On the way home... Sort of...

We got into bed last night at 1 a.m. I was literally asleep with 5 seconds according to Jeanne. We woke up at 10:30 and checkout was at 11:00. After getting our things together we headed out.

We stopped in Omaha for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel! While sitting there in a daze I suggested we drive to Lincoln and spend the night. We were in accord on that idea. We pulled into Lincoln at 3 and I unpacked the tent to get the dew off it. Jeanne headed to the laundry mat to wash some clothes.

The our chores done it was time for dinner. I got to suggestions for dinner. The first was Tastee Inn and Takeout. It looked closed and maybe condemned. When went in and were greeted by a young girl. Skylar was born in Long Beach and was wearing a Dodger t-shirt. We asked what we should order. She suggested a sandwich and onion chips. They use a pneumatic tube to suck the orders to the kitchen. The food was great! It was the best loose meat sandwich we have had! Live on Tastee!!

The we headed to Lazlo's in the Haymarket. It is a Lincoln brew pub and was good.

We then called it a night.

Day 7 - The Mississippi

Last night was different... We were actually cold! Yes, I said cold!

We got up at 4:30 and started packing. Our things were packed and on the truck by 5:30. We were on the road by 5:45. We road the first hour at about 16 miles an hour! We were flying.

We stopped for breakfast in Lost City. We had some wonderful pancakes. That we ate without fork. :-) I asked a local resident why it was called Lost City. She gave me two answers: 1) A family by the name of Lost settled there. When they came to visit the family was gone and the name stuck. 2) "Something about the Lost Indians. I liked story 1! Bev also shared that she had only lived in the town 30 years. Those newcomers!

We continued on our journey. The pace was quick.

We stopped in Charlotte for lunch. We met Steve Varnum who has cycled at least 100 miles on each state. He was very engaging and shared a quick version of his life. He did not start his adventure until he was 70 and his wife past away. They were high school sweethearts that we're separated until later in life. He is 74 and an inspiration to me. Biking50states.wordpress.com

After our stop in Charlotte it was Clinton and the Mississippi! We road while thinking of what we had just accomplished. We both wept that we could do such a thing. Two normal people getting on a bike and riding to the Mississippi. We are both powerfully made with the support of our family, friends, and church. We knew you were with us with every peddle! If you want to hear stories, we will share!

As we entered Clinton it was like a parade. People where cheering, kids giving high 5's as we passed, and we were waving like the grand marshals. It truly was amazing.

Then the Mississippi... What more to say??? We dipped our tires and kissed. I find myself tearing thinking about it. I am a blessed man!

Now back to the truck one last time to drop our bikes off for the trip back to Sioux Center and one last group shower at the local pool.

As I write this I am on the bus with rain falling. From 105 to 71... Iowa is an amazing place! Is this heaven? No, it is Iowa!

This has all been done on my iPhone . Please excuse all the errors.

Day 6

Today was a short day, 42.2 miles. We got a late start today! We road to Cedar Rapids... Which added 8 miles to our ride. The road hugged the river and opened to the Quaker plant with its huge silos. We made a left and entered another world!

Czech Village is an amazing place with lovely stores and a huge museum. We purchased a cookbook that will be shipped to our home. We walked a little further and were greeted by an accordion band. It was like Groundhog Day with the Beer Barrel Polka playing and people dancing. We ate more kolaches!

We headed out of town on our nice easy ride. WRONG! When you go down into a river valley you must ride out. It was a super steep ride out. There were many people walking their bikes but not the Nelsons... We ride!!

We headed to Mt. Vernon. We enjoyed some wonderful egg burritos sold by the local high school. Mt. Vernon is the home of Cornell College.

We met Marilyn in Springville. She was sitting her porch waving to the passing riders. We walked up and asked if we could sit on her cool porch. She has 5 children and was from New Jersey. She once lived in San Diego in the 50's. She was in the Navy and met her husband there. She said that for some reason her husband wanted to move back to Iowa. We said we needed to be going and she said to make sure we stop by the fire department because her son was the chief. It turns out her son was not the chief but her grandson was. It was a super visit!

As we left town we were greeted by a slip and slide, free beer, and a pet raccoon. Passed on the beer but the slip and slide was great. I got grass way down my pants. I got to hold the raccoon. It was a lot of silly fun.

We then rode into Anamosa. Which is the home of the Iowa State Prison. We rode through town trying to find our camp site. We went past the freeway and made right turn toward Walmart. Where were we going?? As it turns out right behind Walmart. It a pretty good place to camp. After setting up camp and taking showers we headed back to town for dinner at the Methodist Church.

We ate dinner with to lovely ladies. Ethel and Alice. Both are retired and had never been married. We talked about all kinds of wonderful things and the shared their stories. We leaned that Anamosa is famous for there pumpkin festival in the fall. It was a lovely meal but the women made it special. I had a apple pumpkin pie! Yummy!! It was a apple pie but instead of the top crust it had pumpkin pie filling. When I went to the kitchen to get the recipe no one knew who made it? I think they didn't want to share their secrets with an outsider. :)

We then walked over to the penitentiary. We met up with a nice local couple and walked and talked and got some more history. He was wearing a Giants hat so I had to say something about that. He laughed and said he got it a thrift store in Hawaii. It was a 7 and 3/4 when he wears a 7 and a quarter. Wonderful! We made it to the prison and were awed my its beauty. Strange how that could be.

We walked to the tram stop and were waiting when a woman came sat to wait too. Laura is from Minnesota and we started talking (duh). She shared that she has 2 children. Her you gets is only one and was born with Down's Syndrome. This was the first time she had left her with someone else. Jeanne was really able to share some hope with her. It was a wonderful moment to watch my wife really connect with a person that needed some hope! We told Laura we would keep her family in our prayers.

We headed back to our campsite and got into bed. Tomorrow was a 70 mile ride and we needed to be done by 1:30. This meant waking up at 4:15... Got to love vacation!

Day 5

We started early out of Marshalltown. It was a wonderful morning! Our legs felt lively and the wind was at our backs. We rode past a truck that looked like Mater from cars (had to take a picture).

Our first real stop was Garwin. We met a group of ladies who shared about the history of there city. Last year then had winds that were clocked at 130 mph for 45 min. Most of the trees in there park were snapped in 2. The grain elevator had to be rebuilt. The told us not to miss the kolaches in the next city.

The next city was Clutier. It is a small Czech community. We had some wonderful kolaches and I had maybe the best BTL I have ever had. On the way out of town we talked with two lovely ladies that shared how the wind closed their silo and it will never open again. One women shared how much she loved to garden and wants to be buried in her garden. We also had our pictures taken with two of the town princesses.

In Garrison he met a man that was born in San Bernardino and graduated from Bonita High School. Crazy!

In Vinton we went to the school for the blind. It is the school Mary Ingalls attended. Today it is used by the Americorps. It was interesting because all the roofs in the town had be replaced. The also said they had lost 80% of trees.

In Shellsburg we followed the yellow brick road and had some wonderful local popcorn.

We headed into Cedar Rapids and set up our broken tent. Got to love duct tape!! We went to dinner at the local Lutheran church... ELCA but that was ok. We had dinner with 2 members of the church. The shared all kinds of stories with us. We found how much a bushel is and how much volume it would take. The food was great but the conversation was so much better! The people of Iowa are amazing and very warm.

We then headed back to our tent to prepare for a great day 6... We hope!

Look at the bike computer! It is a lot of time in the saddle.