After being on the road for about 9 weeks for Camp Meeting, the General Conference Session, vacation, and the ASI Convention, Keith and I are finally back home again!  We put in some long days of driving and got home a couple days early and surprised Lois!  That was fun!

We had a great summer and despite the long time away from home.  I treasure the memories, the experience, and the time with Keith.

As special “thank you” to everyone that helped make this trip a possibility!

47 miles today - 1019.6 total miles

In the middle of the night we were woken up by thunder and lightning. We made a dash for the bath house. By the time we got there, we figured out that most of the thunderstorm was going to miss us and we were just going to get drizzle. We headed back to camp for some more sleep. Not long after we were awoken again with a strong wind buffeting the tent. Keith put in ear plugs so he wouldn’t hear it and we went back to sleep. By morning things were calm again.

This morning we started our day with a 400 foot climb out of the river valley (the north rim is lower at this point than the south rim). By the time we reached the top the winds had picked back up again. Only this time they were from the South and we were heading North! Can you say “tailwind?” and to top this off, much of the day was a gently sloping downhill. We made great time and had a fun ride. Much of the time we traveled between 15 and 20 mph! A great tailwind like this one makes all the headwinds worthwhile.

We reached Chamberlain at about 1:30. As we descended the last long hill into town, we found Uncle Wes and Aunt Lois waiting for us! We were really excited to have finished the trip!

It was a fantastic trip and I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

76.2 miles today - 972.6 total miles

We started today with a 400 foot climb out of the river valley and then climbed another 250 feet over the next 40 miles. We had a light of a tailwind which didn’t help much. We originally planned to stop at a park in Burke which is up on the prairie. Doing so would give us a 70 mile day into Chamberlain tomorrow. We decided to push on another 25 miles today back down to Francis Case Lake’s Snake Creek Recreation Area. Keith was really concerned about going the extra distance as he was already pretty tired by the time we reached Burke but neither one of us really wanted to stay in Burke. We decided to go for the extra 25 miles with the option of stealth camping if really necessary.

As we got started on the last leg of today’s ride, the light tailwind started to pick up. The only problem was that now we had changed direction of travel so the tailwind was now a strong crosswind or headwind. This made the riding more difficult, but we kept going. At the top of one hill, I pulled into a driveway for a break in some shade. We were about out of water, so I decided to ask for water at the farm house. We went down the driveway, but there was no longer a farmhouse, just some barns. But there was a spigot, so we helped ourselves to some cool water and headed on the way.

We finally reached a point where we where just 3 miles from where it looked like we would start descending into the valley, but the farmland seem to continue a slight rise in front of us as far as we could see. After a bit though, we crested a hill to a grand view of the valley and lake, now 700 feet below us. It was a steep descent and we were concerned with the speed getting away from us. As it turned out, we didn’t need to worry. The headwind had picked up and we didn’t need our brakes much but still had a fun downhill run.

Earlier in the day, Keith had looked at the map and commented that the lake was small and that they shouldn’t call it a lake. Scale can sometimes be deceiving though. At this point the lake is over 1 mile wide! The bridge, called the West Bridge, is long and strait. I think that this was the longest 1 mile ride I have ever taken. We battled across the bridge with a 20-25 mph headwind struggling to keep our speed around 9 mph. We were glad to pull into a very nice park (Snake Creek) just the other side of the bridge.

As we set up camp, we got a weather report of possible thunderstorms during the night, so we prepared our camp for the coming rain. After dark, we went down to a little gazebo just beyond our campsite where we could look over across the lake. Miles away to the South on the highlands across the lake a thunderstorm was raging. We heard nothing and there were stars covering the sky, but the lightning display was awesome.

Another neat thing happened during the middle of the day.  I noticed a car stopped up ahead at the top of a small hill.  As I approached, a lady, Nona Christensen, got out just to say Hi.  We have never met her before but she saw us riding and wanted to meet us.  Thanks, Nona, for brightening our day!

The last part of the ride, with the descent and grand views, and a great campsite made the day’s ride all worthwhile!

51.0 miles today - 896.4 total miles

The low temperature this morning was 48 degrees. It warmed up quickly to about 65 degrees by the time we hit the road. The high temperature was to be about 80 degrees today. This made for a very pleasant day of riding. Probably one of the nicest we have had so far. The scenery was gorgeous. We left the Missouri River for about 15 miles as it made a bend – we cut off the bend. Then we joined it again on a high hill over looking the river valley. We dropped down to the river and traveled up the bottom of the valley. There were very few cars on this road. We would see one every 20-30 minutes. During one rest stop, Keith laid down in the middle of the road while I took a picture (don’t tell Mom)! We also found one of NASA’s well-kept secrets in this valley. If you are one of those NASA hoax people, you need to check out today’s pictures. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll save the space here and let you look at the picture.

We had to plan for today a little more carefully than usual, since there were no services the whole day until within 5 miles of our campsite. Even then the “groceries” was a convenience store. We will be getting better services tomorrow.

We had a head wind most of the day. That wasn’t as fun, but the scenery made it worthwhile. There were also a few great descents that were a lot of fun. We hit over 25 mph coasting downhill with a strong headwind!

We are now camped on Lake Francis Case. It’s a beautiful campsite with a clear sky and pleasant temperatures. Keith is exploring the bike paths around the park.

37.4 miles today - 845.4 total milesWhat a contrast. After the near record highs of the weekend we are expecting near record lows. The low tonight is forecast to be close to 50 degrees.

We had a wind out of the North today between 20-25 mph. This gave us a strong crosswind most of the day. On the way out of Yankton we stopped by their new Super Wal-Mart and Keith did his some window-shopping.

We took a different route out of Yankton than the AC route and followed highway 50. it’s a two lane road with an 8+ foot wide shoulder. We gained over 300 feet, but did it over about 8 miles so the limb was easy except for the strong crosswinds.

When we left Hwy 50 there was a detour saying that our road (Hwy 52) was closed. We asked someone and they said that it was passable so we went anyway. There were two bridges that had been replaced and the work was almost complete with fresh pavement. The person we talked told us that we needed to turn by the “Graffiti Schoolhouse” on Apple Tree Road as the road beyond this was completely closed. Since this was the route we were scheduled to take, it was no problem. We just hadn’t heard of the “Graffiti Schoolhouse” before. While traveling the road, two other people stopped to tell us that we needed to turn at the “Graffiti Schoolhouse” to get into Springfield. This is another example of the kind people you find when bicycle touring.

When we made it to Apple Tree Road, sure enough, there was an old, abandoned schoolhouse covered with graffiti. I’ll post a picture of the schoolhouse with today’s photos.

We found a nice little park in Springfield with cabins. We got one of the cabins for the night to shelter us a bit better from the wind and cold. The cabin is only about 40 feet from the Lewis and Clark Lake, which is on the Missouri River – a beautiful setting.
Today’s Photos

31.8 miles today - 808.0 total miles

Today was a pleasant ride with a nice tailwind most of the day.

Part way though the ride Keith picked up some additional, unexpected souvenirs. While taking a drink he got distracted and his front wheel went off the road and he took a tumble.  Except for a few minor scrapes, he is OK.

The temperatures are much more agreeable today, although we did not tempt fate and rode in the morning.  Just as we were approaching Yankton, it began to sprinkle.  That was all we got.  It was scheduled to give us heavy rain overnight again so we opted for a motel.  Keith enjoyed the pool immensely.

This is our last day of riding in the flat Missouri River floodplain.

42.9 miles today - 776.2 total miles

We entered South Dakota today.  There wasn’t even a sign to greet us as we crossed the Big Sioux River, which wasn’t very big.  The ride today was uneventful.  We left our ranger friend’s house at about 8:30 and made it to Vermillion by 12:30.  The heat index was very high again this afternoon and we wanted to ride in the morning, before it got hot.  The ride was relaxing and flat, on up the Missouri River floodplain.  We have one more day of flat riding tomorrow to Yankton before we hit the hills.  Keith is enjoying the slower pace for the next three days.

The weather is scheduled to cool off beginning tomorrow though the rest of this week.  If we can dodge the rain in the next 24-48 hours we should have good weather for the rest of the ride.

We stopped in Elk Point and saw the site of the first election West of the Mississippi where the Lewis and Clark expedition selected a sergeant to replace Sgt. Floyd who died in Sioux City.  Then we got the all-important second breakfast.

Keith is looking forward to Yankton tomorrow because there he was told there was a Wal-Mart there and he wants to price some things he has been dreaming of the whole trip.

This morning our ranger friend fed us breakfast and we got a ride to church.  At church we met Lynette Brandow, Tammy Hasty, and their families – teachers we know in Michigan – who where here for a family reunion.  They had a potluck and then we went with Lynette two the nature center here at the park and spent a couple hours.  They dropped us by the house where we were staying for a quiet evening.  We had fresh Iowa sweet corn for supper!

There are so many people who have been kind to us on this trip.  We appreciate all of them.

58.8 miles today - 733.3 total miles

The most incredible thing just happened.  But I can’t get ahead of the story so I’ll tell you about that later.

Sometimes I wake up grumpy, sometimes I let him sleep.  Keith didn’t want to get up early this morning.  After some protest he got up and we got things ready to leave.  We left camp just before 9 am.  I knew from the forecast that today was going to be hot and I wanted to get our miles in before it heated up.  In fact, the forecast through Sunday is for very hot weather.  Tomorrow is going to be 100-105 degrees with very high humidity.

We made very good time with a SE wind and since our general direction of travel for the day was NW we did great.  The road was flat and for a good bit of time we did 16-20 mph.  Once we got into Sioux City there was more traffic and we had to be more careful.  Keith wanted to know how many crazy people you could fit in one drivers seat.  That was his opinion of a few drivers.

We made it to the downtown area and found the bike shop.  The people there were really nice.  We unloaded the bikes and they checked them out.  The mechanic looked at my wheels and said they were perfect.  I felt real good about that.  My roadside adjustment was pretty good.  He went ahead and made a few other adjustments that were needed and lubed the chain and other moving parts.  Then he looked at Keith’s bike and found that his wheels needed truing.  Keith was amazed.  All this time he thought that his were good and mine needed adjustment.  He also found a way to remount the bicycle computer (speedometer) that had been displaced by new handlebar tape we put on last week.  When it was all said and done, he only charged us $10.

From there we stopped by IHOP for a second breakfast at about 3 pm.  After we had eaten, we went down by the river and went though the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center .  It’s a really nice place with great information.  The lady that helped up told us about things we would see on the next few days of your trip upriver as well.

By the time we left it was almost 5 and after a short stop at another museum and a bathroom break, we headed for Stone State Park .  After we got a couple miles out of town, we remembered that we forgot to go by the grocery store.  We thought about what we had and decided we could survive well enough.

The road to the park was nice and flat.  The road from the park entrance to the campground started with a climb that neither one of us could make to the top.  Pushing the bikes wasn’t much better.  As we were getting our site ready a couple rangers came by and asked about what we were doing.  They had seen us attempt the hill.  They were very nice and helpful and got us all registered for the site.  They were very impressed with what we were doing and said they had another father/son duo come though last year on a tandem.

We got showered and setup.  Even after the shower we found ourselves sweating just sitting there.  Listening to the weather radio we heard that at 8pm the heat index for Sioux City was 117 degrees!  And it was going to be even hotter tomorrow and tomorrow night the low was going to be in the upper 80’s to 90 degrees.   We realized that at about 8:45 that this wasn’t going to work and we would have to get a motel, no matter the cost.  I got out my map and got ready to try to call a motel and see if they had a shuttle service.  Cell phone reception isn’t that great in the park so it was going to be tricky.  Just then the rangers drove up.  We explained what we were trying to do and one of the offered to let us stay at his house.  They helped us transport our gear and offered the use of this dryer for our wet items (we hand wash our biking clothes every day).  They even gave us back our camping fee!  There are angels of mercy everywhere.

Keith and I both feel very blessed right now.  We’ll be staying here tonight and tomorrow night, sleeping on his living room floor, and we have a ride to church tomorrow morning

46.9 miles today - 674.5 total miles

We got up early and left the motel at about 8 am.  We wanted to get most of the riding done before it got too hot.  We had a two good things in our favor – a headwind and clouds.  The clouds didn’t produce rain for us, but gave us shade.  The disadvantage to the tailwind is that when it is blowing at 15 mph and you are traveling at 15 mph you are basically in dead air with no breeze to cool you.

Today we made steady progress at about 10-11 mph most of the day.  I would ride in front and Keith would ride behind me doing what we call drafting to take advantage of my breaking the air.  The ride was mostly uneventful and mostly flat.

Part way though the ride, I did discover a problem with my bike.  My back wheel is no longer trued correctly.  We stopped by the road and work on it to get it better and we will be stopping by a bike shop tomorrow to have it properly trued.

We stopped in Onawa to mail a post card and to check e-mail at the library.  Then we went by the grocery store for food supplies and headed on the 3+ miles to the park.

We got to the park at about 4pm and set up camp.  When Keith went to use the computer he discovered that he left his USB drive in the computer at the library.  Fortunately a kind fellow camper gave us a ride in to town to retrieve it.
Today we have been asked several times if were are going to RAGBRAI.   RAGBRAI is an annual weeklong ride across Iowa that is starting this weekend just north of Souix City .

I just made a dive for the tent.  One mosquito found me and called all his buddies!

We are looked ahead at next week and we are currently projecting that we will end our trip Friday evening in Chamberlain, SD