Day 28, Sunday, July 27.
Lowden, IA to Kewanee, IL
Daily Mileage: 117.6 miles
Total Mileage: 2,583.7 miles
Daily Time on Bike: 8:57 hours
Average Speed: 13.1 mph
Maximum Speed: 28.2 mph
It seems we always sleep in or at churches on Saturday nights, which only means that we have to get up early to clear out before Sunday services begin. We were up and out of the church by 8AM this morning and back on the road. After stopping for some breakfast on the edge of town at a truck stop/diner, we made our way through that last bit of Iowa on our trip.
All through Iowa we heard about RAGBRAI (the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa), an annual summer ride across Iowa that involves thousands of participants. Although it would have been fun to meet up with this group of riders, we didn't even think about it when we were planning our trip. Everyone in Iowa wanted to know if we were a part of RAGBRAI. They had heard about the trip and now they see us ride through town. We were asked more than once if we were part of the ride. Now, as nice as everyone is in Iowa, it got a bit annoying being asked about this all the time, but at least it was a change from the standard line of questioning.
Our last stop in Iowa was in the town of Muscatine, home of musk melons. We stopped at the Wal-Mart Superstore on the banks of the Mississippi to purchase one of these in addition to a collection of other exciting lunch items. After an hour at Wal-Mart, eating muskmelon and drinking gallons of fluid while playing video games, we departed for our next new state, Illinois.
By this time the Mississippi had become quite large. The bridge we used to cross the River was much bigger than any we had used previously, and once we were on the other side we had to deal with climbing out of the flood plane… again.
It was still hot and humid today. In one of the small towns we passed through, we stopped at the edge of some lady’s property and rested under a big oak tree. She came out to bring us ice water. After we talked for a while, she invited us inside to cool down in the air-conditioning. When she found out that we both had backgrounds in music, the conversation quickly turned in that direction. Then we left.
(Photo: David by the “Welcome to Illinois” sign. Note, road signs always look so much smaller in a car.)
Daily Mileage: 117.6 miles
Total Mileage: 2,583.7 miles
Daily Time on Bike: 8:57 hours
Average Speed: 13.1 mph
Maximum Speed: 28.2 mph
It seems we always sleep in or at churches on Saturday nights, which only means that we have to get up early to clear out before Sunday services begin. We were up and out of the church by 8AM this morning and back on the road. After stopping for some breakfast on the edge of town at a truck stop/diner, we made our way through that last bit of Iowa on our trip.
All through Iowa we heard about RAGBRAI (the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa), an annual summer ride across Iowa that involves thousands of participants. Although it would have been fun to meet up with this group of riders, we didn't even think about it when we were planning our trip. Everyone in Iowa wanted to know if we were a part of RAGBRAI. They had heard about the trip and now they see us ride through town. We were asked more than once if we were part of the ride. Now, as nice as everyone is in Iowa, it got a bit annoying being asked about this all the time, but at least it was a change from the standard line of questioning.
Our last stop in Iowa was in the town of Muscatine, home of musk melons. We stopped at the Wal-Mart Superstore on the banks of the Mississippi to purchase one of these in addition to a collection of other exciting lunch items. After an hour at Wal-Mart, eating muskmelon and drinking gallons of fluid while playing video games, we departed for our next new state, Illinois.
By this time the Mississippi had become quite large. The bridge we used to cross the River was much bigger than any we had used previously, and once we were on the other side we had to deal with climbing out of the flood plane… again.
It was still hot and humid today. In one of the small towns we passed through, we stopped at the edge of some lady’s property and rested under a big oak tree. She came out to bring us ice water. After we talked for a while, she invited us inside to cool down in the air-conditioning. When she found out that we both had backgrounds in music, the conversation quickly turned in that direction. Then we left.
(Photo: David by the “Welcome to Illinois” sign. Note, road signs always look so much smaller in a car.)
