Moving Day

Last night we had some good laughs with the boys. The best was when I was talking with the Philly crew and my back was turned to the majority of the camp site. One of the guys says “oh my gosh that guy is naked” I said, “ nope not turning around” “wow he really is naked” “nope not looking” “he’s right by your tents!” “Nope not looking”. At that same Stacey walked out of her tent and was spitting out her tooth paste. It was perfect timing to look like she was vomiting because of the naked man!  

Oh and we had to convince Paul that there are no alligators in the “moats” around Onawa. 

Last night in the tent was cold and damp. Stacey wore her JETS snow hat...in July!!  She also assumed the coffin sleeping position. I was in the cocoon sleeping position with the blanket over my head. We got packed up in record time and we were on truck A....boom!!  The boys were not ready to roll out when we did. Paul still hadn’t packed his tent!!  

Today was a short riding day...before heading out though we got to witness majestic mullet wearing their fishnet shirt over their cycling jersey...maybe it’s a good luck thing 🤔. We had a RAGBRAI first and a new RAGBRAI rule “never pass up pancakes on RAGBRAI”. The first town was only 7 miles out so we passed up eating breakfast there since the next town was only 6 miles from there so we opted for breakfast in the next town only to be disappointed that their fire department was serving biscuits and gravy...umm no thanks! With little other options we rolled to the meeting town of he day before having “breakfast” which was awesome pulled pork sandwich from the Ute fire department and Dorice had a piece of special berry pie homemade by the Lutheran Church Ladies. There was a great slip and slide in Ute but we opted out because it was super cloudy and we wouldn’t dry quickly. 

We found ourselves in jail at Charter Oak (seems to be a RAGBRAI tradition) and sending a post card (a RAGBRAI first). As we were getting ready to leave Ute I heard someone yell my name...now you don’t hear too many people yelling Dorice anywhere let alone on RAGBRAI!  It was two of my college AT classmates!  We haven’t seen each other since we graduated. So great to see Todd and Scott!  

Today had some hills...like sneaky hills. Ones you didn’t think were bad at first but then halfway up you realize that you are struggling. There were a couple moments when we looked and saw 4-5 hills in front of us. Thankfully the kids makes signs and this one cracked me up. Ns are hard kid... I get it!  We also had a great watermelon stop on the side of road!  You can’t beat good road side watermelon!  

It took us awhile to find our campsite. The town of Denison is super hilly and I felt like we’d never see the QCBC signs. But as we crested a hip we saw the most glorious sight...no not our camp...but free BACON!!!!  Now bacon is awesome but free bacon can’t be beat!!  One guy asked if it was turkey bacon and he was almost shot. Iowa is known for pork production and Dennison’s motto is centered around Bacon. 

We got bonus miles getting to camp...good thing we had some Bacon power to make it there! Our campground tonight is less than ideal....slopes, rocks, gravel, and tons of crickets! So we tried to find a suitable spot to set up our tents which proved to be a tough task...after settling on a spot Ed said they were on this little patch across the access road so we scoped it out. So after already having our tents set up we picked them as is and moved them to better real estate. We still have a slope but not all the other fun stuff plus we are by our Philly boys in case we need an ax! Because when you go camping you bring an ax...ok Pauly! 

Next it was the search for a shower but first we had to check out the local aqua fun center! We love WATERPARKS and pools on RAGBRAI! Not only did we go in the pool, down the water slide, and did a cannon ball off the diving board! Bonus we took a real shower after the pool...no pool shower for us today! Biggest problem was Dorice didn’t pack my water wings! What type of an #accentmom is she?! I’m a good mom!  I accompanied my child to the pool! 

We kind of struck out on dinner today. We tried the Zion Lutherans and the sold out, the senior center sold out, so we ended up getting a decent taco salad which supported a local school. It was delicious!!  We then headed to the main stage for a very intense game of Jenja....did you know Stacey has never played Jenja?!?  What the heck??  We had a good crowd watching us. A local town lady tried a move and knocked it over so we’ll call it a draw! Then we took in the dueling pianos!  It was a good fun night of singing along and dancing!  

Since we have so many Philly readers the boys are doing well. Jamie, Paul, and Ray all did the gravel loop. I think they got their rear handed to them but they had fun!  Ed and Vince came in about the same time we did. They also enjoyed the pool!

Mullet update...we are on #4!  And the majestic mullet continues to impress with his outfits. Today absolutely did not disappoint!