July 20-21, 2008 The trip from Dewitt to Wapello, Iowa

Well, should we continue or not? There WAS a road here!!! Says so right here on the map!!!
Maybe was, but not any more!!!!!
Being too lazy to backtrack we decided to forge ahead and portage the two areas of river to get to the other side...
And we made it.....

Well, the trip across Iowa has been anything but boring. I still get excited about corn. When we were in Dyersville we learned that as of about two presidents ago (Back when gas was a buck and change a gallon) only 3.4 percent of all Americans are involved with agriculture, i.e. feeding the rest of us and the world and making ethanol for our cars. When we rode from Dewitt to Wapello we saw what the media would have you believe is all of Iowa. It's not and we had a nice chat with the owner of the motel, the "Roy El Motel", in Wapello who set us straight. Most of the state's corn and livestock are fine. The small percent of folks who were hit with the storms were hit hard though and it's easy to feel sorry for them but they are picking up the pieces and going on with life. In Buffalo Iowa there was no power and the tree and electric crews were working to clean up the mess. The gal at the convenient gas station where we got my new power drink, V8, and said they didn't expect any phone service or electricity for a few more days. The stuff in the cooler would melt but everyone was cheery. Cash only though. Credit card machines require phone lines. In Wapello the motel owner, and elderly gentleman, we talked to...and I..couldn't understand how the folks who get flooded out year after year continue to rebuild on the same place knowing it will happen again. Anyhow, today's pictures are on the final leg of our journey on the road from Dewitt to Wapello. Except there was no road!!! It had been washed out. So, left with the choice of backtracking for another hour or so journey or wading across the river, we did the intelligent thing...we waded across, got in, washed down our bikes and lubed them, showered and had our happy hour and map meeting where we reorganized our route to avoid further such diversions. The results were smooth riding into Ft. Madison. After the map meeting we are eating in at the motel. More tomorrow.

Rest day in Dyersville

In the morning I cycled into downtown for a haircut and browsed around. They have a beautiful Basilica there. The barber told me that the flood waters had come up to the second set of steps on the Basilica. It is a miracle that it was spared and even with the water the downtown fared better than Waterloo.

In the afternoon we went to the National Farm Toy Museum. We got a prelude with a real tractor parked next door to our motel and the restaurant we ate at.

This tractor was wooden outside.This (below) was one of the first toy tractors collectors could get. It was made by the Ertl toy tractor company in Dyersville.There were TONS of toy tractors....two full floors full in a very large building.A Ford for Denny,A Caterpillar for Lou...And an International Farmall for Bob...

Gotta run. Map meeting time. Enjoy. Drop us a line if you get the chance. Most of you have our email address. And have a wonderful summer. We are.

Fred and Sandy.

Take me out ot the ball game! Dyersville, Iowa

The field of Dreams movie set was really great! It is reall in the middle of corn fields of Iowa like in the movie and is really cool.

We were there. There were two owners of the field who were fueding. One bought out the other. We met him. He was born in the house and still lives there. There is no admission to get in....has something to do with the contract with the movie company demanding royalties I think...but the sure do get you in the concession stand. We bought the store and had a blast doing itThere were folks there playing ball on the field. They let members of our group play too. I got to hit the ball.Of course after you hit the ball you have to run the bases. Lots of fun.
Sandy smacked one out of the park.


This view was taken from left field...in the corn. All in all, a great time.

Bleacher bums.

After some 82 miles of corn and rollers we rolled into Dyersville, a delightful town with lots to do. We had the next day off...a 'rest day' though I did cycle into town to ge several hairs cut.

More devestation in Parkersburg

This is a picture of the uprooted trees.

The trip from IowaFalls to Waterloo and Dyersville

Hi again from Iowa. Travel by bicycle through Iowa is, for me an exciting experience. You see corn every day and as I said, it is not flat and for every hill you climb there is a descent and then another climb. But it's the agriculture resource that is America and I love the hills, the corn, and the ride. Today's ride from Iowa falls to Waterloo and then to Dyersville had some additional things to look at, both. terrible and beautiful. While on a country road we came upon a farm yard with tons of old farm machinery. Every sort of device; none looking like they worked and all rusty. Sorta reminded me of our garage for those of you who know it with two tandem bikes, a recumbent, several other bikes and assorted 'stuff'...and no room for our cars.

We were looking at the farm yard when a motorcyclist came by. Turned out he was a highschool teacher from Parkersburg and he said we should stop by because they had a tornado go through on May 15th and wipe out half the town so we did. It was reall something and the place was a disaster. Lots of rebuilding (the contractors were all driving nice new fancy expensive SUVs) and lots of rebuilding...

We saw lots of trees like this. Just gone. Others were uprooted and laying on their sides like you'd pull a carrot out of the garden.

There was a house here. This was a pile of rubble left and te hole behind it was a foundation. Whole houses were lifted up and plopped elsewhere.
Parkersburg wasn't the only place hit by weather. Since the beginning of the trip we were hearing about all the flooding in Iowa and wondering if we'd have a motel to stay in. We rode along the Iowa river into Waterloo. Part of the time we rode on part of their lovely bike trail system including riding along the top of the levee. The entire town wasn't protected by leveees however and above you can see one of the many houses that were sandbagged to protect against the flood. Our motel was high and dry but many of the businesses nearby in downtown Waterloo were closed though we did get some dinner and a good night's sleep. Our trip so far has been blessed with wonderful riding weather. Really makes your heart go out to the folks who were hit by the havoc of nature though.

On the trip from Waterloo to Dyersville we passed Petersburg. Rising from the middle of the fruitive plains and corn was this beautiful church. Looked like a castle...a prelude to our Disney trip that will follow the bike ride across America and beauty to come. (The woes of computers. This picture will have to be in the next post along with a picture of the uprooted trees in Parkersburg).

July 15, 2008 Storm Lake, Iowa to Ft. Dodge, Iowa

Another day of cycling in paradise. After last night on lake side with the breeze, only sixty three miles today but only 637 feet of total ascent which translates into virtually flat wonderful easy riding at 20+ MPH. Back country county roads with little traffic, lots of corn and blue skies. Don't think it can get any better than this. Passed a farm with tons of old antique farm impliments in the front yard. Reminded me of home and our garage with so many bikes you can't park the car!
More windmills. More corn. More great riding!!!

There IS some flat land in Iowa after all!

A collection of antique farm implements.

Some more cool windmills.

July 14, 2008 Sioux City to Storm Lake, Iowa

If anyone tells you that Iowa is flat, look 'em in the eye and tell them they don't know what they are talking about!!! We started our journey out of Sioux City with a 13% grade climb and spent the rest of the georgeous sunny day climbing a total of nearly 2600 feet elevation on what they call 'rollers'...a nice word for hills. Seventy-five miles later we got to Storm Lake, Iowa. A wonderful day of cycling!!! We passed corn. And corn. And corn...and wind farms and wound up on a beautiful spring fed lake in the middle of it all and wound up with a group cook out in the motel parking lot. America at it's best. Agriculture feeding and fueling the world.
Throw in a little art work along the way. What a day!!!

Blogs of some fellow riders

Hello family and frineds and just plain blog lookers. Every day brings new adventure, whether just looking at the geography change or stopping at special places along the way. Between riding and visiting with members of the group or exploring with Sandy there just doesn't seem to be enough time to do justice to my blog posts. Several of the members of the group are either more diligent or more talented with their IT capabilities and spend a lot of time writing their blogs. I am providing some links to their blogs so that you can keep up with their pictures as well as ours. For those wanting to see our tons of pictures when we get home just let me know and we will provide plenty of them for you to see. Just click on them below...
1) Cal's blog (with excellent map of where we have been and are going)
2) Miriam's blog (Miriam wanders to all of the out of the way places and tells us what's worth seeing)
3) Jim's blog (Jim operates a Bike Taxi in North Carolina)
4) Bruce and Betty's blog (they are from Florida, our destination)

Making up for lost time. Pictures from the past week or so.

Hello friends! Sorry this has taken so long to get published but we have been pedaling and sleeping and eating and pedaling with little time to do justice to the blog. These are only a few pictures highlighting the past week but we have tons more we will gladly share if you have the time and the interest when we get back. Today includes sights in South Dakota including a very emotional and stirring 4th of July trek up to Mt. Rushmore. Enjoy and feel free to email us as we go along. We don't always have Internet access but love hearing from our friends and family about how your summers are going too. Click on the picture to see more pictures.

July 2-7, 2008

The promised pictures.

Several days worth of pictures from Billings through near Broadus, Montana. Tomorrow, 90 miles to Devil's tower and then on to Spearfish, Wyoming and Mount Rushmore. I do check email every day if any of you wants to email me.

July 1, 2008. Reflections of the trip thus far

Some of you have asked for more pictures and I will try to post more though my camera can’t begin to capture what we have seen and done. For today, please let me reflect and wax poetic though I doubt my words can do much better than my camera.

Some years ago Sandy and I were in Branson, MO on the suggestion of our friends Sandie and Bernie P. and we went to a show put on by a Jewish Russian immigrant comedian named Yakkov Smirnoff. His line: “What a country!” and it is!!!. But this trip, billed by our leader Rich in our emails beginning nearly a year ago as he worked to put this trip together, as the “Trip of a lifetime” has been such a learning experience about life; about others and myself.

Starting off ceremoniously dipping our rear tires in the Pacific Ocean in wealthy upscale condominiumized Seaside, Oregon and yesterday stopping in Lame Deer, Montana for some water at a gas station/convenience store talking to some of the Natives who reflected both pride and poverty. One guy, in a U.S. Army had, with few teeth talked about his running marathons...in Boston...in little over two hours!!! Climbing mountains ahead of some of my co-riders getting the nick name “goat” and struggling to get strong enough to ride with the lead groups, and overcoming my fears about screaming down mountainsides at speeds I’d never have considered before I am learning much about America and about life and myself and those I know and love. And the trip is only 1/3 done so there is more to see and learn.

We have followed backward in reverse order the trip of Lewis and Clark and we have gone to a re-enactment of the history of the area from the Indian point of view starting with Lewis and Clark and culminating in the tragedy and growing experience of the battle of the Little Big Horn. The rigors of the Lewis and Clark Discovery Expedition in the early 1800’s to the military folly of Custer’s Last Stand. My grandfather trekked along the Oregon Trail and I could only imagine the hardships he faced. I was privileged to stop at a park where they chronicled the conditions he must have seen and for a moment I identified with his journey. Forty years ago when Sandy and I visited the Custer’s Last Stand Memorial outside of Hardin, MT it was all about Custer and his men. Now, renamed the Little Big Horn Memorial it is about reconciliation and tells the story of the Plains Indians who also lost much as well so there is hope for change. Custer and his men had single shot carbines while the Indians had repeater rifles. Our military has had to scramble for safer Humvees in Iraq while our politicians, safe in their upscale condos make life and death decisions for our troops and far too many Americans don’t laud the efforts and bravery of the men and women who put their lives on the line so that we can live in freedom. We seem adept at forgetting to read the history we write and then blunder into the same things over and over again. We must read those history books. Some things must happen “Never Again”. If disagreements, personal, political or national keep us apart, reconciliation can bring us together again.

The group we are traveling with are wonderful. No bad apples. Tough federal agents of courage fighting bad guys, doctors, scientists, business folks, IT folks (whose blogs are far better than mine as documentaries of the trip (I have listed some for you to follow); folks from all different backrgounds. Again, people to learn from and new friends for a life time.

Time to close before this becomes a book. I will try to post more pictures on our next rest day. I will close and implore you to inspect your own lives. Dream, do, forgive, love much and laugh often. This is not a dress rehersal. It is live and it is life. Don’t be stifled by your fears. Live life to the fullest.

And if you want to be bored by hours and hours of pictures of the journey when we get home I will be happy to share this epoch trip with you from the limited eye of the camera.

Danielle, one of our dear friends closes her emails to my with Hugs and Love. I do so here to each of you. Don’t be afraid to say those words. Our friend tour leader Rich told me that had he been two blocks in a different direction in New York when the twin towers fell on 9/11 at the hands of our deranged terrorist enemies, “don’t worry’. He is right. Live life to it’s fullest.

Love and Hugs to all who read this….and please share some of that love with the charities I have linked to above…or any other one you feel can help others.

Fred