Day 5: Where's my mullet?

As we passed into Iowa the scenery began to change into beautifully kept farmland, and our excitement was growing at being only a few states from our final destination. While the author Bill Bryson remarked that the only reason he was from Iowa was ‘because someone had to be’, we found the state and its main city of Des Moines to be a rather beautiful place. We managed to find a diner whose specialty was a ‘cake shake’, a beverage that enabled you to ‘have your cake and drink it too’. This awesome creation of chocolate cake churned into a vanilla shake was damn good, and may potentially represent the highlight of our time in Iowa. We continued our drive an hour past Des Moines to the college town of Iowa City, our final nightly stop and couchsurfing experience. After touring the town and campus briefly, we met our hosts, Melissa, her son Rain, and sister Christina, at what is apparently the towns premier Thai restaurant. After a beautiful meal, we settled down in a now all to familiar humidity, and enjoyed a few beers. The last leg of our journey awaited us, with our arrival in South Bend, our apartment, and our home for the next few years, only a few hours away.

Pictured: Who said Iowa didn’t have its fair share of tourist attractions? Welcome to the Largest Truck Stop in the WORLD.