From Burlington, Colorado to Rambling Ranch in Central Indiana is almost 1000 miles.

We covered the 1000 miles in 2 days. We got into Burlington, Colorado around 9:00 PM after 700 miles of interstate 70 pounding. There was no internet at the hotel and I was pretty tired. There was no blog written that day. Many years ago, I did this kind of travel on the motorcycle and a 700 mile day was no problem. Now, in the big comfy seats and air conditioned cabin of my truck, I was exhausted. I don’t drive much at night just because of the hours I keep. I’m usually asleep by 9:00 so I can get up at 3:30 AM. Sounds crazy to some but that’s what I chose to do.

If you travel across the midwest, you know there isn’t much scenery to take pictures of unless, you have an attraction to corn or soy beans. Or unless a storm is brewing.

You can see the rain falling in the distance. If I was on two wheels, I’d be thinking about putting on the rain suit. We got a few sprinkles on the truck but nothin serious.

When we entered the motel in Burlington, a woman kept asking us if we had seen the wreck. She was pretty insistent. I hadn’t seen anything but it turns out there had been a bad accident near the I-70 exit near the hotel. A truck driver had fallen asleep at the wheel and had flattened several cars. Many occupants didn’t survive. I’m glad I missed it. I-70 was even closed for many hours. Ugh. All highways are dangerous. We saw many reckless and aggressive drivers in the miles of our trip. Scary. Please be extra careful as you travel.

From Burlington, it was more pounding eastward on I-70 to O’Fallon, Missouri. O’Fallon is a suburb of St. Louis. Our plan was to leave early so we could be home to watch our favorite NFL team on TV. We hit the road at 5:30 AM to the sound of thunder and heavy rain. It was still very dark and driving on wet roads was a challenge. There was so much water on the roadway that the reflective stripes and the “BOTS DOTS” reflective lane markers were hidden. I was guessing where the actual pavement would be. Diesel prices jumped up $.30 per gallon as soon as we crossed into Indiana.

Driving through Indianapolis, the traffic was heavy. The Colts were playing the Chicago Bears and I think half of Chicago had driven down to watch in person. We did manage to get to the ranch at noon. Our welcoming committee was there to greet us.

It now the day after (the Colts won). I always enjoy having a day to relax before the grind starts again. I can enjoy as much coffee as I want. I also try to reflect on the trip we just completed. I am glad we went. I got to see things that I hadn’t seen before . I think we added 3 smashed pennies and 4 hatpins to the collection. Overall, we put about 4500 miles on the truck (which now needs more Diesel Exhaust Fluid). It feels good to be home. I have 2 trips in mind to continue to effort. One is northeast and may involve the motorcycles. The other is a return to my number 1 favorite state – the Big Sky State of Montana.

We’re done rambling for a while. Thanks to all the readers who continued to follow along. I couldn’t come up with any catchy stories for Kansas, Missouri, or Illinois. Maybe I’ll feel more “creative” next time.