Since there are so many pictures from the trip, I have organized this page a little bit differently than my standard blog pages. I am only including thumbnails of the pictures on the left. If you want to see a bigger version, just click on the picture and you can see it larger. I am including just a general running commentary for each day alongside the pictures. If you would like to see more pictures of the RAGBRAI trip, or want to talk about it in more detail, send me an e-mail or give me a call.
My Two Cents: Well, we set out this morning in the RoadTrek. I didn't know how I'd feel about being in my carseat for however long the trip was going to take, but the only way to find out was to strap in, hit the road, and see. By the time we'd been on the road a couple of hours, I was ready for a break, so we stopped in Le Sueur, MN for a bite to eat and to see the Jolly Green Giant monument. I figured that it was only appropriate to eat Peas, so Dad and I found a shady spot in the shadow of the Giant, and I enjoyed my meal. After I had eaten and we had taken pictures of the Giant from every conceivable angle, we hit the road again. Towards the end of the drive, we went through Sheldon, IA, which was planned to be the overnight stop for the ride on Sunday. We checked out Sheldon's main square, and drove around town to make sure that we could find the campground. Dad tried to feed me to the lions, but I giggled and laughed until he decided that he shouldn't do it anymore. When we got to LeMars, IA, it was over 100 degrees. The thermometer on the RoadTrek said 118, but I doubt that was accurate. Even so, it was like an OVEN. Luckily, the RoadTrek had air conditioning so I didn't have to be out in the baking sun for too long. Mom and I ate dinner in the RoadTrek while the rest of the crew took in a church supper. After eating, we decided to brave the slightly cooler evening temperatures (it was surely still safely in the 90s) and head downtown to the festivities. The organizers had a huge sprinkler set up in the street, and Daddy got my hat really wet so I could stay somewhat cool. Since Le Mars claims to be the "Ice Cream Capital of the World" or something, they were giving away free ice cream. Everyone else was having some, but I was without, since I had been, up until that point, an ice cream free zone. My body is my temple after all. But Gramma decided that I needed some ice cream to aid in the cooling off process. Here she is, caught on film, feeding me my first ever ice cream - a Bomb Pop. Mom was a little bit dismayed, but she couldn't argue with Gramma; anyone outside, with free ice cream around, when it's that hot outside, should have some! I must say that I could get used to having ice cream from time to time! As Cookie Monster says, "Ice cream is a sometimes food." There are lots of other "sometimes foods" that I would experience for the first time in the upcoming week ... most courtesy of Gramma. Thanks Gramma!
Route Maps: Bike Route / Support Vehicle Route
My Two Cents: It was a woefully hot day again today. Papa, Daddy, and Uncka Drew woke up and were off before the sun came up. Gramma, Mommy and I packed up our stuff and headed out for Sheldon, the overnight town for Sunday. When we got to Sheldon, we found a nice campsight, near a building with showers and bathrooms. There were not shade trees left by the time we got there, but that may have been a blessing. After the other boys arrived, we went into town for a while to get something to eat, but spent most of the afternoon in camp. Daddy gave me a bath in the combination pool/storage bin that Mommy brought. This was to be my first night in the tent, since in LeMars we stayed at someone's house. Mom and Dad tried to get me to sleep in the tent multiple times, but there were just too many new things to look at - the environment was too different - so I had a hard time settling down. There was a good deal of crying. Finally, around 10:00, Mommy put me in the Cougar and took me for a walk, and I promptly fell asleep. When we got back, they transferred me to the tent, and I was out for the night. I didn't realize until the next day just how eventful a night it would become.
Route Maps: Bike Route / Support Vehicle Route
My Two Cents: So when I awoke Monday morning, I realized that there was a bit of a storm in the night. The first picture here is of the bikes, which were parked neatly next to each other under a tarp when we all went to bed. The wind and the rain transformed the bikes and the tarp into a mangled pile. Amazingly, none of the bikes were damaged. Mom said that she was awake most of the night, trying to keep our tent from blowing away. She lay on the edge of the increasingly wet air mattress, her hands in one corner of the tent and her feet in the other, fending off the rain. Daddy was in the middle of the tent, next to me. He apparantly did not know that there was much water coming into the tent, as he wasn't next to the sides. When Mommy had a spare moment from acting like a human tent stake, she was sopping up Lake Tent with a sponge and wringing it out outside the tent door. There were huge claps of thunder, which I slept through. Tree limbs came down. It was a notable storm. When I woke up, my bedding and my body were totally soaked. Of course, given that I have a diaper leaking problem at night anyway, I am used to sleeping while wet, and this did not disturb me. It rather bothered Mom, however, and she asked Gramma and Papa if I could sleep in the RoadTrek for the remainder of the trip. They kindly obliged, so after last night, I had deluxe accommodations. What else happened today? Well, the riders were headed to Estherville. Once we got our tents and stuff a bit dried out, we on the support crew high tailed it for Estherville, so we could set up camp and hopefully get more time for things to dry. It didn't rain the whole day, but we did have fairly significant showers on and off for the evening and into the night. Luckily, my cougar ride at bedtime, which allowed me to fall asleep, was a dry event. We all fell asleep hoping tomorrow would bring sunshine and breezes. We would not be disappointed.
Route Maps: Bike Route / Support Vehicle Route
My Two Cents: I've been sleeping like a champ ever since I started sleeping in the RoadTrek. This morning Mommy got the tents down and everything packed in the trailer before I even stired. In fact, Mom and Gramma had to do everything but bounce on my head to get me to wake up so we could leave Estherville and set out for Algona. When we don't get an early start, it means that we reach our ultimate destination later than most other support vehicles, and it's really hard to find a decent site to camp. We were determined today. When we got to Algona, however, the "good" spots were few and far between. Mom started getting stressed out, worried that if we kept looking for a better spot, we would end up with no spot at all. She was ready to lower the standards of "acceptable" to a fairly pathetic level ... we're talking about traffic noise, cow pies, sloggy ground, etc. But Gramma was committed, optimistic, and ultimately an excellent parker. We found a very nice spot, snuggled up next to a building at the fairgrounds. The only problem was that there was a concert there that was scheduled to finish at 2:00 am. Oh well. Two a.m. was a long way off. After the riders arrived, we spent some time in the afternoon in downtown Algona getting food and listening to music. Daddy and Uncka Drew were very proud to have bought lots of cookies, as they were supporting the eighth grade class and their planned trip to D.C. this fall. That's about as good a justification for multiple cookie eating as I've heard in all my eleven months. We spent a good chunk of the late afternoon hanging out in our campsite. Mom went running. Papa read the latest Harry Potter. It got cool in the evening, and that, combined with a lovely blowout poop that I sneaked in, left me scrambling for warm (and clean) clothes. My bedtime walk in the Cougar lasted a little longer than planned, as Mom and Dad succeeded in getting lost, even though Dad had ridden his bike through the neighborhood earlier in the day, and Mom had run right through there. They finally made it back to camp. And despite all the commotion at 2:00 am when the concert let out - commotion that woke up everyone else - I slept (pardon the expression) like a baby in my fabulous RoadTrek accommodations.
Route Maps: Bike Route / Support Vehicle Route
My Two Cents: I guess we didn't get a lot of pictures of the "action" today, so I've included an action shot of each of our riders. Uncka Drew took these picures as they were out on the road. Papa looks like he's just relaxing on his recumbent bike, doesn't he? While the riders were exerting themselves, Mom, Gramma and I took a short side trip off the support vehicle route so we could stop at Country Threads, a spectacular quilt shop near Garner, Iowa. I enjoyed it especially because there were lots of animals running around. Multiple dogs - inside and outside of the shop - plus chickens, kittens ... you name it! What a great place. Since it's not far from I35, which is the road we travel when we visit Nana, I expect that I'll get more chances to visit this shop. I hope so anyway. After the detour, we got to Northwood, and inquired about finding a suitable camping site. We were invited to stay on the lawn next to the home of one of the ride volunteers. I guess she took pity on us, and wanted us to have a nice, quiet place. We had lovely grass, lovely trees for shade, an old, deserted feed store that provided privacy for the riders to shower, and a perfect view of (and headstart for) the route out of town for the following day. The one small downside was that it was a little further from the in town festivities than the official campgrounds. But since this allowed for me to have longer Cougar rides and therefore longer naps, this didn't bother Mom or Dad at all. We did head into town to explore, but didn't stay too long. Then, at bedtime, it was time for my Cougar ride to fall asleep. Mom, Dad, and Uncka Drew went along for the walk, because they wanted to check out the house that was selling grilled cheese sandwiches from 9pm to 2am. Yep - only on RAGBRAI would you find some family - it was actually the five grandkids of a local resident and author - setting up tables, chairs, twinkle lights, and griddles in their front yard and serving grilled sandwiches starting at 9 pm. By the time the Cougar made it to the sandwich stand, I was pretty much zonked out, so I didn't get to do a taste test, but I was told the next day that these grilled cheese were among the best. And my parents know their grilled cheese!
Route Maps: Bike Route / Support Vehicle Route
My Two Cents: Today was another day light on the pictures. The one picture I've included at the left here is of the riders leaving Northwood. This was the view from our campsite. Of course, Daddy, Uncka Drew, and Papa left long before the sun came up. But Mom, Gramma and I got to watch the bikes go by before we ultimately got packed up and left. Today there were no side trips. We hightailed it to Cresco and arrived quite early - our ealiest arrival yet. We were directed to camp at the local community college; we ended up being only one of three parties that camped in the huge grassy area there. Lucky for me, the people who pulled up next to us were extremely nice. It was a mom and her eight year old daughter Annie, who were driving support for the dad and son. Annie was really nice, and we played together for a while, during which time Mom and Gramma were able to get the tents all set up and the RoadTrek parked to optimize the shade. By midday, we were all set up. Mom went for a run, and Gramma took me for a walk in the Cougar. I needed a nap and she wanted to check out what was going on downtown. Mom got back from her run about the same time the boys got in from their day's ride. After showers, they met up downtown with Gramma and me, and we had dinner in a church basement. All the adults had turkey legs and Iowa corn. I had oatmeal and squash. I think I got ripped off. Then again, I got to have Veggie Booty and they didn't, so I guess it evens out.
Route Maps: Bike Route / Support Vehicle Route
My Two Cents: Commentary coming soon!
Route Maps: Bike Route / Support Vehicle Route
My Two Cents: Commentary coming soon!