To Rock Falls, Illinois

It was nice to wake up in Iowa. The rolling hills and broad fields of crops are lovely to drive among. Within 15 miles of Iowa City I was once again off map wandering the back roads. Iowa is an easy place to drive off map without getting lost. While you are out there driving this way and that, you will find yourself occasionally passing pickups and people outside working. It is at these points you must remember to wave.

The Midwest is a friendly place, particularly when you are driving the back roads. If you have been doing it for a while then you are sure to know the art of the wave. The wave isn't practiced everywhere in some cities it might actually be a dangerous thing. I wasn't really introduced to the wave until I moved to Missouri. When I moved to Missouri everything changed. Everybody practiced the wave. The wave seems like a simple thing. You pass another car or a person or a house and you waive at it. Not as if you were standing on a float in a parade, stiff arm and hand twisting at the wrist. The wave can be as subtle as halfway lifting the index finger of the hand draped over the top of the steering wheel or as broad as a full arm swing out the window and over the roof of your vehicle.

There is a lot of personality that can be conveyed in a wave. There is the full-hand wipe, the one-finger lift, the two-finger slider, the back-hand fling... one fellow I know scrunches his hand as if he were milking a sideways cow. Experiment, find the style of wave that works for you and wave often. If you're new at if you might find it helpful to drive with one hand over the top of your steering wheel. This will help to remind you to wave and if you forget, at least your hand can be seen. Your wavee is a polite person and will take a hand in the windshield as a wave, giving you the benefit of the doubt.

In Missouri, you wave at everyone. Whether you know them or not, you wave. If you don't know the person you give the acknowledgement wave. The acknowledgement wave is a partial wave. Whatever your personal style of wave is, you do it half way. Just a motion of your hand in the windshield will do. If you recognize the truck, even though you might not know the person, move your hand a bit more. Delivery drivers and Semi trucks warrant a bigger wave. If you are driving down the road and the oncoming truck is a neighbor or friend, you should lift your hand enough so that the palm is forward, it is only polite.

If you are passing a person on the side of the road the rules are similar except the degree of the wave is amplified. You need to wave enough so they can see you. If your window is open stick your arm out it and wave. Goodness gracious, you are driving around in a truck while they are outside working hard. give' em some respect. But there is some protocol here as well. If you are out running errands You might pass a person two or three times. While they are outside working. You don't have to wave at them every time you pass them... mostly. If they are mowing the lawn and you wave the first time you pass, you are OK. If you pass a second time and they are still working in their yard, your first wave is still in good standing. If, however , on the second pass your wavee is across the road plowing their field, you should wave again. The rule of thumb is to wave if, on the second pass, your neighbor has moved more than half a mile or has drastically changed the type of chore they are up to or more than four hours have passed. A wave has a half-life of about three hours. So at four hours it is OK to wave again.

I am always fascinated how something as simple as crossing a river can change the land form. When I crossed the the river into Illinois the fields changed from gently rolling into softly undulating. The corn fields were not quite so captivating, but still lovely.

I ate a very late brunch. I went to the Candlelight Inn in Sterling IL. I had to. They proclaimed they were the "Home of The Original Chicken George." Now how could I miss an opportunity like that? Before, I was unaware that a Chicken George even existed, much less people were busy counterfeiting them. Here was the original! The Candlelight Inn is housed in a building that looked like it was originally a barn. It was HUGE. It needed to be huge, the parking lot was crammed and this was only Friday lunch. The Candlelight Inn was doing good business! It turns out The Original Chicken George is strips of chicken breast that have been battered and deep fried and are served with a lemony dipping sauce. Now that's original, I can see why it was counterfeited.

One of the things that struck me as a signature mid-western "fine dining" was when with the entree they presented a small basked of individually wrapped variety crackers. There were at least eight different kinds of crackers, cellophane wrapped in pairs, neatly organized into this basket that seemed to be made for just the job of holding little cellophane packages of crackers. The dessert was another signature Midwestern thing. "Lemon Lush for a dollar." My Waitress had a strong Swedish accent, the words sounded strange I think it was Lemon Lush. It was unique to this restaurant, perhaps, but the combination of massive volume, high fat, high sugar, high calorie. Goodness gracious. A one inch layer of whipped cream (of the synthetic sort) over a 1 inch layer of rich lemon curd over a one inch layer of sweetened cream cheese, over a one-half-inch layer of cookie. And the size of the serving was four inches square... I am not one of those people who feels obliged to finish a dish placed before me, even if it is wonderful and delicious. I haven't the metabolism of a Twenty-year-old anymore. I tasted it, it is exceedingly rich, sweet and contained about 4000 calories. At a buck it is cheaper than a lottery ticket and now I know what lemon lush is, I won!