Since I have several days to return to Colorado, I decided to follow the Missouri River Valley northwestward to Montana and then head south to Denver. This will take me through some heretofore unexplored country, including western North Dakota, one of only two States that I have yet to visit (the other is Hawaii).
North of Kansas City, Interstate 29 undulates across the hills east of the Missouri and the river remains out of view. Nearing Mound City, however, the highway drops onto its broad floodplain, crisscrossed with small rivers, creeks and canals. Once I entered southwestern Iowa, where the river is closer to the highway, a floodscape unfolded, having yet to recover from the spring and early summer deluge. There, hundreds of American white pelicans gathered on the extensive shallows and clouds of swallows strafed the flooded fields, preparing for their autumn migration. As one might expect, great blue herons were also abundant along this stretch of highway.
Farther north, as the Interstate veers away from the river, the late-summer landscape was drier and crop fields dominated the floodplain; rejoining the Missouri at Sioux City, I decided to stop for the night. Tomorrow, I'll follow the Missouri Valley northwestward to Pierre, South Dakota, and then north toward Bismarck, North Dakota.
North of Kansas City, Interstate 29 undulates across the hills east of the Missouri and the river remains out of view. Nearing Mound City, however, the highway drops onto its broad floodplain, crisscrossed with small rivers, creeks and canals. Once I entered southwestern Iowa, where the river is closer to the highway, a floodscape unfolded, having yet to recover from the spring and early summer deluge. There, hundreds of American white pelicans gathered on the extensive shallows and clouds of swallows strafed the flooded fields, preparing for their autumn migration. As one might expect, great blue herons were also abundant along this stretch of highway.
Farther north, as the Interstate veers away from the river, the late-summer landscape was drier and crop fields dominated the floodplain; rejoining the Missouri at Sioux City, I decided to stop for the night. Tomorrow, I'll follow the Missouri Valley northwestward to Pierre, South Dakota, and then north toward Bismarck, North Dakota.
