We almost pushed past Dubuque today because we could, but Mark is getting kind of worn out, so we decided to make a relatively short day of it.

We managed to get up and get going by 7:40 this morning by not taking the time to eat breakfast. It was 42 degrees out.

We crossed the Platte River.

About thirty miles out, in Gretna, NE, we stopped at a truck stop for gas, a shower, and breakfast.  It was a real treat!  We left there at 10:40 AM.

We crossed the Missouri River and then…

…we entered Iowa.

We stopped at a visitor center that had all sorts of interesting features.

I couldn’t decide if the visitor center was featuring farming…

…or churches. Both seem to be big in Iowa.

They also had a big area for pets. You can see two of my favorite coming toward me!

As we were driving into Dubuque, I was interested in the curved furrows on this hilly land.

We parked at Walmart around 5:30 this evening.  That’s an early stop for what we’ve been doing on this trip, but we are close enough to home that we felt we could take it a little easy.  It has been gorgeous out since we got here and we did a little walking as well as taking Tucson out to play.  We’re ready for bed now.

Tomorrow, Home!