The Truuuuuck has new brakes, new tires, an oil change AND new driverside airbag installed. So we are finally on our way westbound to see Til! Our second night on the road has us staying in Crawfordsville, Indiana – home of this adorable, if somewhat grumpy, dragon!

Our three days on the road have been a little surreal as the thick haze of smoke from the Canadian wildfires obscure everything. The horizon appears Lilliputian rather than the wide open spaces of the heartland. Massive fields of windmills appear as ghostly apparitions. We decided to take a detour day three to view the site of an ancient sea!

Imagine walking on a 375 million year old ocean floor! This glimpse into Iowa’s geologic past was first exposed during the Floods of 1993 at Coralville Lake, then further exposed during the Floods of 2008. The fossils and limestone bedrock of the Devonian Fossil Gorge date back almost 200 million years before the dinosaurs!

It was a lovely place with little pockets of wetlands tucked into the limestone beds. But absolutely everywhere you stepped were a myriad of fossils! Very cool indeed!

While we did not recognize any large fossils of the amazing Dunkleosteus, I have to admit that I don’t mind him being extinct… Just saying!

Heading back to I80 we passed two lovely offbeat oddities: A giant tree trunk carved as an arm with a blue shirt sleeve and hand displaying a massive peace sign! ✌️Sadly I was unable to get a photo… And then we passed the worlds largest wooden nickle!

After a lovely evening in camp & leisurely morning at a cute local coffee shop we headed out for Nebraska. Sad to say that every single offbeat oddity I found along the route today was something we have already visited on our million past I-80 road trips to visit Tom & Merry or Til. So we had to make do with spotting our favorite iconic roadside logos. Fortunately we are once more in the land of Sapp Brothers, Sinclair gas, and Chris’s fave – the Kum&Go!

Our second day driving across Nebraska, however, was absolutely filled with sightseeing stuff! First was an extremely short stop at the Sandhill Crane Trust, a place we love, but being Sunday it was closed.

Undeterred we decided to stop at The Arch. It was closed but had wonderful statues telling the stories of early settlers along the river path!

In August 1864 the Martin brothers, Nat age 15 and Bob age 12, were returning home with a load of hay when they were attacked by a party of Sioux and Cheyenne. The boys jumped onto a horse and fled, with Nat holding onto Bob. The Indians followed and shot Nat twice with arrows, once in his elbow and once in his side. The second arrow had enough velocity to continue through Nat and lodge in Bob’s back. The boys, pinned together, tumbled off of the horse and were left for dead.

They did not die. Nat and Bob were found the next day, transported to a doctor and were unpinned. Bob survived into middle age — although he always had a bad back — and Nat died as an old man.

Our final stop of the day was The National Pony Express monument! Tomorrow (Monday) we leave Nebraska on our final push westward. We should arrive in Sweet Home Thursday afternoon.