Lol, James. Very well put.
billowing out from under the bonnet.
"billowing out from under the
hood". Bonnet conjures up the image of a soft woman's hat, particuarly old western pioneer wear.
And a comment on flat tires. Most modern US cars come with a spare tire that will last only 50 miles or so because it isn't inflated very much. So a tow truck would be called for a flat tire since many towns in the west with garages are more than 50 miles apart.
We've driven in Scotland and I would say that basically the average Iowa country road is a tad wider than the average 2 lane Scottish road. Generally Iowa country roads/minor highways have dirt shoulders like Sheila said, but they are hardpacked dirt. There is little chance of sinking into the soil unless there has been a recent rain. Seldom is there lush vegetation on the shoulder.
So, basically you can pull off anywhere and have your car totally off the roadway. Don't forget we drive on the
right side of the road, so you look
left at intersections first for cross traffic.
As for cell phone coverage, if you are near an Interstate, you will probably have cellphone coverage the whole width of state. So that's I-80 going through Des Moines, going West/East, I-35 coming up from Texas going North/South and I-380 through Cedar Rapids.
Go here:
US Maps and type in IA for the state.
Anywhere else, coverage would be doubful. We drove from California though Arizona, New Mexico and half of Texas on I-10 at Christmas time and the coverage was excellent, except where blocked by mountains. For Iowa, there are no mountains. Bluff at the rivers, but no mountains.
Good luck with your story. Think a dryer version of the Lowlands of Scotland for your environment.
Artemis
P.S. There are no roundabouts in Iowa. Most roads are straight lines on a North-South and East-West line with straight cross intersections.