MIDWESTERN FANTASIA

As noted in last week's post, I'm am currently homeless, travelling from Denver to Gainesville, Florida, via Northern Illinois.  After three days of loading lots of heavy books down two flights of stairs and into a moving van (thanks Noah!), I set out on I-76 last Wednesday afternoon, making it, with the help of Diet Dr Pepper®, all the way to the rest area at Milford, Nebraska (a couple miles west of Lincoln), before pulling over to sleep.  And sleep I did.  When I woke up in the cab, I could barely move, but I hobbled over to the restrooms to perform my morning ablutions.  Behind the facility were a few concrete paths leading down to the Big Blue River, a typically lazy, non-blue Midwestern stream.  A few concrete observation decks overlooked the sluggish lagoons, and a bridge led over the water to a green park-like setting.  Pretty nice for an Interstate rest area!  The whole place was bustling with life: green everywhere, birds calling, and critters scurrying every which way.  I managed to snap some pictures of the very abundant wildlife.

--Views from the rest area--

"The Big Blue River"

This li'l guy was about the size of a closed fist...

Avoca, Iowa.  When I stopped the truck to take this picture, a lady roared past me in her car, shouting, "Stopped in the middle of the road!!!"  (Avoca Six.)

At my Ma's house in Illinois: Lincoln AKA "Das Boot."

Millie AKA "The Singing Nightingale."

Daisy AKA "Moptop."

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