Iowa in the Rearview

Having crossed Iowa from stern to stem, tonight we will actually rest our heads in S. Dakota…actually greater Sioux City just over the line. We are holed up at KOA campground, wedged in between some enormous trailers with whole rooms that pop out of their sides and a few huge motor homes. Big Red and his camper are blushing to be a throw back to an earlier era.

This place is swanky by our standards…hot showers, swimming pool, laundromat…but the owners are patient with and helpful to neophytes like us. (We weren’t here five minutes before the nice man taught us how to get our hot water heater to work.)

Tomorrow morning we will drain all the things that should be drained and fill all the things that should be filled in preparation for the last 50 miles to the small town of Sioux Center, Iowa, where we meet up with Annie and the other riders, and the RAGBRAI begins.

Everything you may have imagined about Iowa countryside is true…views of endless seas of corn interspersed with soybeans, a few red barns, silver silos, and trees indicating the presence of a farm house… limited only by the curvature of the earth.

What you may be surprised to learn is that it is not flat. It rolls pleasantly, but not enough to worry the bikers in the family.

It was a beautiful ride, marred only by the condition of the roads. Something about Iowa’s concrete roads with their frequent seams made Big Red want to buck like a bronco at any speed over 50, enough to rattle the teeth and threaten sea sickness. We tried an alternate route through the hinterlands, but the bucking followed us all the way.

As chief navigator, I had time between Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, and Fort Dodge, to spot unusual place names: Grundy, Stout, Sac City, Correctionville, and the little town of Arthur.

Tomorrow we lay in the supply of ice, beer, granola bars, chips and salsa and join the 10,000 lunatics to begin the eastward trek.

You will be able to follow our progress this week using a series of day-by-day maps available on the RAGBRAI website.

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MAP SOURCE: Infoplease.