But I must back up for a minute. The Pre-Service Orientation (PSO) is a training that all VISTA (and most likely the other AmeriCorps branches have their own) members get to attend, where they learn the ins and outs of the VISTA program. It lasts three days, well two half days and two full days, but I found it most useful. One of the best parts of the program was that everyone was so excited to be there. There were few who complained, and many who celebrated. Which was great. I love it when like minded people are actually like-minded.
The swearing in ceremony felt somewhat like a graduation of sorts. We, being representatives and participants of a federal program, had to take the oath to uphold the Constitution, which was pretty cool. After that, we pretty much said our goodbyes and left. I departed to my car to pack up and head out.
I went to pull onto the tollway to leave, and discovered that it only took change. Okay. I had no idea where my quarter roll went, and then I look back, and there are about 5 people behind me. I sat there helplessly as they kept honking their horns, telling me to go. Thankfully they had a concrete pad, where I could turn around (or where maintenance workers could turn around) when they/I was done with the stand. I then decided tolls were stupid, and took the cheap and free way out of the city... Which then took an extra 40 minutes. Whoops.
Once on the road, I was soon into Iowa. I had never actually been into Iowa, and so I observed...Really nothing. After Davenport... there was really nothing until Des Moines, which was about 175 miles away. I wasn't aware that Iowa was that large (Des Moines is near the central part of the state by the way.) But the landscape was absolutely beautiful:
Did you know the eastern part of Iowa is a national heritage area? It is called the Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area.
This is an artsy shot I tried. Actually, my camera did not focus properly. But it looks cool, no?
There was one anomaly that did catch my eye in the dark as I approached Omaha, Nebraska. I was driving, and there were all of a sudden tens of red lights that just appeared in the distance. I immediately thought "UFO!" and began thinking of crop circles. But then I realized. They were wind farms. Tons of windmills all blinking at once to warn planes about their existence. It was only for a split second, but only seeing those red lights kept me going for the rest of the trip.
Well... Sort of. Around 20 miles out of Omaha I did pull over to a rest stop, and decided to take a short nap... Well more like an hour short nap. I felt horrible because I kept pushing back my arrival time, but at that point I had to. I was starting to hallucinate different items from the shapes in the road which the lights made.
Now I am in Omaha, after a good nights sleep, and ready and refueled to start the next leg of my trip tomorrow. Onward and up... Well maybe just onward!
#Midwest
-Nick
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