My two cents...

...while KP is in the shower and cannot stop me!

Illinois:
We went by Dixon, the birthplace of Ronald Reagan. I really wish it had been glamorous enough to keep him there, but such are the vagaries of history. By the way, it seems we've been on a Journey of Mediocre Presidents without knowing it. In Iowa, we could've turned off at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum, and outside Omaha we could've spent a lovely seven-and-a-half minutes at the Gerald R. Ford birthplace. We could've, but we didn't.

We saw a UFO, or a blimp. We decided it was an alien craft, though what they were doing in Western Illinois was anybody's guess. (Growing horrible Republican presidents of the future, perhaps.)

Iowa:
Surprisingly hilly, and surprisingly pretty, too. I bet it's incredibly cold in the winter. Any Iowans able to comment? Passing through Iowa City, I felt a twinge of sympathy for the marching bands of Big Ten schools (hi Jer and Whit!) that have to haul ass all over the Midwest every fall/winter.

There were some windmills in Iowa, and a few more in Nebraska. And our restaurant here in Boulder touted itself as "wind-powered." (I myself was "wind-powered" after eating at Jesse's Embers in Des Moines Friday night.)

Nebraska:
I thought here, as I did in Iowa, that the native Americans must've really lived la vida loca here. Lots of forest, animals (if roadkill is any measure) and soil so rich that if you spit in it, a loogie tree grows. Party on, Indians!

Colorado:
...is beautiful. You should come here. The terrain changed as soon as we crossed the Nebraska state line; it was striking, like a sudden moratorium on boring flatness. Boulder is even better. It's becoming one of my favorite towns. The altitude makes me a little disoriented, in a good way.

Stray Thoughts:
There are lots of homely last names on things here. Things like "Stuhr." (Apologies to any Stuhrs reading.) I am beginning to believe that people must've headed west to get away from people making fun of their names.

Kate said at one point, "I'm starting to feel actively angry towards Nebraska."

We saw some Amish people. I wonder if they say things like "retardeth."

I think the same relationship exists between an SUV covered with flag stickers as with sports cars and penis size. A real American would never drive an SUV.

I have spoken!