Our first stop was recommended by Ryan and didn't take us that long to arrive at the Iowa 80 truck stop, advertised as the world's largest.
Iowa 80 is big and with plenty of food and shopping options, there is almost anything that you may need while traveling available at Iowa 80.
A few days before the trip as I was planning the route, I discovered the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library is almost directly off the exit.
While I had plans to visit two libraries on the trip, the Hoover Library wasn't one of them.
However, if it was that easy to find, I added it loosely to the day's schedule.
It was that easy, so we made the call to make a visit to West Branch, Iowa.
Entering the library, you can drive around a local park on the library grounds, visit the grave of the former President and First Lady, and walk through a grassy area that is a reconstruction of the prairie that Hoover grew up with as a young man.
The library was filled with displays, a theatre to watch a short film, and seemed to be recently renovated with wide open spaces and modern decor.
The gift shop at the Hoover Library is by the entrance/exit area and we stopped there for a few trinkets, including one that I thought was really neat.
There was a small passport-like booklet for the Presidental Libraries that I purchased and a small foam fishing bobber (fishing was a passion for the former President),
I can't say no to cool fidget items and since the Hoover Library was the first I ever visited, I thought it would be cool to have as I visited others.
The Hoover Library was the pleasant surprise of our trip as it was much better than I had anticipated.
The drive across Iowa continued with our next stop at an antique mall that Ryan highly recommended, The Brass Armadillo in Des Moines.
The Brass Armadillo features lots of collectible items in huge stores and I thought the Des Moines location was their only one but they are in six cities in the Midwest and West.
We wouldn't be finished with the Brass Armadillo on the trip but on this one, I bought three programs, a 1977 Ohio State at Iowa football, a 1980 NCAA Mideast Regional basketball, and a 1969 Philadelphia Eagles at St.Louis Cardinals for the collection.
The local radar showed severe thunderstorms in the area and a tornado watch, so we tried to outrun the storm and we had success for a while.
However, eventually, we had to get off the interstate and into a McDonald's parking lot where I must admit it was a little scary with the van rocking from the high winds, seeing items tossed into the air, and hearing the tornado warning sirens, which is unsettling when you aren't used to it.
Once things had cleared a little, we got back on the road, and after a half hour or so, we had cleared the storm as we were driving west, it was later that we saw the tornado destroying the town of Glenville, Iowa, a town that we had passed earlier in the day.
I feel very fortunate even now that we dodged that storm.
We stayed on the road until we found Omaha and met Ryan and his family for dinner at a local Chinese buffet.
The dinner was nice, and then we found our hotel home, which Ryan graciously provided for us, for the next eight days at a Home 2 Suites in Omaha, located a short distance from Ryan's home.
I'm going to write about the places that we saw on the trip but some of the trip may be condensed for time and space.
I may do one or two posts on the various foods that we ate rather than try to remember every meal on a particular day.
I'll continue this series soon when I have time!
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