From St. Paul to Lincoln

Perhaps in the area of mundane, but this posting is about driving from St. Paul to Lincoln, NE. It is fairly amazing to have January days that have temperatures in the high 30s (remember that is Fahrenheit not Celsius) and there really isn't snow.

I decided I would try to take a picture about every 100 miles to show how the world was changing.

Below is the picture from mile 0, a picture out my living room window.

This photo was taken a few minutes before 8 AM, and in many ways the photo looks brighter than how it seemed when I was looking out the window at that moment.

At the 100 mile mark I had just crossed the border from Minnesota into Iowa and there is Diamond J casino.

Now Iowa has a riverboat casino law and there isn't a river near this place. I'm not sure why this is a legal casino and if anyone can add a comment about this to explain, please do.

Mile 200 found me at a rest stop just north of Ames, IA. The Iowa rest stops have historical exhibits. This particular one is all about transportation.

 Below are close ups of the pillars in front of the building. These are scattered out too by picnic tables at this site.

There are tile borders about the building that display early trucks and cars.

Inside I found a wooden bridge pictured on a wall; this is made of tiles.

About 30 minutes later I turned west off of I-35 and stopped for lunch at a nearby restaurant. I asked Google maps what to do next and that service took me on a route by Camp Dodge in Des Moines and then moving on state highway 44 west across Iowa.

Near the 300 mark I stopped to take a picture of a barn that struck my interest. However, later I discovered no such picture on my camera. I'm still learning with my new camera and from this experience learned to push the shutter just a bit harder!

Finally I crossed the Missouri River and had only about 40 miles to go.

Arrived at my friends' home about 3:45 in the afternoon. Sorry the pictures failed me at the end. I think I will try the thing when I drive back home in a few days.

Hope you enjoyed some views of a drive in the Midwest.