Iowa

Roadside mulberries. An Iowa highlight.

So it turns out that Iowa's not flat. Ever. In five days of biking across this state I think we encountered about 20 miles that were neither up nor down a hill. And the wind blows all the time at 20mph from the west. I'm convinced that we'll be biking into the wind 90% of the time on this trip, but Freda and Melissa read on some bike website that no matter which way you bike across the country, you'll have the same number of days with a tailwind as with a headwind. I think it's the same website that said Iowa is flat.

Even though winds, hills, and road conditions were less than desirable, the people of Iowa were AMAZING! Thanks to Al and Nancy Schmidt who put us up for 2 days and fed us very large quantities of fruit, ice cream, potato salad, candy, and red meat. Thanks to Armando, Mike, and Tim for letting us camp out in the Grinnell park and to Erin and Steve McDowell who met us that night for dinner. You guys are great! Thanks to Joyce Patterson for all of her hospitality in Boone and to Dave and Linda Grieve for driving over from Ankeny and for dinner at the Golden Corral, where we'd been trying to eat ever since we started this trip. (It was Freda's first Golden Corral Buffet experience; she was both excited and appauled at the food choices). Thanks to Tim and Kelly in Sioux City. Tim for the ride to the sporting goods store (which was 5 miles away from where we were staying) and Kelly for the great advice on biking out West and for escorting us through the busy streets of Sioux City, IA at rush hour. He's also our new bike idol.