Day 1: Eastern Standard and Central Time

Only in the final hours of the day's drive did I come across land that looked much different than Ohio when the corn fields of Iowa transitioned into the grasslands of South Dakota. It wasn't hard to imagine buffalo overrunning the landscape once upon a time. The day was highlighted by tourist traps--"The World's Biggest Truck Stop," The birthplace of Carl Sandburg, the Corn Palace--and a feeling of profound relief that my newly purchased car was still running smoothly after several hundred miles.