The first town today was 24 miles away which by RAGBRAI standards is long especially for the first town. We had said we'd try to make it through until then to eat, but we failed! We stopped at a farm that had a local fireman serving pancakes! But what really got us to stop was the huge dinosaur out front! As soon as I said dinosaur, stacey was over to the side of the road in a flash! As we waited to take a picture of the dinosaur, a guy said "everyone has a kid or grandchild that loves dinosaurs!" I chimed in, or a friend!!
Since we knew Mr. Porkchop was early in the day, we decided to split the pancakes! Now only on RAGBRAI can you eat pancakes in the shop of a porta potty business! His slogan "#1 in the #2 business!"
Next stop from the first town of the day where we encountered Jan who was an absolute spitfire! The population of Ayrshire is 145 people! Jan has worked as the town clerk for the past 45 years but also used to run the city water and work at the post office and she is still working at 81 years old. We dubbed her the mayor as she was drinking wine and dressed as a pancake pointing the way with her foam finger. This was a small table of treats set up by Jan, her daughter, and a friend. They had all types of treats; pickles, rice crispy treats, snowballs, wine and vodka lemonade ice pops! We opted for a delicious pickle at 8 AM, chatted with the ladies, signed their sign and headed back out on the road. As we made our way out of town Dorice was in search of some fruit. On our way to the next town we found a roadside stop that was serving a bag of mixed fresh fruit (on occasion we eat something healthy) so we stopped there for a little break and met a couple of guys from NYC who were doing their first RAGBRAI and needed a picture with the corn!
The next mission was to find Mr. Porkchop and we could see the billowing smoke as we approached. Today was Mr. Porkchop day so we were prepared to wait for a Porkchop but really these things are amazing so even if it wasn't Mr. Porkchop day we would've waited. We chatted with the two guys behind us and one was a triathlete as well and his friend said he just watches triathlons (which can be fun too). We got our glorious chops and ate them in the shade. After we were done we took a lap around as this was the second stopping town and I'm glad we did since as we we're getting ready to roll out we found Roger and his lady friend! We don't know Roger's lady friend's name because that is all he refers to her as. Yay we found Roger on day 2! We missed seeing our buddy Larry (hope you're healing well) and it was nice to meet Roger's lady friend. We love Roger and Larry!
Our next stop was Mallard and as we rolled along the cornfields Dorice was lucky enough for her second song. So far this one was here favorite! Song items included cornfields, beans, hay, and Miles Iowa! As we were getting settled in Mallard we ran into one of our new friends and first timer Quincy who lives in California. He was having a great ride and RAGBRAI experience! We didn't spend much time in Mallard since we had planned to roll onto West Bend for Thelma's ice cream sandwiches-carbs and sugar keep you going on RAGBRAI! Plus who doesn't love cookies and ice cream! We ran into one of my coworkers at BSU on the ride! We didn't know each other were riding, but it was great to run into Scott!!
In West Bend we also stopped to see the Grotto. It was really cool. Basically a religious shrine made of geods, shells, and stones. It was huge and pictures don't do it justice!
We then headed out of town and had a good pace going. Gary from St. Louis chatted us up a bit and told us we had a good pace...so we must have. We didn't really stop in the second to last town because it was only 10 miles to the end and we were ready to be done. This was when we encountered some decent headwinds and some more hills. It was a tough finish, but we got in 73 miles today. We got into Algona and set up camp.
Stacey's tent appears to be holding up! Yay!! We got our first group shower today at the high school and then we caught the shuttle to the Methodist church for spaghetti! It was really good, but no pie!! This isn't the first time the Methodists have let us down!!!
When we got to camp today, Ray came up to us and said "I'm not going to hug you because that would be weird, but thank you!" He had gone on his own and stopped more in the towns and got a Porkchop and he had 4 pieces of pie!! He's starting to really get the RAGBRAI experience! He's also calling us 411 because we have had all the answers to his questions!
While we're pedaling across Iowa, Gabby is at Farm Camp! The camp director has even incorporated trips to the city!! Looks like she is having fun!
Word on the street is that it may rain tonight. Guess we need to investigate this a bit more to see if we need to batten down the hatches!!
Glad to see stac took some pics without her helmet this time!
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