Getting to know Iowa

We have been on the move quite a bit since I last posted--today we are in Lewis and Clark State Park on the Iowa/Nebraska border, south of where the bike ride will start next Sunday. As we have driven across the state we have met several people who have ridden in the event and let us know how much fun we would have; one even suggested that I would gain weight due to all of the food and alcohol after the ride. I sure hope at the end of 477 miles that is not true!

Bill and I met up with Mom and her husband John in Louisville on Saturday, July 7th and enjoyed a quick visit and lunch. It was nice to get a family visit while on the road though we have been fortunate to receive lots of emails and phone calls from friends and family along the way. It has been almost three months since we left Phoenix--so many locations that at some point it becomes a blur.

We drove west from the corn fields of SE Indiana through the miles of rows of corn in Illinois before reaching the #1 corn producing state in the US--Iowa. Did you know Iowa was #1 in corn, soybean, egg and pork? We met a chicken farmer from Guthrie Center, IA who has 5 million chickens laying eggs. While the cost of gasoline is on the rise I imagine I can buy a dozen eggs fairly cheap around here.

During my training rides here in Iowa I have discovered Quilt Barns--farm owners who have mounted a painted quilt square to the side of their barn. With so much green corn and soybean for miles it was quite a pleasant surprise to find in the middle of Iowa. I captured some with the camera which we will post in the next few days, but here is a website I found as well which will show you what can be found down these country farm roads across the Midwest: http://www.barnquilts.com/default.htm. I told Bill it may inspire me to try making a quilt--he laughed as I am not the most creative person he has met with a needle.

Yesterday we stumbled across a small Midwestern parade running down the street of nearby Onawa, Iowa. We stopped and rushed out to see the kids on the back of trucks throwing water balloons and tossing candy to the spectators. With the heat on the increase, the water balloons were accepted willingly by the crowd. Later we drove across the Missouri river into Nebraska for a quick stroll along the swiftly moving Missouri river. Hard to imagine Lewis and Clark exploring the area on a keelboat.

I hope to post each day during the ride so you can experience the fun (and a few aching muscles) of RAGBRAI.