It's one thing to ride through the Midwest and look out the window at endless fields of corn or soy or wheat. It's another thing to happen to be there in October and realize all the fields are tilled under because it's the harvest, so that's why you're not seeing the endless green fields of the American Heartland that you've always heard of.
What struck me, though, is the sky's particular shade of blue. Not the deep blue you'd see in Southern California, with no interruption by clouds and the sun knifing down with ruthless vigor, but a kind of softer, water blue, punctuated by the occasional white fluff.