a few other brands that had super cute stuff.  What really caught my attention though was the huge animal display in the middle of the store.  I was not expecting that!

The animal display was super cool.  The animals looked so realistic! They had everything from deer, to moose, bears, elk, cougars, and wolves.

It was hard to get Chris to leave, he probably could have spent the entire day there if Seward had not been calling our name.  It was a nice break and we hit the road rejuvenated and ready to see more of Nebraska.  Somehow we were still super lucky and had the most amazing weather!  The sky was the perfect blue, we had our stunna shades on, and the road was ours to conquer. 

Comment from Chris: "Driving across country is fun.  It would be even more fun if you could take your time and stop along the way.  I'm excited to see new things, every mile that we drive is something new.  I'm excited to see things people have talked about [Rockies, Cabela's, Midwest] and I'm really excited to see Carbondale, it is going to be a whole different lifestyle. This trip has made me want to drive all over every chance we get. When we can afford it I want to drive and see new places, Alabama, Mississippi, everything."

Something new that we started seeing in Nebraska was water towers.  They take their water towers serious out here!  Almost every single one of them is painted a certain color, has the town name, or something that is unique to that place.  I still don't even understand the purpose of water towers, I get the simple concept that they hold water...but why do they have to be so far off the ground? Why can't it just be in the ground or just in a normal tank.  Plus isn't the water gross?  Hmmmm.....

Welcome to Seward: The most adorable little town in Nebraska and Home of the 4th of July!  

We stayed with Uncle Bob and Aunt Shirley - Grandma Stutzman's sister and brother-in-law.  Oh my goodness what a BLESSING!  They were so excited to see us and had prepared a delicious home made meal.  It was so calming to sit around the dinner table and learn about their lives and tell them about ours.  It was a little eerie though because Aunt Shirley literally talks and sounds exactly like Grandma Stutzman!  After dinner Aunt Shirley showed us pictures of all their children and grandchildren and told us a little bit more about the Midwest.  After saying goodbye to all our family at home it was very healing to stay with them and get some family lovin.  Chris and I got into our first and only quarrel the next morning because we had to get on the road but I didn't want to leave! It did not help that I am not much of a morning person and I was a little grumpy when I first woke up...oops.

Up next - Iowa and Lewis University!