After awakening from a restless sleep due to the highway noise, we loaded up and prepared to head out. As we were putting things away we noticed the highway was relatively quiet, and it was then that we realized the traffic had stopped on the interstate due to construction. So rather than venturing directly onto the Interstate and waiting in a long line, we turned left coming out of Kamp Komfort and headed north where we joined highway 150. West of the junction we arrived at a town called Goodfield, where I filled with gas.
While at Goodfield, we noticed the traffic on the interstate was moving, albeit slowly in a single lane. Rather than risking getting stuck in a long single lane of traffic we decided to continue west on 150 until we reached the town of Morton before re-entering Interstate 74.
We continued along Interstate 74, passing through Peoria and eventually joining with Interstate 80 into Des Moines, Iowa. We found a great campground just west of West Des Moines call the Timberline Campground. Luckily we had called in advance to make a reservation. They were welcoming a group of campers called the "Sisters on the Fly" and most of the campsites were booked. We never thought we would run across a full campground in October. We had to settle for a campsite with only power and water.
It was a very nice day for driving, but we didn't see anything of note. As expected, we saw a lot of corn fields in Iowa, and surprisingly many were still unharvested even though the corn stalks had turned brown. I'm not familiar with raising corn for feed or ethanol, so I assume this is normal practice. However, I often see farmers at home who grow corn for silage will harvest their corn while still green.
Before the end of the day we drove back into West Des Moines looking to pick up a few groceries, but most importantly to find a pet supply store. Baxter has been having problems with irritated paws since we were in New Hampshire. We had visited veterinarian in Bartlett, New Hampshire when we first noticed the problem. The vet there confirmed that he hadn't injured his foot, and couldn't find any other problems, so she gave him a shot that would ease the itch. She felt that he had come across something that he was allergic to. Since we had bought him a new variety of "snack" food, we still carried his regular "meal" food, we thought that was the problem.
Moving forward to today, Baxter was still constantly trying to lick his feet, so we thought perhaps an antibacterial or antifungal shampoo would help clean his feet. We visited a Petco store, who couldn't provide what we needed, but they graciously directed us to a nearby Petland. While in Petland we noticed they have an actual veterinary clinic in the store. We asked what the wait was for getting an appointment to see a vet, and the receptionist said (somewhat apologetically) "We are fully booked today, the earliest would be tomorrow morning at 9:15 AM". We quickly arranged the visit.