Saturday, October 11, 2014

Iowa 80 Truck Stop

    I began the day in Walcott, Iowa, at a hotel near the Iowa-80 truck stop, which calls itself  'The world's largest'. I hadn't seen the truck stop in a while, and before hitting the road for the Hawkeye football game I picked up some souvenirs there. It included 7 postcards, along with a magnet and a Hawkeye greeting card which showed the flags spelling out 'Iowa' at a football game. It was nice having continental breakfast at the Days Inn, I had some Froot Loops and the 'Make your own waffle'. When I was getting pictures in the breakfast area, the desk clerk gave me a weird look, then I asked if she had heard of Vivian Maier, like most she hadn't. But somebody at the table near me had.
   It was a good football game, Iowa beat Indiana 45-29. It was 28-7 at the end of the first quarter and 38-21 at the half, Iowa never trailed in this one. The second TD was on a 'Pick 6', my favorite play of the game. I got plenty of pictures at the stadium, and some outside of it as well on the way back to my car. I had a cheeseburger and some bottled water at a food stand outside the stadium after the game. I had hoped to see a classmate there but he didn't stay long after the game, and I made it to my seat just as the game was starting. It was no big deal to me to drive back to the Twin Cities after the game, since there are things I still want to get done this weekend and this gives me more time. After stopping early on for fuel in Coralville, I made just two more- near Waterloo, and then Clear Lake. All were at Casey's gas stations, a common store in Iowa. I had a donut at the Waterloo-area one, and a slice of pizza at the one in Clear Lake. And I listened to more comedy CDs, four in all, on the drive back home. But I kept the radio on when I found 'Prairie Home Companion' on public radio. I left Iowa City just after 4pm and was back in the Twin Cities just after 10pm. Thankfully it was no problem at all getting through a construction delay around Owatonna, though there were warning signs saying 'Extended delays on weekends'. Going through it in the evening may have helped. I decided to clean out my rental car right away, not just my bag but also the trash. It just meant taking a little flashlight with me to the car to see all of it in the feet area of the passenger side seat.  

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