Day Two: You Really Ought to Give Iowa A Try

WELCOME BACK TEAM,

As you can see by that lovely map, we have made QUITE some progress since yesterday. We are pretty much half way across the country! HUZZAH! And today we had the pleasure of driving for thirteen and a half hours. But we made it through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and are now in Nebraska! So much progress! And it only took 13.5 hours!

I know, literally how? How can three humans survive in a car for so long? How can people stay so calm, cool, and collected when everything looks like this?

Here’s how we do it folks:

1. Ya gotta split those shifts people. We each take turns driving (today we each did at least 3 hours).
2. Jamming to some fresh tunes. What are those tunes you ask? Literally anything we can possibly play to keep our minds off of how long this drive is. Sometimes these turn into karaoke sessions, here was today’s American Idol submission:
3. SNACKIES. We have A TON OF JUNK FOOD in the car to keep our souls happy. We got beef jerky, we got popcorn, we got cookies my mom made, we got IT ALL. And it’s all within arms reach at all times. Amazing.
4. Games for as long as we can possibly take it. Today we played the alphabet game, in which everyone needed to find a word on the road that corresponds to the sequence of the alphabet. It was every man for himself, and I WON. I would like to thank the Can Xpress truck that drove by.
5. Learn a Language! We ordered a 9 CD, 3 workbook set to teach us Italian on our journey. Today we got started with CD 1 in which we learned important introductory phrases, and then other really not important phrases like “we need a fan”. Take a gander!
6. Count those cows. I’ll tell ya, there’s nothing more riveting than seeing a herd of cows when you’re in the middle of nowhere. Some really exciting stuff. I’m not even being sarcastic.
7. PODCASTS. Today we started “To Live in Die in LA” which is only 12 episodes long and follows an investigation of a missing woman from LA. WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND, ALREADY FINISHED 10 EPISODES. We also are always open to suggestions for other listens!!
8. Have something to look forward to. Today we scheduled a reservation at the Iowa Chop House in Iowa City. It’s one of the best steak houses in Iowa, so we were P U M P E D. Learn more about our adventure below.

And that leads into the super fun part of the day. Parking the car in Iowa City and exiting the vehicle. A truly thrilling experience. The best part was, we were walking to get some STEAKS.

Side note: Iowa City was lit. I would definitely go back there to spend a day or two. They had a consignment shop and the shop logo was literally a cat playing a trumpet with the words “pew pew pew” over it. That is my current aesthetic. Also this wall mural:

BUT ANYWAY, back to the main event. Iowa Chop House. This place was AWESOME. We were greeted by this wonderful sign before we even entered:

A+ work Iowa. AND it got even better when our waiter told us the drink specials. We were there for “hoppy hour” (C- work Iowa), which meant that all beer in the “beer barn” was half price. What is a beer barn you may ask? Literally a section of the restaurant that has draft beers in it where patrons can go up and pour your own glass. (This is where my dad will read this and say “why would you do it yourself when the waiter will do it for you.” BECAUSE IT IS FUN AND INTERESTING DAD.) They gave each of us a card that we scanned on the tap, and it recorded how many ounces we poured! We then got charged for those ounces. The total for each flight came out to be about $3 (A++ work Iowa). Please gaze upon this great use of technology:

We each chose our own drinks for a flight, and ordered those STEAKS. Which were amazing. And accompanied by four different sides which were equally amazing. I am still full from this meal and will definitely dream about it for the rest of my life. I hope you’re doing well Iowa Chop House, we miss you.

After that, it was BACK ON THE ROAD FOR ANOTHER 4.5 HOURS!!!

There’s still a ton of driving to do tomorrow, but don’t worry. I plan on conducting an interview with James Braccino HIMSELF and introducing you to the binder of wisdom. How far will we go tomorrow?? Will we learn more Italian?? Come back tomorrow to learn more!!

DAILY STATS UPDATE:

• Number of States We’ve Been In: 7
• Miles Driven Today: 911 Miles
• Miles Driven Total: 1.298.9 Miles
• Cows Spotted: 210 (SHOUT OUT IOWA FOR ALL THEM COWS)
• Hours in the Car Today: 13.5 hours
• Total Hours in the Car: 20.5 hours
• Chicken Nuggets Consumed: 38
• Windmills Spotted: 298
• State License Plates: 37/50 States
• Number of Bathroom Stops: 2

• Number of Musicals Listened to: Still none but we are making small progress