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After Nebraska, the terrain starts to get interesting. And by “interesting,” we are, of course, referring to the mountains. It took me several days to figure out the route through Wyoming and into Utah. Some friends have expressed concern about the terrain. But I have worked out a trajectory that will take me through the north edge of the Rockies. This is where most of my outdoors camping will begin. To account for the uphill climb, I’ve adjusted my Wyoming mileage down to 15 mile daily increments. And because this journey is more about having conversations with people in many regions of the States, I have designed the path to hit populated areas. But I do plan to chronicle much of the natural beauty that I will encounter along the way.

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One of Iowa’s big draws is Adair, which has a smiley face water tower and is known as “the happiest town on Earth.” During the Midwest stage of the map planning, I became especially obsessed with making sure that I would hit a new town or city every night. Because by the time I get into Wyoming and Utah, it’s going to get desolate very fast. But I’m also very excited about visiting Des Moines and Omaha for the first time.