7/9 - Iowa, Il, Ind, and the near miss

From where we stayed in Sioux city, Iowa, it was a 10 minute trip to go into Nebraska, just to add another state to the trip list. We have all but 5 state license plates, but we are NOT detouring to Alaska. We took off from Sioux City, IA on U.S. 20 and barreled across IA like a John Deere with heart burn. It seemed to be a farming state. Early on we passed Holstein (pron Hole-Shtine). We are sure of the pronunciation because the huge Welcome To sign included Wilkommen Freunde.  We are fairly certain the town was settled by Germans.  The next interesting place on our route was Correctionville. It’s water tower was a giant bottle of  White-out (at least it seemed so to Al).

We hit Galena, IL in midafternoon. Its lies in the northwest corner of IL, which is the prettiest part of the state. Beside the Mississippi, the hills and valleys are wonderful. Galena lies in one of those valleys about 20 miles south of Dubuque, IA. When we left 30 years ago, Galena was a quiet, quaint town. It is now a tourist attraction. If you would like to choose one of 40 flavors of popcorn, this is the place to go. You know when you’re in a shop and you ask to taste a product?  You get about a drop of the stuff. Not here. The proprietor dumps popcorn into your hand until it falls out. You can get samples of white chocolate, caramel cheese, chocolate cookie, and a bunch of flavors we can’t remember.  It is a treat to walk thru the town.  The houses are well maintained, old and just neat. 

We continued down the river to our first home – Savanna, Il.  Our very first house is still there.  It has been a tack house, a garage, our house and from there we don’t know, but it looked to still be inhabited.  It was red when we lived there but is now gray.  The second house we lived in is a duplex but it looked vacant and in disrepair.  A part of the roof looks ready to collapse.  The other house we lived in (during our second assignment there) and owned looked pretty good.  We drove by and took pictures of both of the churches we went to while living there. Al was saved at the Lutheran church. The Army Depot where Al was trained lies along the Mississippi and is now a nature preserve.   

We stopped at a Best Western in Annawan, IL for the unfortunate night. First, we tried to log onto the internet. When we failed, the manager said that we could not access the public network unless we turned off our computers’ firewalls. Nonstarter. Then our neighbors included a rowdy family with two dogs, which the manager was unwilling to deal with. Yes, we intend to inform the company about this.

9 July We weren’t far down the road this morning when a tire pressure light came on.  So we stopped at a gas station in Webster City, IL to put in some air.  None of the tires looked bad but one did look a tad low.  The air pump connection was non functional so we left to find another option.  There was a tire and auto repair place across the road – Tony’s.  We stopped and told them our problem and they checked all the tires and added air to the one that was low – no charge and with smiles all around.  The indicator light stayed on but there wasn’t anything else to be done.  So off we went.  When we got back onto the highway, the trouble light went off.  Thanks, Tony’s!!!!

  Then there was the near miss We headed east from the BW to northern Indiana. We certainly experienced God’s hand of protection.  We were on the last leg of the drive, in Indiana, in the left lane of the interstate, the third of four cars preparing to pass a big truck. Al was driving. As we crested a hill, the driver of the first car, which was already over the crest, decided to slow hard-brake so he could make an illegal turn through the median. The second driver saw this and dove back into the right lane, narrowly avoiding the 16-wheeler. Al hit the crest and saw the idiot – I mean first driver right in front of him. He slammed the brakes, blew his horn and we just missed.  The vehicle behind us was not tail-gaiting and there was just enough room to veer to the right while staying in the lane to avoid the idiot and the truck. It was very scary.