222 miles. Gas was $3.49/gallon. About 90 degrees and humid, but no rain until about 7:00 this evening, as I was pulling in to the Brimark Inn in Sioux Falls. $86/night with AAA discount and $10 pet fee. It’s a very pretty, recently-remodeled non-chain hotel just off I-29, with very nice, helpful staff. But the exit doors are LOUD, so make sure you ask for a room in the middle of the building.

Takin’ the Slow Road…Travelled on the Loess Hills Scenic Byway yesterday and today. It’s a beautiful backroads country drive through pastoral fields and small towns. If you’re not in a hurry to get anywhere. In addition to the normal curves and tractor slow-downs, there is currently a lot of construction on some of the roads, and several places where you have to wait for a construction escort because there’s only one lane available (for both directions). It’s actually peaceful to surrender to the construction hostage situations if you recognize that it’s out of your control, and you’ll get there eventually. Another lesson — I was surprised when passing a road construction site when a man who was breaking up asphalt with a pick-axe on a hot, muggy Iowa day, looked up and gave me the biggest, nicest smile I’ve seen in a long time (so bummed I didn’t grab my camera in time to capture it). I immediately felt embarrassed about any complaining/whining I’ve done, ever in my life. I have so many wonderful things to be thankful for. I promise not to take them for granted anymore!

The sweetest house in Honey Creek…(yes, that’s a propane tank painted like a watermelon!!!)…

A morning of cruising past rolling hills of corn and beans, small towns, and beautiful barns culminate in a gorgeous Lewis-and-Clark-type view from the Murray Hill Scenic Overlook, above Pisgah, Iowa…