Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Ohio to Nebraska













So today was quite interesting. We left Ohio and, after passing through Indiana and Illinois, we settled in Le Claire, Iowa, home of Antique Archaeology of American Pickers fame and birthplace of Buffalo Bill Cody. Stop #1 was Antique Archaeology of course, but alas, the pickers were out on the road. Nevertheless, seeing their garage and things they had dug out of dirty old barns on TV in person was really cool.  


Antique Archaeology



4 Miles to Memphis
After we bought some knick-knacks and shirts, we headed across the street to 4 Miles to Memphis, a store owned by Danielle, the “junk dispatcher” from the show. There were a lot of handmade clothing and accessories and, probably cooler, the store was an old creaky house that had been repurposed. Again, we bought some knick-knacks and shirts and went on our way. 




Sneaky Pete's
We asked the cashier/artist-whose-jewelry-we-bought if there were any good places to eat in Le Claire. Out of the options she gave us, we chose Sneaky Pete’s, which sounded very much like a place Jaimie would frequent. Turns out it’s the oldest commercial building in Le Claire. Aside from the fact that it overlooked the Mississippi River, this place looks and feels like a fight could break out over a card game at any moment. And they had cut neckties hanging from the ceiling all over the place. 


We then stopped next door at Artworks, a little consignment shop where local artists sell their wares. While Jaimie was busy petting the resident cat as a way of filling the feline void in her heart created by leaving her cat in New Jersey, I picked up a humorous drink coaster and quite possibly the coolest light switch faceplate I’ve ever seen. (To her credit, Jaimie was the one who saw the faceplate).


Our next stop was Iowa 80, the largest truck stop in the country, or world, or something. Either way, I had seen it on Modern Marvels and it was actually the only reason I had wanted to take I80 out to California. Sure, the GPS probably would have taken us this way anyway. Whatever. The place is like a miniature city. We (Josh) decided it would be a good idea to check out the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum. Turns out it was. They had a slew of restored trucks and gas pumps from throughout the history of trucking. Very neat. By the time we got to the gift shop I realized I only had a 20 dollar bill on me and the museum was admission by donation. Wanting to help out I decided to buy something to make change. While a $70 authentic gas pump globe was tempting, I settled on a $3 black and white picture of a backhoe that I plan on cleverly displaying somewhere in my bathroom.













After we left the truck stop, it was nothing but corn. And giant windmills. I didn’t get the memo that we were making them pointy and futuristic looking, but I approve. I would also like to mention that we passed a rolled over tractor-trailer and apparently, where there are farms, there are cow poop odors.



Tomorrow we head to Denver and into the mountains where we hope to see some stars and not hear the highway from our campsite.  A change in terrain is also welcome.  There will be a brief family reunion where Jaimie will see her two uncles, Bob and John, whom she has not seen in over 10 years.  

Tonight we sleep in Nebraska, where the air is cooler and the bathrooms are cleaner...

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