Aug 18 Day 2

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Day 2 of our trip, and we wake up to 52 degrees, and a dew covered bike.  After having a little breakfast, and getting the trailer packed up, we spent a few minutes wiping the dew from the bike seat and windshield. Then it was time to get on the road.  Our plan for today was to get through the rest of Indiana, across Illinois, and about half way across Iowa.  We will end up in West Des Moines Iowa for the night.

Lennie likes to photograph the state welcome signs.  This one, for Illinois, was a little small, and ended up pretty fuzzy after a crop job.  At least you can still tell its Illinois :) 

Travelling with an EZPass is wonderful, especially on a motorcycle.  The EZPass means no stopping at the toll booths.  In some areas (south of Chicago for example), there are high speed tool lanes, making the EZPass even more desirable.  Keep the EZPass unit on the bike, and fly under the readers at 65 mph, easy peasy.

About mid-day, we crossed over the mighty Mississippi River and into Iowa.  By now, the temperatures had risen to the mid seventies, and there were a number of boaters out on the river enjoying the day.

I was very relieved to see that the people of Iowa welcome me....  Prior to seeing the sign, I was afraid that the Iowans might attack us, perhaps wielding corn stalks, as we crossed the border.  Iowa really needs to hire a new "catchy welcome sign phrase" department!

We also passed the World's Largest Truck Stop, Iowa 80.  Since we had just stopped previously for fuel and lunch, we decided not to stop in.

Is it just me, or is there a ton of truck traffic on the roads these days?  And it always seems like one of them has to be passing another so that he can travel 1/2 mph faster.  Of course that 1/2 mph differential means it takes FOREVER for them to actually pass one another.  Oh, and once they get passed, the road turns from an uphill to a downhill slope, and the one that just got passed, thinks he needs to get back in front :)

One last gas stop for the day, and we happened across the Iowa Speedway. The track was designed with influence from Rusty Wallace and patterned after Richmond International Raceway, a short track where Wallace was very successful. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered Recreational Vehicle viewing area along the backstretch. 

The track opened in September 2006, and has hosted races like the Soy Bio-diesel 250, part of the USAR Hooters Pro Cup, and the Iowa Corn Indy 250, part of the Indy Racing League.  

Even Larry the Cable Guy couldn't have named these events more appropriately :):)

Another 40 miles, and we arrive at our hotel for the night.

Tomorrow we will make our way across the remainder of Iowa, and most of Nebraska, ending up in Ogallala. Like today, no real sight seeing planned, just continuing our way toward Las Vegas.

We covered 447 miles today from Elkhart IN to West Des Moines IA. This brings the trip total to 737 miles. Below is a map of the route from today.