Whiter shade of pale...

We are near the Iowa border now, a balmy 23 degrees outside, and at 2pm Minnesota time visibility is very poor due to low hanging clouds and a dismal foggy mist all around. Had an absolutely wonderful breakfast in St. Cloud this morning at the Copper Lantern restaurant. I was treated to some delicious pineapple bratwurst, fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, and french toast. Skipped lunch for obvious reasons. We had zero trouble supplanting the beastie from her glassed in habitat, transferred her into a cozy canvas laundry bag, plied the cargo bay with blankets and hand warmers, and are now keeping the cab of the Jeep at 85 degrees. It is a sauna in this vehicle presently, but the beastie is very quiet and contented. We have a swath of Iowa to press through, then at Moline we cross into Illinois, resting for the night in Springfield if all goes according to plan. Still nothing but endless snow covered farmland the past 27 hours. But it was has been soothing to the soul to get away from home, stretch our limits and capacities to see if we can make our objectives, and course our way through new lands. The sinus flu I sensed coming on last night is now in full bloom, so I choke down as much dayquil and vitamin C as I can stand to try and battle through. It is time for another break from the scorching cabin of the Jeep, till Springfield...

BW

Somewhere in the stark darkness of Wisconsin...

Well, I took over driving after the madness of a snowy rush hour in Chicago, and had it pretty easy until we crossed over from Illinois into Wisconsin, with a blizzard to contend with for an hour or more in Madison. We are now 800 miles into this journey since leaving Sevierville prior to sunrise, and our GPS display indicates that there are no signs of life on this barren landscape north of nowhere. I am beginning to gain a significant gratitude for the terrain of home. At the last stop, a Subway/BP perilously near the Arctic Circle, there were rumours amongst the grizzled truck drivers littering the joint that I-90 was about to be closed as the pavement begins to ice up. We are determined to press on for the 280 or so miles remaining to the winter hamlet of St. Cloud. If the state troopers here in whatever random cheese community we are treading on want to change our goals, we will comply at their compulsion to stop us.

I would like to say that Indiana is a whole lot of nothingness, save the occasional grain silo, farm house, irrigation device. Whoever is charged with census taking in rural Indiana can essentially complete their business in the span of time it takes to read a comic book. Indianapolis was much smaller than I had expected, you can fit the entire business district in Lucas Oil Stadium.

Chicago was cold, gray, and forboding, but was a welcomed site in comparison to it's cousin Gary, Indiana, situated in it's back yard like some mangy old dog rummaging through the garbage cans behind your garage. On it's best day Gary, Indiana is a scene from some post-apocalyptic movie, and today certainly wasn't one of it's best days. We decided that should we get stranded in Gary due to the car stalling we would dispatch an airstrike and call for a Blackhawk rescue chopper to retrieve us. I have seen restrooms at truckstops that I would prefer to reside in over that place!

I am going to sign off now and pry open another redbull, the lack of anything whatsoever in Wisconsin is making me sleepy...

BW

Great Minnesota Snake Adventure - Day One

This is my first posting in over 2 years, since my excursion to Manchester in June of '08. I am six hours into our road trip, and I am somewhere in Indiana. So far the trip has been flawless, and other than the sign indicating we crossed the border, Indiana is indistinguishable from Kentucky, excluding the .20 cent jolt upward in fuel prices. Toward Louisville there were a number of beautiful farms, with huddled masses of various Horse breeds. There was about an inch and a half to two inches of snow blanketing the area, but the roads are completely clear. Louisville skyline bares a resemblance to Nashville, but with a lot more iron truss bridges littering it's borderline. Our next Landmark will be Indianapolis, and from there Chicago. We are scrambling to get past Chicago before 4pm, as they have snow in the forecast, and we don't want to get bogged down in that! According to the friendly voice of the GPS device, we should hit Minneapolis around 8:30pm. It feels good to hit the open road, I needed a break, and fetching an 18 foot Burmese Python is a fair enough challenge to compel me to make a break for Minnesota! Time to let the Allman Brothers loose on my speakers for a bit, more info to come later...

BW