The Trip (Part 3)

I started my 2nd day knowing that I had to go through Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and stop just outside Indianapolis, Indiana. I was only Wyoming for an hour as I guess Cheyenne is pretty close to the Nebraska border.

I had everything dialed in and my body was slowly adapting to the driving. The miles just kept going by without much effort. As I got close to big cities, I listen to the radio to pass the time. Another positive was it was smooth sailing as there wasn't a mountain in sight. No more climbing.

As I hit Omaha Nebraska I saw a sign for a Gorilla burger. It was this 2lb hamburger. I almost stopped in because it was around lunch time but I fought the urge. I saw the restaurant as I stopped for gas right next to it and bought a subway sandwich instead. I have to keep watching my weight. After the Ironman, I'm going let myself eat tons of junk food. Can't wait, multiple bags of Doritos are in order.

I entered Iowa and immediately started hearing presidential campaign ads on the radio. It was interesting as it's getting closer and closer to the Iowa caucus. I also hit some rush hour traffic in Iowa City which was lame but not so bad. Also I crossed into the Central time zone. Crap another hour lost although on this day I would only be going around 1000 miles. This combined with the flat roads and 75mph speed limit made the day go well.

I hit the Illinois border at dark and crossed the Mississippi river. It would've been nice to see the massive river in the light but oh well. This is where I deviated from the standard google directions to Maryland. I decided to skip going through the outskirts of Chicago because it would probably be a massive traffic jam and just went through the heart of Illinois towards Indy. The google directions take you north of Indy on I-80.

I cruised through Illinois but it was sure was cold and dark and the speed limit was only 65 so it was slow going. Every so often a car would come by doing 80 and I'd get behind them for awhile until the would exit the freeway. I didn't even see the sign of crossing into Indiana and before I knew it I was in Indianapolis. I had to take all kinds of exits which had patchy ice to navigate around the city. My last stop of the trip was just outside Indy.

I made it around 11pm central time. I got comfortable for a nights sleep and I was out. I had traveled 15 hours and I'm not sure of the exact mileage as I still have to calculate how many miles total and how I did on gas mileage. The massive part of the trip was over though as the last day was only 700 something miles. Piece of cake.