Day 7 - Anamosa to Clinton

Our last pack up.  Our last route on this week long bike ride.  It is bittersweet.

Packed up all the items as strategically as we could.  Logistically we have my car - Little Cobalt Claire - 4 seats inc the driver) , we have Wade's truck - Sir Arthur- 2 seats, and we have Erin's car - SONIC - parked in Clinton with 4 seats inc the driver).  So it takes a bit of thinking before we can figure out how we want to pack things up.

Apparently it is tradition to take everything to Grandpa Dale's (Wade's dad) in Des Moines and dump it all in the parking lot to sort it.  So we were prepared to be somewhat organized but otherwise we could sort it then.

So packed and ready to go I headed to Lost Nation.  This tiny town was the middle town today.  Joan and Erin were going to ride from Anamosa to Lost Nation today.  I would pick them up and then we would head to Clinton.  So I followed the caravan again to the middle town and found a somewhat shady place to land and await their arrival.  I am hunkered down in a cemetery without wifi and spotty cell phone coverage.  BUT......I was able to - yep you guessed it - take a nap.  A two hour one at that.  It was really nice and I slept so hard I am sure I was snoring.  Poor neighbors (and I am not talking about those resting in the cemetery either) heard me I am sure.  I slept so deeply that I awoke from a nightmare with a start and a little yelp.  Perhaps those "sleeping" in the cemetery did NOT like my snoring indeed and channeled that energy into my subconscious.....who knows.

Lost Nation was somewhat prepared for the influx of riders, but see the attached pictures of the port-a-pottie lines - YIKES

After they arrived, we loaded their bikes and then boogied to Clinton to meet up with Wade and await the other riders.  Wade had staked out a spot at the DQ close to the end point and we met up with him there.  Again another waiting game for all the bikers to get in.

This week was a first not only for me but for three of our riders as well.  Miles -- Erin's 14 year old son; Joe - her fiancé; and Kelly - Corwin's girlfriend.  I think their experience was great and Joe and Kelly finished the entire ride mile for mile.  CONGRATS!  Miles will do it next time I am sure.  He only missed it by a few miles and that was only because it was the 105 degree day and he got too hot.

So it is tradition that when you arrive at the end town you dip your tire in the Mississippi River.  It is a ritual that many take very serious.  Our riders did it.  See the attached pictures from the crowd waiting to dip.

It was a pleasure hanging with the Nelson Bike Team.  They are an amazing family and I as a mother of grown children know that it is hard to gather everyone once they are scattered across the country (and mine are just scattered across Iowa).  It was so cool seeing them all together as a family (yep even when they are annoyed with each other).  And the symbolism of coming together at Grandpa Dale's does not escape my brain.  I am honored to be included in that tradition.  THANK YOU

Claire the Red Headed Step Child logged over 1400 miles this week.  Jaunting between towns back and forth she did very well.  She carried tents, suitcases, bikes, coolers, and the ever present shower bags back and forth across our great state.  She will forever be dubbed "CLAIRE" and is looking forward to a rest in the garage for a couple days.

I have equated this adventure to child birth.  Ask me today as I am finishing up these posts if I will do this again is like asking a first time mom after 30 hours of labor if she will have another baby.  Hell NO!  But after the sore muscles, rashes, dirty feet, and smelly clothes fade, maybe?  I want to ride.  If I can do 1/2 days that first time riding then I will.  But I know that I will need a road bike and some extra gear that I don't currently have and training, training, training.  So until the painful part of the memory fades from my brain, I think that I will pass on RAGBRAI for the next year or two or three.  But at some point I expect that I will get on that saddle and ride.

Oh - PS -- my leg is 1000% better and I got home last night about 9:00 ish, unloaded my car, took a bath and then a shower.   -- Thanks for keeping up with me on this adventure.  Sorry for any moments of TMI (the leg thing was pretty gross).

Day 6 - Cedar Rapids to Anamosa

Woke up groggy this morning. I think we were all in the same boat.  A long night of storms in Marshalltown and then a long evening of RAGBRAI activities last night have left me tired and cranky this morning.  No time to wallow - getting packed up and moving to the next town.

We got most everything packed up and were on the road pretty early this morning.  I drove directly through to Anamosa after a brief stop for gross coffee and plastic donuts.  I keep thinking the pounds will come off quickly on this trip but my eating choices suck, so I doubt it.

The route took the support vehicles through Mount Vernon which was interesting to me since that is the mid town today.  They usually don't want the caravan of campers, cars and tents to come any where near the bikers, but alas, it is a short day today and they brought us through on Hwy 1.  After a long line at the 4 way stop in Mount Vernon on 30, the caravan moved on to Anamosa.  I have never been there before so wasn't sure what to expect.  I thought it was a pretty small town but knew they had a Walmart.  So with map in hand, I ventured around town to find us a campsite.  I started at the Wapsipinicon State Park - -Maybe -- fingers crossed, but nope -- they were full.  So then I ventured to the high school.  Found us a spot tucked in behind the school.  All the requested camping items were present - showers and bathrooms - so began dumping tents.  Got mine all set up and staked out a claim for the rest.

After that was done, I was still tired so I took a nap.  Napping in the sun has been a new experience for me.  I completely avoid the sun if at all possible - fair GERMAN skin - but in the tent slathered with sunscreen it wasn't too bad.  A breeze wafts through every once in a while and that was helpful.

After my nap and shower are done, I got caught up on a few blogs and then yep - another nap.  I must have been really tired.  About that time the first of the riders came in.  They were a good two hours ahead of every one else.   They helped me set up the other tents and as the other riders arrived,  we ventured back to pick up the truck in Mount Vernon.

As you are on this route, the theme is pasta dinners from area churches at each town.  So Joan, Wade, Miles and I headed out to a lasagna dinner at a church in town.  It was great and I think the church should have made a lot of money since they ran out of food with about an hour left on their posted hours.

We then headed to a crowded down town.  Browsed through the expo and bought a T-shirt (Thanks Joan).  The crowds were huge and you could tell that the riders knew this was their last chance to party.  The crowds were getting to be too much so we headed back to camp.

All this week, Erin and I have had a theme for each day.  With that theme there is a drink that accompanies it.  But due to the weather and other issues, we were behind in partaking of the drink.  So it was catch up night.   Unfortunately for the riders, that is too much alcohol so it was a very quick evening and all went to bed.

Tomorrow we head out on our final leg - no pun intended.

Day 5 -Marshalltown to Cedar Rapids

In spite of the weather issues we had Marshalltown was a great stop. Things were sloppy this morning and the sorting of the wet items was heavy. Thank God that Wade, Joan and Erin decided to stay and help move us to the new camp. Wade and Joan took all the wet items to the laundromat while Erin and I staked out a camp.

We found a great camp site and started to set up the new tents and sort all the items to hang up on the clothesline.

After we were all done with that I took Erin to the meeting town - Vinton- so she could meet up with Joe and Miles and finish the day.

Quick return to town and then I was on the shuttle to go downtown to see Chad Elliott and Bonita Crowe perform. You may recall this is the second time I have seen them this week. Lucky Me!

Spent all night down town in the beer garden listening to some great music and waiting for the Counting Crows. It was good to see my Ankeny peeps. Long drive for them but hope Keetah, Kristin and Curtis enjoyed the show.

Once the show started it was difficult to see. I realized why I hate floor seats for a show. Short people have a disadvantage. Listened for about an hour and the got too frustrated with the pushers and shovers and headed back to the campground.

Part of camp was still awake. Couldn't sleep so I decided to try to catch up on some reading. Of course that made it worse. Can't wait for my bed

Till tomorrow when we head out to Anamosa.

Day 4 - Webster City to Marshalltown

Here we go again. Another very HOT day. We all woke up very early another attempt to get ahead of the heat. However, it only works when we assume we start out cool. That hasn't happened all week. But away we go.

Great support vehicle route - 4 lane interstate the whole way. Got there quick. Marshalltown was very organized and I found a good spot in a park under some trees to camp. Next to showers and bathrooms - a MUST.

Got all the tents set up with help from a neighbor. Went to do a load of laundry. It was a pretty easy support day. I get back to the site and the heat is still pretty intense but the shade helps. As everyone is getting in and cleaned up, we are searching for food and a cool space to land. The Marshall County Democrats were hosting a cooling spot so we visited with the President.

I knew that storms were possible so was in constant communication with Curtis to see what was going to happen and what we could expect. A big group of us decided to head to HyVee about 2 blocks from camp. While we were there the first storm rolled in. Heavy rain and wind lasted for about 20 minutes. We headed back to camp to assess the damage and some of the tents were a little damp, but so far so good. I went to the car to find a radio station to see if the storm was over. Unfortunately it was not. The organizers evacuated the campground to the old middle school we had been using for a shower and bathroom facility. The police determined it wasn't safe due to the tear down so they moved the whole campground into a neighboring church. We rode the next bit of the storm out - 70mph wind gusts and heavy rain again.

After about 30 minutes we headed back to the park to discover that two of our 5 tents did not make it - Wade and Joan and Meghan and Tessa's tents were destroyed. So off to Walmart they go to purchase tents and the rest slept in the church for the night. My tent and Erin and Joe's tents faired very well - we stayed in our space that night with the rain and the wind lulling us to sleep.

The next morning we all assessed the camp damage and had a big morning of cleanup. We were late getting out of town for our next leg to Cedar Rapids but every one was safe and we only lost a few things that could ALL be replaced.

Oh - and it was much cooler!!!

Day 3 - Lake View to Webster City

We were up at 5:00 am. 3 riders left at 400 am to make the most distance before the heat zaps everyone. Everyone else left about an hour later but all were out before dawn. Camp was then packed up and I headed out.

It has taken me 3 days but I have realized that if you are with a group you have special privileges. Prime camp spots, etc. My displeasure regarding that will be posted on my evaluation to the committee.

The camp spot was at the Hamilton County fair grounds. It feels like the surface of the sun at our campsite. I got all the tents plotted out. Some of them put up and away I went to the shower.

The day before I started to get a heat rash (or so I thought). The lower part of my leg was red and very itchy so I smothered it in Gold Bond powder and it calmed the itch a bit. As soon as I got out of the shower I knew something was not okay. I had wifi on my iPad so looked up heat rash on WebMD. Nope didn't look anything like it. Uh oh!

The Hamilton County Expo was going on and I walked to the First Aid booth. The EMT looked at it and said I needed to go to the emergency room and asked if unwanted to go by ambulance. I respectfully declined and drove myself there.

We are beginning almost the hottest day of the trip. The ER folks were very pleasant but wanted to make sure that I am in and out of there to make room for the bikers with heat exhaustion.

Doc comes in right away and takes a look at my lower legs, asks all the important medical history questions (meds, surgeries, illnesses,etc). He then realizes I am on RAGBRAI and asks where I have been camping. I told him about our terrible experience in the "pasture" at the school in LAKE VIEW. He quickly realizes it is a reaction to the grass we were in and orders a shot (not the alcohol kind) and a dose of prednisone over the next 5 days. Well I instantly felt better. Not just because of the meds but also because it was 60 degrees in the ER and they fed me. Back to camp I went grossing everybody out that saw my leg and of course offered advise regarding my "sunburn".

The evening was miserable. The campsite was so hot. The fairgrounds had an A/C beer garden that saved us. That was very likely the hottest day.

Can't wait for tomorrow. It has to be better

Cherokee - Lake View - Day 2

It rained again last night. Seriously? Woke up to drips in the tent and we all furiously installed our rain covers.

Another night of weird noises, etc - life flight helicopter, katy-did (who knew they were so loud), and the rock band.

What a day! I couldn't figure out why I am so exhausted until I realized what happened as I am writing this blog.

I pull into Lake View at about 9:30. We strategically plan out where we are going to camp (first, second, and third choice) the night before. So I go to first choice. I am met at entrance and the town volunteer says "excuse me you cant camp here. I have 1000 campers coming here. YOU HAVE TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE (in the capital letter voice)" So I move to the next site, grab the tents start throwing them out of the car. Then another guy starts running toward me. "excuse me you can't park there". Seriously? So I load all the stuff back in car. Go to another spot not in list. The lady says "oh sorry we have 9000 campers here -reserve" So I go around again.

My next route takes me to the high school because I "better go fast or there will not be any space". Starting to panic. Crew will hate me. So I drive around the lake AGAIN! Get to HS and they take me to a spot that doesn't have any shade. Bathrooms are far away and shower is some what adequate. Start throwing out tents AGAIN and it is hot. OMG. Get them spaced out cuz we need lots of room. Then the heat and I mean HEAT kicks in. I am not sure I have ever sweated that much. Took a shower but couldn't tell whether it was sweat or inadequate drying. Oh well. Grabbed a little nap under my umbrella.

About 400 I ventured to downtown and the beer garden because Chad and Bonita were performing. Great sound and of course great song. Can't wait to see them in CR again opening for the Counting Crows!!

Got a great nights sleep. Cooled off when the sun went down. Off to Webster City tomorrow. It is the longest leg of the ride. And 3 riders are doing the 100 mile loop. They plan to leave by 4:00 am. Here we go again with heat!

Sioux Center - Cherokee - End of Day 2

We began the day drying out from a rainy night. Today's theme "Bug Day". Each day has a theme with a special drink at the end celebrating the end of the day. The team had spiders adorning their helmets and upon arrival enjoyed the "mosquito".

After a quick camp tear down and a group departure (see group picture), the support vehicles headed for Granville.

OMG the amount of people that are on this ride is absolutely amazing. (see pix with riders coming into Granville population - 325)

We found our rest spot. It was 9:30 and Joan assured me that it would be a couple hours so I headed for a sandwich and pie and she took off for the 2nd leg. I stood in line, dodged the bikers to cross a street, and arrived back thinking I would sit, eat, and read. But Wade had another idea - he was waiting for me. I snarffed my sandwich and we headed to Cherokee.

Arrived in Cherokee - sweaty and swampy (we are now calling it swass - swamp ass) to sit up tents and throw all the items off the vehicles, and take a shower.

The support person is in charge of ice and refilling the coolers. So off to Hy-Vee I go. I walked into the store and there were 3 pallets of ice sitting inside the door. By the time I was done and leaving the store, there was a half a pallet left.

As the bikers arrived one or two by one or two, they faired pretty well but pretty exhausted. After a clean up, we headed to the "spagetti" dinner (see Meghan's correction in the pictures). Headed back to the B & B and hung out on their fabulous porch.

Tomorrow we head to Lake View. Another hotter day. Oh boy! Lots of water and not many bathroom stops.

First stop of RAGBRAI - Sioux Center

Here we are in the town of Sioux Center. Camp is established on a grassy part of the campus of Dordt College sandwiched between the dorms and rec center. The grass is amazingly green. (see pictures of Team Nelson aka Fellow campers)

We ventured to vendor city and partook of some food. Had a great slice of veggie pizza and a bottle of water. There is an amazing breeze so the heat really is not unbearable.

Gearing up for the big day tomorrow. Away we go!

RAGBRAI Day One

Forgive me first of all because I am posting this on my iPhone app. Decided to leave my laptop at home and bring my phone and iPad. So I have a teeny keyboard and fat fingers. I will proof but no guarantees.

Woke up at 6:00 am to finish up last minute packing. And run to the store to replace an inverter that I didn't check til last minute and was broken. Menards saved me at 7:00 am.

Everything is packed except for one cooler that I can't fit in anywhere. The journey has begun. I know you are all going to get tired of my blah blah but hang in there. You will experience this right along beside and it will make all of you want to camp in 100 degree weather, not take a shower and ride 50+ miles a day on your bike (yeah saddle sores).

But the one question I have this early morning is --- if I am a support vehicle - where is everybody else putting their stuff? Hmm. Good question

Cool beverage start of my vacation Saturday night!

Hello folks.........Guess what?  My vacation has started!  I need it like no other right now.  Hoping to get a little R & R but I am headed out on my ROOKIE year of RAGBRAI.  If you have never heard of it, please check out the link to their website.  Yep......seriously.......RAGBRAI!  I am not riding - thank God - but I am a support vehicle.  My little red car -- we are calling her Claire the Red Headed Stepchild - will be hauling people and some things from town to town on the route this year.

We are a team of 10 (9 riders and myself) that are converging from Des Moines, Kansas City, Iowa City, and Seattle.  We are the Nelson Team -- every one else on the team is related to each other through blood or marriage -- I am just the tag-a-long.  Tomorrow morning I pick up two from the airport coming in from Seattle - Kelly and Corwin.  We then drive to Sioux Rapids to pick up Miles who has been in Okoboji for the past week with his dad.  We drive on over to Sioux Center and set up camp for the night.   Yep - camp.....tent camping, port-a-potty (I hope), no shower, camping.  I have vowed to wear no makeup for the whole week, but I think I may be too vain not to have something on my face.  We will see.

How have I prepared?  Well if this gives you any idea, I tried to set our tent up by myself last night in the back yard.  It was 400 degrees outside, I started the process when I was in my work clothes (a skirt no less) and I got it, but was drenched with sweat and the neighbor was laughing at me.  So.......Yeah........

Ready for the heat?  I am not sure.  I bought a battery operated fan for the tent.  I have a cooling towel that is pretty amazing.  But I have hit a couple bumps in the road.  I thought I had a DC Inverter.  It is this cool little tool that you plug in to your cigarette lighter and it generates amperage for electricity.  I am going to use it to power the pump for my air mattress.  Went to pack it tonight - thought I should test it and no go.  So, not sure what I am going to do.  A run to Menard's in the early morning might be the only trick.  I do not have a hand pump or a battery air pump......so it looks like I am going to need that.

And then I learn today that we are going to experience the hottest week yet.  Temps 100+ in Central Iowa.  I am hoping that we are cooler up north.  I know between the heat and the crowds, I am not sure what to expect.  But away we go any way.

So my plan is to blog daily.  I haven't decided if I am taking my laptop or my iPad.  I think that I want to take both, but not sure I can justify dealing with them in the heat.  There will be a daily blog about my RAGBRAI rookie experience but it may not get posted daily if I can't find wifi.

Check back and see if I melt like the Wicked Witch of the West.  I'm MELTING!!!!!!!

Inspired to Spray Paint

I am attempting to be crafty this year.  I am working on adding the "jewelry" to my living room.  You may all remember that I have designed the colors around a painting I received from Haiti.

As you can see the colors are vivid and really cool.  

So I had this cream colored cylindrical pot at my Spencer house.  It hasn't found a home yet in the new home because the color doesn't work.  So my blog buddy and repurposer extraordinairre, Dawn Garbes, check her out Making Home Blog by Dawn, does amazing things with spray paint.

So I decided to go for it.

I thought RED, I want it RED! 

I started with setting it up in the grass area - so what if I get paint on the grass, it will grow right?  Well only if we get some much needed rain -- looks like a pasture right now.

So I started the spraying process.  Quickly realized that this is truly an art form because it was hard not to get it too thick or leave it too thin and have to do a second coat.

I think I need to practice.

Here is the first coat of paint.

So the project worked.......but note to self -- don't mow right before painting - had a few clippings blow in to the fresh paint dang it -- but otherwise things turned out.

I am putting the original sticks back in here, but am looking for some bright green ones.  Found some at the Farmer's Market, but they are spendy and I think fresh so not sure they would last.  I will have to watch garage sales and junk stores for something.  

So here it is.

An Ode to my Spray Painting Queen - DAWN!!!!!  

Now to tackle the lawn furniture - OH BOY!111

Farmer's Market finds

Thank you Keetah for cooking our finds at the Farmer's Market. We are having an amazing supper with caprese salad, bread and some Cab. Yummo!!!!

Saturday Morning HOT HOT HOT Coffee Ponderings

It's been a while y'all.  I have no excuses at all other than my BUSY, BUSY Saturday mornings.  If I am not running off somewhere I am sleeping in  - more of the first and not enough of the last - OR I just didn't have anything to say - important or otherwise.  It has been an entire month since I have posted and I know I have missed you all.

I find myself up early this morning.  I am venturing off to the Farmer's Market later this morning, but the dogs woke me up wanting to eat and go outside.  So.......here I am

My days, nights and weekends have been filled up so far this late Spring and early Summer.  I find myself on the road, watching the ICubs, or working.  It seems like this Summer, besides being the hottest I can remember for a long time, it is FLYING by.  Not enough time to get everything done.  This is my second Summer in central Iowa and find myself trying to experience all the activities that are available to me such as the Des Moines Farmer's Market (Best in the Midwest in my opinion), Minor League Baseball - and I am not even a Cubs fan (I am a little obsessed with it), or entertaining overnight visitors to enjoy all of the great offerings in DSM.

Many things have happened since I last posted that I wanted to give my opinion about from the Sandusky verdict to the health care Supreme Court opinion to a book club find.  So here we go --

SANDUSKY GUILTY!  WOW -- that was a complete and utter shock to me.  Those that I have talked to since the guilty verdict came in said to me - "why are you surprised?" And my answer to that is that I have seen too many times that a serial pedophile get the sympathy from jury members.  The media portrays the perpetrator as somehow guiltless and the victims as somehow "asking for it".  So I was shocked and elated when the jury did the right thing in this case.  But I want to "rant" on something else surrounding this and it is the silence of those that knew it was happening:  The people that were involved in this monster's "non-profit" which really was a recruiting tool for him to find the most vulnerable of victims; his fellow coaches on the Penn State team who spent endless hours with this man and had to know what he was doing; to (and this for me is the most heinous) Mrs. Sandusky.  Her guilt surrounding the young boys that she "sacrificed" to her husband should be brought in front of a jury as well.  What goes through her mind on a daily basis?  How many young boys needed to be sacrificed for the lifestyle that she lived?  How many lives tragically altered for power and prestige?  How many silences and turned heads for living "the dream"?  YOU are just as big of a monster Mrs. Sandusky.  I hope in light of this if there are other women out there that suspect their husbands are doing this are able to speak up and out about it?  My training, teachings and personal experience tell me that it is very likely that Mr. Sandusky was also a perpetrator of domestic violence.  Of course we will never know this unless she speaks out about her experiences.  But those things go together.  A perpetrator of domestic violence uses the same tactics for power and control in that relationship as a serial pedophile uses when grooming and assaulting their victims.  I admit, this is a hot button issue for me.  While I understand the dynamics, I don't understand how a mother can look away while their child, any child, is repeatedly victimized.  In this case the child was the adopted foster child.  Does that somehow make this better because he wasn't a blood relative?  I think not!  It is ALL children that are victimized.  SOMEBODY needs to respond!  Besides the verdict, my anger surrounding the silence came to the forefront after reading this Blog - Why Didn't You Say Something yesterday.  Please take a moment to read it!  It is very poignant.

HEALTH CARE SUPREME COURT RULING!  AGAIN - WOW - another very happy shocking event.  The fear that has been hyped around the health care reform act is amazing to me.  The lies and exaggerations get more and more ridiculous.  I am glad that the supreme court (especially John Roberts - who I will add was a Bush appointee to the court NOT Obama) looked at the constitutional LAW of it and not the politics of it (aside from Thomas and Scalia) and ruled accordingly.  Since the changes have been implemented, my children have been able to be covered by health care NOT costing the tax payers any money only me and my premiums.  They all three work full time and until very recently none of their employers offered health insurance.  This would mean that my daughters $300 a month (really?) maintenance medicine for a rare bladder condition would not be covered and she would have to pay for it herself.  It would also mean that my sons ADHD medicine would not be covered and he would have an out of pocket much more than $10.00 per month of his co-pay.  So thank you Justice Roberts, thank you House and Senate for passing this legislation.  Now let's see how it goes form here.

And last but certainly not least is the latest book club find - Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail.  It is a poignant and real look at a woman's journey through her life after the tragic death of her mother.  I don't read parts of books out loud to people - I think they would be annoyed by that -- but I found this book so compelling that I had to.  One particular passage is her processing and discovery of  some wounds she needed to heal and it was raw and emotional and amazing.  I hope you download and read it this Summer.  It is worth the time.







Okay - that's it.  I have set my brain into BLOG mode again.  I leave you with an amazing fireworks display that we saw after an ICubs Game on July 4th (YEP, baseball again).  We were fortunate enough to be right by the fireworks in the parking lot and enjoyed their grandeur.  Make it a great week!