Where in the world is Vikki Flandiego?

Mom's lack of geography knowledge is providing endless humor.  Sitting in the truck stop she says, "Well, I'd never been to Iowa; I can check that off my list now."  My response:  "Let's get a map first so you can find it then you can check it off." :)  All in good fun.

11pm local time and we're ready to switch out drivers after this gas stop and let Tom catch some zzzz's.  All my late night working/planning coupled with the excitement of the trip means that I'm not quite ready for bed yet but wanted to get a little writing in while we are sitting still.  

We crossed the Mississippi into Iowa and it seemed like all at once there were 5-6 different firework shows going on simultaneously.  Pretty darn neat.  Funny thing is that even though I couldn't hear the fireworks, I know how some sound so my mind provided its own sound effect.  Cool thing for me...I love fireworks.

It was a little warm for a lot of the drive but it's cooling off nicely now.  Really just enjoying the ride.  It's always entertaining when Mike gets behind the wheel...the old trucker in him comes out and I get to see a whole different side of the highway through that lens.

We are making good time and should be in the Badlands around 8am local time tomorrow.  It's supposed to be a warm one there (96) so it will be a nice respite to hit the area early and then head on up to Wall.  So nice to finally be on the road after all the planning.

Some other highlights that I didn't get pictures of (it's dark):  windmill silhouetted against the colorful dusk sky, crossing the Mississippi River, and Sophie coming up to watch the setting sun.  I did get a few pics of my sleeping Max at a rest area.  He crashed out early so we'll see what tomorrow holds (hopefully a nap!)

Good night and I'll be back tomorrow with some more posts.  (Probably just the facts, Jack - tough to be reflective when the little ones interrupt my train of thought...it's that whole only-child-needs-quiet-to-complete-a-thought thing.)