Look Closer — The Heartland Has More to Teach Than the Headlines Do 👀🌬️

Curiosity didn’t arrive with fireworks — it slipped in quietly and began to change our perspective.

We left the Crazy Y Farm at sunrise, heading east into the heartland. For miles in every direction, farm fields stretched to the horizon — feeding a nation and much of the world. The families who run these farms don’t need punchlines or politics to define them. They’re heroes and sheroes in work boots.

Out here we’ve seen power plants, solar farms, and wind turbines — all working together to keep the lights on. One Harvest Host told us they raise multiple crops just to stay ahead. And they rely on multiple energy sources to keep them and America running.

I‑80 has been under reconstruction much of the way so far — adding a third lane each way across Nebraska and Iowa. It’s the modern upgrade to the interstate system Eisenhower built in the 1950s, the backbone of American mobility. Forget the speeches. Drive the highway and feel the greatness under your wheels. I‑15 to 70 to 76 to 80 to 90 — our route from sea to shining sea.

The road crews we’ve passed are white, Black, Latino, Asian, Native American, and multiracial — just like the people in the rest areas and truck stops. Just like the teams I worked with for 40 years in hospitality. America’s workforce is a patchwork quilt of backgrounds and perspectives, each person putting a shoulder to the wheel of productivity. When leadership is enlightened, the team becomes greater than the sum of its parts. I’m seeing it through the windshield as clearly as I’ve seen it in my own career.

Last night brought us to Parnell, Iowa — to Old Man’s Creek Vineyard and Winery (named for the actual creek at the entrance to their property). First peaches, then popcorn, now wine. There are 11,620 vineyards in the U.S., tied with Germany for third in the world behind Italy and France. We didn’t know that until our host told us. They grow grapes for ten different wines, which we sampled at check‑in. We left with three bottles and a few more stories for the campfire.

This trip began with curiosity and a touch of adventure. Both have grown immeasurably as America rolls past our windshield. So have our feelings of awe and pride. The last time I drove across the country was during the bicentennial. Fifty years later, this journey is renewing what I felt back then.

Take your curiosity for a ride. It will take you places worth seeing today. 

Lovelle Drachman: Widely referenced as the author of this quote, but no other information can be found about her. This is the 4^th time in 18 years that’s happened.