The Road Issue and the Sheriff

Tuesday, October 5

The issue? There are no paved shoulders on Iowa roads - only loose gravel. If you have you ever tried to wheel something in beach sand you will understand my problem with pushing or pulling a trailer weighing 170 pounds. The obvious answer - share the road. The problem with that common sense answer is that the road is so narrow it barely has room for two semi trucks which abound on this highway. I thought that they could share it with me anyway until someone called the Page County Sheriff (Policeman #13)

"Stay in the gravel!"

"What? Iowa is a least 200 miles across!"

"That is not my concern!"

"What about Highway 34?"

"It's the same thing with more traffic."

"What about the Interstate?"

"They'll arrest you."

"What about Missouri?"

"It's worse."

"How far to the county line?"

"Don't get smart. I don't want to come out here again - stay in the gravel!"

I can tell you I am a grown man who felt like crying. I cannot push this thing in the gravel (it's the loose type rather than crushed rock) so I flipped the handles around and like a plow horse I pulled trying to keep a stiff upper lip as I slowly trudged forward. I had not prepared for this. Every state I had previously passed through had at least a couple of feet of paved shoulder but not in the state of Iowa. At the county border there was less traffic so being now out of his jurisdiction I went back to my original plan except this time I pulled out of the way every time a truck zoomed by. How wide is this state???

Be like water.