We had decided that Day 7 was going to be a driving day, so waking up at 8:45am was discouraging. I’m proud to say that we were gassed up and saying goodbye to Plainview, Iowa, by 10:00am, having gotten our morning routine down to a science. We had a goal of 500 miles and planned on stopping at only the most unique of places. At 1:00pm we had eaten up 135 miles of Highway 20. It has slowdowns for towns, and a couple of detours for road construction, but is basically freeway driving at 65 MPH. The bonus being you get interesting scenery. Avoiding interstates is something both Shar and I agree on as our preferred way to travel. Using the interstate system will get you where you want to go, but it lacks the certain freedom of being able to pull over anytime you want, the beauty of rolling through small towns, or the fun of traveling vs just getting there. We’ve hit sections of Highway 20 that have both been paired with a freeway, or can be considered a freeway in and of itself. The differences are striking. 
Iowa may be the corn capitol of the world and the birthplace of ethanol, but we’ve witnessed an example of the shift towards renewable energy sources, specifically wind. Outside of O’neill we were stopped at a train crossing carrying huge cylinders and have since seen other trains carrying the huge rotor blades for windmills. There were massive areas outside of O’neill where all the parts to construct those huge wind farm windmills lay in organized rows. It was awesome to see.
150 miles into our day we saw a sign pointing to the Largest Popcorn Ball, located in Sac City, IA. We wanted a snack break anyway, and this certainly qualified as a unique place to stop. I wondered how they have kept it from rotting in air that is thick with moisture.
As we closed in on Dubuque, IA, Highway 20 became a freeway. We were in Dyersville and driving through the corn fields to the movie set of Field of Dreams, only 20 minutes from Highway 20. We had a blast walking around the field, disappearing into the corn, and I ran third base for the winning run. 
Dubuque passed quickly, though we stopped in a suburb for a Starbucks cup for my masseuse who collects them. We crossed The Missouri River, into Illinois, and quickly found it to be the endless corn fields we had been passing for days. 
We crossed the Might Mississippi River and felt we were in the “East” for the first time. 
Highway 20 finally returned to two lanes and started winding through cities and towns. Galena was especially memorial with its sharp twists and beautiful brick buildings. Ulysses S. Grant had lived there at some point.
7:00pm approached and went, and 7:45pm was upon us. We began looking for places to call home for the night, but were thwarted even when we called and ask about using Walmart’s parking lot in Rockford. We paused in a Diary Queen parking lot, Highway 20 had got back to being freeway, ate the leftover ribs and pondered options. Public and/or secluded areas had been getting more and more scarce, and setting Alfie up in the dark is a pain. We both jumped on TripAdvisor and found a possible hotel in Elgin, IL, about an hour up Highway 20. Shar made the reservation, and we were off.
We don’t like driving at night because we are missing scenery, as well as points of interest. The road was rough, and I was worried about the tires. They have held up over some rough roads and continued to do so. Traffic was much more frequent, but that was due to Highway 20 being an alternative to the toll freeways that seem to dominate the area. We were only 60 miles from Chicago, so that could have been a factor as well. The road felt narrow and less friendly in the dark, and the directions to Elgin seemed to be suggesting us turn onto smaller roads that wound through the corn fields. We declined the quickest route and chose to stay on Highway 20.
We rolled into the Country Inn and Suites in Elgin around 10:40pm very glad to be done driving for the day. It has been a long one, 528 miles, and we parked in front to see about our room.
Sheri, the front desk manager, met us at the desk and was quick to apologize saying we should have been getting a call from Priceline about the room not being available due to a computer mixup. They did indeed give Shar a call at that very second and I kept the conversation going with Sheri. She must have liked us because she mentioned that she had a room, but that the AC wasn’t working and that had been the cause of the computer foulup. She offered to show us, and I waved at Shar that I was going to check it out while she continued talking with Priceline. They could only promise to match the price, but not the quality of another hotel and who knows where it might be located.
I followed Sheri up the stairs and she showed me a wonderful room with a king bed. The AC may not have been working, but the cooling unit on the lower setting was making the room more than comfortable. I quickly affirmed that we would take it. Going back downstairs we told Shar, who told Priceline, and we got a king room for the price of a standard.
Its a wonderful thing going to bed after a nice, hot, cleansing shower. I set my phone to wake us up at 7:00am, and we were asleep in that big, comfortable bed in minutes.
Miles Driven: 528
City/Towns Passed:
Temperature at 10:00am: 73
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