Road trip, middle of day 4

I'm at Java Joe's Coffee House in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, to meet a contact from Open Salon. Java Joe's is a funky wood-floored place in a historical brick building, an establishment that would be totally at home in 1970s Austin, Texas. There's even an attached theater space.

This morning I drove through some beautiful snow-covered Iowa countryside -- rolling hills, more trees than Nebraska, the occasional beautiful Victorian farmhouse. It was snowing lightly but steadily, and accumulating anywhere a car or truck wasn't traveling. When I pulled off at a rest stop -- and there are AWESOME highway rest stops here that are like little airport terminals, complete with cubbyhole workstations and free wifi -- the parking lot and sidewalks were snow-covered.

While driving I listened to an awesome polka show broadcast from northeastern Nebraska -- the same area I drove through yesterday. This show was like everything "A Prairie Home Companion" pretends to be, but for reals. People would phone in requests and dedications and talk about the falling snow, and there were funky local commercials. It was a totally great show, broadcast from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm every Sunday. Was it AM 900? Yes! the All Star Polka Show on KSJK.