The Great West, day 17 (SD, IA, NE, MO, AR, TN)

Up and at ‘em early this morning!  Left the hotel at 6:30, stopped for some pictures of the Corn Palace, and got on down the road.  The scenery is so much different the now.  When we left the Badlands, the terrain began to get progressively flatter.  Now in east SD and IA the landscape is farmland with only a hint of foothills way off in the distance.  Still pretty scenery, but it just lacks something without the mountains.

Before pulling into MO, Nathan detoured off of 29 in IA over the MO River into NE for 2 miles round trip so that we could claim that state too!  We have to do silly things like that on the last part of the trip to make it fun and enjoyable.  The last day or two allotted for driving home always seems so long and cumbersome.  We had a different route through MO once we passed through KC.  Today we drove through Peculiar, MO and Humansville, MO.  We missed Tight Wad altogether!   We did find Osceola though and took the opportunity to get out and sample and buy some more cheese, yummy cinnamon twists, and caramel puffed corn.

Topping the foothills of the Ozarks and pulling back into AR, we are again enjoying rolling tree covered hills.  I just have to imagine that the clouds out on the horizon are the next layer of snowcapped mountains.  L  I’m already having flashbacks to MT. 

God has blessed us with such a wonderful trip, given us safety, good weather, and so many special memories.  We are thankful to have had such an opportunity.  We have covered 6570 miles in the course of 17 days and 16 states!