Day 16 - The End of the West

Fort Collins to Des Moines

The Rocky Mountains.
All of their grandeur disappears behind us.
And so begins the plains.
The Heartland.
Caution Nebraska ahead.
All of it.
Telephone poles dance like scarecrows,
and billboards sit empty.
I thought I saw a cloud,
but it was just more blue.
Big expansive blue.
We pass John Wayne's birthplace,
and every exit is 60th Street.
We keep the pedal down.
All of it.
Hours, miles and caffeine dissappears.
North Platte, Lincoln, Omaha.
It's 85 degrees,
and the wind is hot and thick
like the King Kong burgers we find.
The glorious state line.
We escape with the sun at our back,
and hours later,
say goodbye to the day in Des Moines.