Christmas in Iowa-Days One and Two

We are spending Christmas in Des Moines this year. We arrived last night after a two day driving adventure across Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dak and finally, Iowa.

We made it to Sheridan, Wyoming the first day. 690 miles! The weather was great for the drive. The only place it was a little bit sketchy was at Lookout Pass on the Idaho-Montana border. It was slushy for about 25 miles. 

Then we got directed off the freeway at Superior, Montana because of some wreck on the Freeway. We drove down this two lane country road for 15 miles until they got us back on the main road. 

At one point, the road went right along side the freeway and west bound semi trucks were backed up for miles. They had to sit there for however long it took to clear the accident. 

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Speed Limits in Eastern Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota are 80 MPH which means I set it at 85 with no concern for getting pulled over.

Unfortunately, we traveled on the shortest day of the year so we had to drive in the dark a lot. Here's a nice sunset from two thirds of the way across SoDak.

Here are some other pictures from the road,

Here is a shot of the Devils Tower in Wyoming. This is as close as we got.

We always have books to listen to on the road, which really helps pass the time. We started with a book called "Circe" by Madeline Miller. Unless you are really in to mythology and fantasy, do not get this book.

We listened for four hours, waiting for some sort of story to begin. We finally gave up and turned to "The Reckoning" by John Grisham. This was much better and captured our interest immediately.

I'm going to return "Circe" to Audible. I got it because it was recommended by the Audible Editors as one of the best fiction books of the year. I shall not put much stock in their recommendations in the future.

We are here now and Winter has officially arrivened although it doesn't look like it in Des Moines. It looks like Fall. But it feels like Winter.

We are off to shop and wash the car.