Day 22 - Home, Sweet Home

We were on the road by 6:45 am.  We actually left the campground at 6:15 but had to get gas.  It was dark as we headed east on I-90 but soon the sky gave us a sunrise and naturally, I had to take a picture or two of it.  We knew that we had about 600 miles to make today in order to be home tonight.  The only stops we made were for gas, food and rest areas for a break for the dog.

One reason why I love traveling is the unusual things you see along the road.  Blue Earth, Minnesota has a 60 foot Jolly Green Giant.  I could actually see it from  the interstate.  Why did they have a 60 foot Green Giant?? I don't know but I do know that Blue Earth has one.  Also, in Blue Earth is the "Golden Spike of I-90."    I was able to look this one up on the internet and found out that it was actually a painted gold point in the road that celebrated the completion of I-90 in Minnesota.  I also found out that I-90 is the longest interstate going from Bostom to Seattle.  This is the stuff that you need to know if you play Trival Pursuit!

As we drove east through the bottom of Minnesota, we saw several wind farms.  We drove almost 150 miles across the bottom and only a few miles did we not see a wind farm.  We finally turned off
I-90 onto I-35 heading for US 20 heading Waterloo, Iowa and I-380 to I-80. We decided to stop at the Iowa Welcome Center.  It was the neatest place.

It looked like a big red barn.  Inside on the lower level are the necessary restrooms but upstairs are brochures and phamplets about Iowa, a coffee and pie shop, and a gift shop with Iowa-centered items.  The greeter at the welcome center said there was no other welcome center like this one in the United States.  It was very clean and we could have spent more time there but we knew that we needed to get back on the road.

We did find out that the federal government has declared the northeastern corner of Iowa as "Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area."    The booklet we picked up said "A National Heritage Area is a region that has been recognized by the United States Congress for its unique qualities and resources."  There are 49 designated regions throughout the United States.  The "Silos and Smokestacks" area forcuses on agriculture.  Who knew that the Congress was busy declaring National Heritage Areas?   I didn't know that Congress could agree on anything and actually accomplish something.

Around 3:00 p.m. we crossed into Illinois on I-74.  We backed into our driveway at 6:45 p.m.  We had a great trip but summary details will have to wait until tomorrow.  I want to make one more blog entry which I can hopefully tomorrow.