Saturday PM, September, 12, 2009
We have arrived in Waterloo, IA for our first night’s stop. The drive up today was uneventful which is always how I like to see the first day’s long drive go. I’m not sure how this town got its name, but ‘Water’ and ‘Loo’ seem somewhat cruelly ironic. With 4 adult males in the car there were a lot of bathroom breaks so I consider it fortunate that we were able to get this far the first day. I suppose I shouldn’t be giving away “Man Secrets” to the female readers, but it is interesting that when you get four men in a van without any female distractions, they can somehow solve ALL the world’s problems in just 550 miles. Yep, by the time we arrived in Waterloo that was all settled and everyone was on top of the world. Then we couldn’t decide where to go for dinner…
To recap the day:
This morning, promptly at 5:45, Earl showed up at my house having been driven in from Oldham County by wife, Susie. Even though it’s dark outside I can tell Susie is glad to see us off. She even hands me a container of homemade cookies which I take were for me alone, only to find out later that the rest of the gang pretty much helped themselves whenever my back was turned. We loaded up Earl’s gear in the van and were at Carlos’ place before the scheduled 6:15. With him loaded, we were off to get Mike H. Things were going great.
While driving to Mike’s we encountered some bad omens on the Watterson expressway that made us wonder just how perilous this trip might be. First, we almost ran into an abandoned sofa just on the side of the road in the construction zone where the road is very narrow. Close call but my super keen reflexes dodged it. At least THAT’S the way I’m going to remember it regardless of how others may tell it. Next, just about ½ mile further down, we find a car stopped in one of the driving lanes. They simply have their lights on, like they are stopped at a stop light, only they are on the expressway!! Again, my keen sense of survival kicks in too late as we wiz past the vehicle and I’m saying “What the…?” Fortunately, the car was in the other lane. I hope the rest of the trip settles down. At least we are making good time and sticking to my schedule. I just love it when a trip stays on schedule.
We pick up Mike H and are on the road by 6:45. Still on schedule! Five minutes later we are pulling into the McDonald’s on Hikes for a bathroom break. Uh-oh, this is not good. We have over 550 miles to go today so these stops are not in my plan. Back on the road within 7 minutes and heading into Indiana. Traffic is very light for a Saturday which is good. About 35 minutes into the trip we see the first rest area at mile marker 21 and pull in for another bathroom break. I think the van is still rolling to a stop when we get out for our assault on the bathroom. Going across the parking lot, we look like a group of shoppers on Black Friday trying to be first in line for the doors to open at Wal-Mart. Not good. Not good at all. I’m thinking the pioneers probably made better time driving their mule wagons out west.
We saw the world’s largest truck stop on I-80 called “Iowa 80” Truck Stop. We did not stop primarily because I was past the exit and would not go back. I’m sure later someone will say I’m not flexible but that’s not the case because I’ve got a schedule to keep.
While on the road I like to eat at local places when possible as it’s just more fun to experience the local cuisine. In Waterloo, there was a magazine in the motel that advertised food places. I saw one that was a local pizzeria and had been around since the 1960’s. Mike H. and I agreed it would be a good place and the GPS said it was close by. When we arrived at the destination we did not find any pizzeria but rather found the wrong side of town. Gee, I didn’t need a Garmin to help me find the wrong side of town as I can usually find that myself. I thought, “Oh, boy, here I go getting lost in South Chicago again…” Well, I was determined to find this place and figured we could. After all, there are three analysts in the van and a techie so we should be smart enough to figure this out as long as the techie didn’t bring us down. After some bickering, we did find the restaurant down the street a few blocks. Here it was a Saturday night during prime dining time and we appear to be the only car in the lot. We check the door and they are open so we go in and have dinner. I felt better when a few other people showed up later.
Back at the motel we turn in for an early night. The USC and Ohio State football game is on so we will fall asleep watching that. Or, at least I fall asleep. Earl is from Ohio and Carlos is from California and graduated from USC. They are rooming together so I hope all turns out okay in their room as I’m counting on both of them to continue the trip and share in the gas costs.
Tomorrow it is up early and we head on to Mitchell, South Dakota and of course, probably another 16 bathroom breaks. There we will see the world famous Corn Palace.
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