Monday, July 23, 2012
On the Road-Friday & Saturday, July 20 & 21
Off we go, Iowa in July, who wouldn't look forward to a vacation in 100 + degree weather and humidity that would curl the straightest hair. We took a diversion this year and turned left at North Platte, heading through the middle of Nebraska and South Dakota. If you ever get a wild hair and think this might be fun, think twice. It's real "Dances with Wolves" country which was nice for the first 100 miles or so, but after a while, we were praying to be trampled by a heard of bison, or a massacre, or something to break up the sand hills (as nice as they were). We took a detour and stopped at a national forrest, 95,000 acres with 25,000 self planted. Jeff walked up to the top of the ranger's fire tower, I made it up two flights. It was good to see some greenery. We saw quite a bit of smoke from a fire in Rosebud that appeared we were driving closer and closer to in South Dakota. Happy to head east through South Dakota, back on the interstate, there aren't any more towns in South Dakota than there are in the wilds of Nebraska. We overnighted in Mitchell, breezed through the Corn Palace, met my friend Marilyn for Saturday breakfast, and stopped in at Cabellas. We were probably the only ones there not dressed in camo, not looking at the huntin' & fishin' equipment. Jeff's pony tail raised more than one eyebrow. On to the rolling corn fields of Iowa, stopped in Sioux Center along with 10,000 other RAGBRAIers to check out the pre-ride festivities and get our bearings for Sunday's send off. We spent the night in Sioux City, the closest city I could find a hotel, and that was in February.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Saturday, 7/30/11-where's Lance
Day ? (lost track of how long the ride is, but know it's the last day) and we finally stayed in the town the ride departs from, so Jeff was up and out on his own & I got to sleep until 7AM-yea. Nice quiet morning for me and Jeff made his usual 9AM ish call before I had packed up our mess. His ride was going extremely well, partially due to a somewhat pleasant morning and yes indeed, it was the last day of RAGBRAI.
Jeff called at his usual 9AM check in and I hadn't even packed up the room. I've never know whether to settle in, or hit the road, but usually manage to be on time to watch the riders arrive at the day's final destination. Out of all the days of coordinating meeting points, boy did we ever miscommunicate this afternoon. I was waiting by the bridge over the Mississippi, north of the casino, on the bike path. Sounds reasonable, right? But we Coloradoans never considered that there might be more than one bridge over the mighty Mississip in Davenport, that the bike path along the river was miles long, and certainly never considered there would be more than one casino in town (Isle of Capri & Rhythm City, that we now know of). An hour later, many, many calls back and forth, and the GPS lady telling me she was re-calculating, I did in fact find Jeff, 4 miles from where I assumed we would meet.
On the road, I-80 west, heading home. I had a blast, never did get to weave, and oddly never had a chance to finish the "Adderall Diaries", and Lance never showed as advertised (that we know of). Another successful RAGBRAI for Jeff-445 miles this year. Jeff wore his Colorado bike shirt the first day of the ride and also the final day of the ride. I couldn't be more proud of Jeff and this incredible week!
...I know I'm missing a day of the blog, and it was certainly the funnest-I'll try to catch up in a few days so keep watching...
Oh, and Jimmy answered the last trivia question correctly, along with the bonus question, so his prize will be mailed in a manila envelope within 30 days upon our arrival in Colorado.
One more trivia question though-what kind of animal looks like a big rat, but has almost an armour, scaly looking body. The rat thing is about a foot long, kinda of brownish, grayish, and not in the least bit cute. I've only seen this animal squished on the side of the road. So, maybe not a trivia question, but just identifying road kill.
Jeff called at his usual 9AM check in and I hadn't even packed up the room. I've never know whether to settle in, or hit the road, but usually manage to be on time to watch the riders arrive at the day's final destination. Out of all the days of coordinating meeting points, boy did we ever miscommunicate this afternoon. I was waiting by the bridge over the Mississippi, north of the casino, on the bike path. Sounds reasonable, right? But we Coloradoans never considered that there might be more than one bridge over the mighty Mississip in Davenport, that the bike path along the river was miles long, and certainly never considered there would be more than one casino in town (Isle of Capri & Rhythm City, that we now know of). An hour later, many, many calls back and forth, and the GPS lady telling me she was re-calculating, I did in fact find Jeff, 4 miles from where I assumed we would meet.
On the road, I-80 west, heading home. I had a blast, never did get to weave, and oddly never had a chance to finish the "Adderall Diaries", and Lance never showed as advertised (that we know of). Another successful RAGBRAI for Jeff-445 miles this year. Jeff wore his Colorado bike shirt the first day of the ride and also the final day of the ride. I couldn't be more proud of Jeff and this incredible week!
...I know I'm missing a day of the blog, and it was certainly the funnest-I'll try to catch up in a few days so keep watching...
Oh, and Jimmy answered the last trivia question correctly, along with the bonus question, so his prize will be mailed in a manila envelope within 30 days upon our arrival in Colorado.
One more trivia question though-what kind of animal looks like a big rat, but has almost an armour, scaly looking body. The rat thing is about a foot long, kinda of brownish, grayish, and not in the least bit cute. I've only seen this animal squished on the side of the road. So, maybe not a trivia question, but just identifying road kill.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Friday, 7/29/22-Now we know what a heat index is.
We checked out of the luxury hotel at 5:15AM, to a somewhat pleasant and foggy morning. It was cooler outside than in the hallway of the hotel. Back to Grinnell to catch up to the riders and looking forward to the Amana Colonies. I found a nice little diner, had breakfast & lots of coffee, and on the highway by 7:30-way too early for me. All the rest stops advertise wifi access. I couldn't resist so made the pit stop just to check my email and FB. Crazy that it works and even crazier that I made the stop the highlight of my morning. The was a Seik at the rest stop in turban, no shirt & yoga pants chanting and walking around in a square very slowly. Wonder what the truckers thought about all of this?
I met Jeff in Marengo near the Amanas. My drive was hilly and just beautiful. Jeff said his ride was real flat and he finds that a hard ride just watching the straight road ahead for miles. While I was watching for Jeff to come in, some nutty woman started playing the trumpet, and playing very poorly. What a way to wreck a lovely morning in a lovely little town. Everyone sitting on the sidewalk around her got up & moved. She got the hint, but it took four "songs". No pie in Marengo but the shade was welcomed as the day was heating up.
My route and the RAGBRAI route criss crossed several times. I got to see the crowd on the open road and tried to take a few pictures. One of the riders said I should label his picture "one tired old man". The light was so bright, I could barely see what I was snapping, so not sure if I'll have any pics to post. I did take a few pictures as the riders were coming into Marengo, set up for a group of riders rounding the corner & by God, Jeff just happened to be in that group. MAYBE, I'll have a picture of him riding.
I made it to the Amana Colonies, found the broom & basket shop, but bummed the quilt shop was no longer there. The last time I was there, you could barely get into the place, so not sure what happened to the quilts. There were very few visitors in general, heat heading towards oppressive, so not as much fun as I expected. The riders went right through Homestead so no chance to stop at the shops there.
Decided to plug in the GPS to see what direction the lady would take me to Coralville. She must have not known about RAGBRAI because sent sent down the exact highway the riders were on. I chose an alternate route and found my spot that the riders would come into town. The heat was similar to a pizza oven by that time and I was dripping after 5 minutes, knowing that Jeff must be dying by now after 6-7 hours on the bike.
Looking forward to an uneventful evening.
I met Jeff in Marengo near the Amanas. My drive was hilly and just beautiful. Jeff said his ride was real flat and he finds that a hard ride just watching the straight road ahead for miles. While I was watching for Jeff to come in, some nutty woman started playing the trumpet, and playing very poorly. What a way to wreck a lovely morning in a lovely little town. Everyone sitting on the sidewalk around her got up & moved. She got the hint, but it took four "songs". No pie in Marengo but the shade was welcomed as the day was heating up.
My route and the RAGBRAI route criss crossed several times. I got to see the crowd on the open road and tried to take a few pictures. One of the riders said I should label his picture "one tired old man". The light was so bright, I could barely see what I was snapping, so not sure if I'll have any pics to post. I did take a few pictures as the riders were coming into Marengo, set up for a group of riders rounding the corner & by God, Jeff just happened to be in that group. MAYBE, I'll have a picture of him riding.
I made it to the Amana Colonies, found the broom & basket shop, but bummed the quilt shop was no longer there. The last time I was there, you could barely get into the place, so not sure what happened to the quilts. There were very few visitors in general, heat heading towards oppressive, so not as much fun as I expected. The riders went right through Homestead so no chance to stop at the shops there.
Decided to plug in the GPS to see what direction the lady would take me to Coralville. She must have not known about RAGBRAI because sent sent down the exact highway the riders were on. I chose an alternate route and found my spot that the riders would come into town. The heat was similar to a pizza oven by that time and I was dripping after 5 minutes, knowing that Jeff must be dying by now after 6-7 hours on the bike.
Looking forward to an uneventful evening.
Wednesday, 7/27/11-Queen Anne's Lace & Black Eyed Susans
Jeff riding Boone to Altoona. We stayed in Ames last night so I dropped Jeff off several miles east of Boone, picking up the crowd of riders still in the dark. I love watching the pack of riders setting out in the morning all nice and fresh. Watching them come in in the afternoon is another story-hot, exhausted, sweaty-much like myself. Again, I have nothing but praise for my air conditioned car.
Jeff rode into the meeting town and called way before I left the hotel. I did my treadmill miles in the proverbial "recreation center". The little tiny rec room was next to the pool and hot and humid, so I had worked up a sweat in five minutes. I was ready to give up, but then I remembered the 10,000 peddlers. My drive was short down to Altoona, so I took a nice detour, country roads lines with Queen Anne's Lace and Black Eyed Susans-nice Midwest wild flowers that are three feet tall here and maybe a foot tall in Colorado, and we need to purchase them.
After some of the dinky towns we've pulled into and overnighted in, Altoona (and our overnight in Alkeny) were urban sprawl. We complained in Denison of no restaurants, and now we find strip mall, after strip mall complete with nail salon, liquor store, & bank.
Nice Italian dinner in old town Alkeny, thought we might see a movie, back to the hotel, rearranged the furniture to watch the MLS Allstars/ManU soccer game in Spanish high def, and promptly fell asleep. Heat/humidity is killing us.
Trivia question of the day-name one of the first three American soldiers to die in WWI who is from Iowa. Bonus points-which city is this soldier now buried in?
Jeff rode into the meeting town and called way before I left the hotel. I did my treadmill miles in the proverbial "recreation center". The little tiny rec room was next to the pool and hot and humid, so I had worked up a sweat in five minutes. I was ready to give up, but then I remembered the 10,000 peddlers. My drive was short down to Altoona, so I took a nice detour, country roads lines with Queen Anne's Lace and Black Eyed Susans-nice Midwest wild flowers that are three feet tall here and maybe a foot tall in Colorado, and we need to purchase them.
After some of the dinky towns we've pulled into and overnighted in, Altoona (and our overnight in Alkeny) were urban sprawl. We complained in Denison of no restaurants, and now we find strip mall, after strip mall complete with nail salon, liquor store, & bank.
Nice Italian dinner in old town Alkeny, thought we might see a movie, back to the hotel, rearranged the furniture to watch the MLS Allstars/ManU soccer game in Spanish high def, and promptly fell asleep. Heat/humidity is killing us.
Trivia question of the day-name one of the first three American soldiers to die in WWI who is from Iowa. Bonus points-which city is this soldier now buried in?
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