"Wir wunschen Euch eine gluckliche Reise," the Amana folks told us. That's German for "We wish you a safe journey." Wir going to need it.

Down Interstate 80, we came across a curious town: What Cheer. How would I know What Cheer? I'd never been here before. Geesh. Maybe it's where Worcestershire sauce was invented. Somebody in What Cheer mixed all this leftover kitchen gunk together and asked, "What's this here sauce?" and came up with the more marketable "Worcestershire sauce."

We were getting hungry after blowing through Des Moines. ("Blowing through" is appropriate. When checking in with editor Jeff from near the capital city, I reported being in the path of a tornado. I was only halfway kidding, although the ugly cloud in front of us did look funnel-shaped and pretty menacing. Maybe the thunder and lightning heightened the drama, I figured with a shrug. But according to the news, a tornado did touch down.)

Anyway, we were thinking a bite to eat might be swell when we saw a sign for a Danish Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa. That sounded tasty. But drat -- it was just an overhyped windmill. No pastries. How does the Iowa Chamber of Commerce expect tourists to visit the birthplaces of Herbert Hoover (in West Branch), John Wayne (in Winterset) and Johnny Carson (in Corning) -- or the Firefighters Memorial in Iowa City or the covered bridges of Madison County on an empty stomach, for crying out loud?

We let the Camaro rest for the night in Council Bluffs, Iowa, just across the Missouri River from Omaha, Neb. When we pulled up in front of the coyly named Settle Inn & Suites, which equally coyly was designed to look like a castle and even has a jousting knight on horseback in front, four or five slack-jawed young boys stampeded to the front door to gawk. This Camaro still is stylin'.

Desk clerk Patrick Kuhlman is hoping the picture we took of him standing beside the Camaro will improve his social life. He already is crafting alibis for when the young lasses ask for a spin in it to the malt shop. [Sorry, Patrick, the disposable camera failed and we have a lovely gray photo. -Ed.} Meanwhile, he provided a safe parking space for the car -- right at the front door.

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