mid-section of the country

      Picking up the journey in Indiana.  Snow plows were busy early in the morning.  The highway leading south from LaPorte was merely wet.  I created a detour around Chicago using highway 30 and rejoining highway 80 at Joilet.  That turned out to be a good choice, as the TV weather reported many car accidents on the icy, slippery roads in Chicago.  Highway 80 was dry and white with salt. 
      80 is a toll road in Indiana, and they do not have people in a toll booth to give you change.  I put my ticket one slot in the machine, and a $ 20 bill in another slot.  The machine gave me a hand-full of Susan B Anthony dollar coins !!
    Bird excitement that day was a Red tail Hawk in a tree, and 2 Bald Eagles.  I spent the night just east of Des Moines.  Temperatures were forecast to be 4 F overnight, with wind chills of -15 F.
     Next morning the sun was out, and I counted 8 RT Hawks in Iowa.  I crossed into Nebraska at Omaha.  A large group of Canada Geese were gathered on a frozen pond.  A few more RT Hawks, and a maybe Mississippi Kite kiting over a field next to the highway.  I would have loved to stop to have a better look at that bird.
     Platte River valley was surprising for the lack of birds.  I did not see one Sandhill Crane !    In February and March there are 1000's of Crane and Snow Geese visible from the highway.   That night I looked at ebird reports for Sandhill Cranes, and few have been reported from NE.  
     In the morning I drove the last part of Nebraska and into Colorado.  Raptors were the stars of the show that day.  I saw 6 Rough-legged Hawks  (!!!!),   2 Bald Eagles, more Red Tailed Hawks, and several Kestrels sitting on phone wires. 
    In the afternoon I stopped at my storage unit and picked up my skis.  Working at a ski resort, I need to bring skis with me.  I drove thru Cheyenne and picked up highway 80 again.  Traveling west the highway warning signs were worrisome: "Slippery spots ahead Turn off cruise control."   Other signs read  "Warning Strong winds to 35 mph."
     It was dark when I arrived in Laramie.  Warnings signs were ominous:  "Caution strong winds to 50 mph   Trailers and small vehicles not advised."  I stayed overnight in Laramie to wait out the wind storm.  In the morning the wind was much less, and driving was better.
    Thursday I kept going from Laramie to the western edge of Utah.  Wendover is 2 bizzare towns, a painted line in the road separates Mormon Utah from the casinos of Nevada.  
     While driving I sometimes listen to my iPod with some podcasts I downloaded a few years ago.  Last night it would not charge the battery from the wall outlet so I plugged it into the computer.  iTunes was immediately automatically activated, and that program deleted all the podcasts I was listening to.  Very angry with that stupid program for deleting my bird podcasts, and very sad to have lost them.

Top photo:   Rocky Mountains from Hwy 80 in Laramie, WY.
2nd Photo:   snow-covered mountain south of hwy 80,  west of Salt Lake City.
3rd and 4th photos were taken 2 years in Wyoming.  looked just like that today.