It’s funny how much music knows and how it crafts a relevant soundtrack.

I’m approaching the middle of an eight-day working trip. I haven’t traveled this much since the fall of 1998 when I spent only three of twelve weeks at home. For the occasion iTunes has been taunting me with tunes including So Far Away (Dire Straits), Jet Airliner (Steve Miller), Moving Right Along (The Muppets — I have children, remember) and Man In A Suitcase (The Police), all of which do a great job of reminding me that I’m sleeping in strange beds, rushing around to wait in line, sharing stories with cabbies and then working at a desk in my hotel room until midnight.

Thanks to John Meadows and Erika Werne for their hospitality, Tina and Dave (two of the cabbies), the three ‘crazies’ going to Chicago and Bob (the guy who helped me find the hotel).

Today I leave Ames, Iowa, a quiet and pretty city just outside of Des Moines.