Day 6: Water Water Everywhere

[and all the boards did shrink. Water water everywhere, nor any drop to drink].

The theme for the day is catastrophic flooding in Missouri and Iowa that I cannot begin to adequately describe with words or pictures. I actually didn’t take any pictures of the flooding because it would have been a disservice to those who are actually here and dealing with it. Check the news sites and you’ll see.

I left St. Louis this morning, headed for Omaha, Nebraska. If you’re not looking at a map, that means I went all the way across Missouri, into Iowa, and then into Nebraska at the very end.

When I hit the Iowa State line, there was a temporary electric sign that said no exits were open for the next 35 miles. That’s because to the left and right of the interstate, and sometimes right up to the edge, there was water as far as you could see on what is supposed to be dry land. I saw partially submerged tractors, homes, barns, gas stations, and restaurants. I have seen Midwest flooding on the news before, but the scale of seeing it up close and personal for hundreds of miles is unbelievable. When I got to an exit that was finally open, it was a rest area that had no water available, so they had portable toilets set up out front.

I made it to Omaha where the College World Series championship game is being played. I rode past the stadium and could see and hear what was going on. The streets were otherwise completely empty. Little ghost town-ish, really.

Tomorrow I will head toward Valentine, Nebraska, ultimately en route toward Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.