Odometer: 85056
I’d never been In Nebraska or Iowa before. I’d imagined that they’d both look a lot like Kansas. I was pretty much right. I flew through Nebraska at 85-90MPH. This day was all about speed and distance too: over 650 miles in one day. My biggest impression of the state were of the cute boys in all the rest areas (alas, none of them cruising). Of course, cruising these rest areas would be difficult, thanks to the perpetual noise of the weather radio. Sounds just like a police radio. Smart move, huh?
Another big Nebraska memory would be of the strange yellow liquid sprayed on my car from the back of some truck. It came out in a big stream. There were horses in the truck. What am I to assume?
Crossing over into Iowa, I was pretty pissed to find the speed limit reduced to 65MPH for no apparent reason. I was amused by the rest areas described as “undeveloped” (no toilets) and “modern” (several toilets). I was astounded to find a 100KW college radio staion in Council Bluffs (trust me…this is a strange thing…)
And then there was Des Moines. The Bob Damron guide lists Border’s as the town’s “gay bookstore”. The newspaper still prints the addresses of people who write letters to the editor. Gas is 85 cents a gallon.
Actually, large parts of Des Moines looked almost seedy. There’s something about those midwestern grid cities that I really love. They have a certain grit which is all but impossible to find here in Disneyland. They grew really big in a really short period of time and had peaked by the 1950s; this history makes a pretty interesting looking city in my view. Plus there’s good neon.
There are apparently four or five queer bars here. Only one of them, Blazing Saddles, appeared to be open. It was scary: a huge collection of retail queens (CK this, Tommy Hilfiger that, Ralph Lauren something else) and the smell of cologne was vomit-inducing. Blecch…
Motley Crue was scheduled to appear on Wednesday. The tempatation to stay was great.