We Could Be Rich!

So guess what?!?  We made it all night in the tent last night! Again it took Gabby a little while to settle down but once she did she went right to sleep!  She wasn’t patrolling!  I think my theory of tire her out paid off!  Actually I think she slept better than I did. It actually got pretty chilly last night and it was damp, so I wasn’t all that warm. I should have worn more clothes!  Oh well!  Live and learn. At least now I know it is possible to make it in a tent overnight!

We got up a little before six. I was awake and while I think Gabs would have stayed in the tent she was happy to break free when I opened the door. I told her she should sleep for another hour before the next adventure!  She went in the house and went right to sleep. I got things ready for today’s last day of RAGBRAI which included zero biking. Originally I planned to go for a nice ride this morning to commemorate the last day and the route passing through my hometown, but when I had the chance to go hiking with a friend I decided to take her up in the offer. 

My friend Diana and I were headed to Turkey Run State Park which is about 3 hrs from Muncie. We tried to go to this park last fall and we made the trip there and it RAINED...like pouring, lightning, wind RAIN. We tried to kill time for the rain to pass and after about 3 hours we decided the day was a bust and went back home. A 9 hour day and we hardly got out of the car. So we decided this was the weekend to make our return trip!!  It wasn’t supposed to rain, it wasn’t going to be super hot, so we went for it. 

I told Gabby that she needed to rally because we were going to have another full day hiking. Well little did I know when I said that what we would be in for. Turkey Run has lots of canyons and is deemed famous for “Indiana’s most ruggedly beautiful hiking trails”. Well had I known that before we got the trail map that would have been helpful!! I would have actually worn my hiking boots inside of my tennis shoes. It was beautiful and it was rugged!  We started on the suspension bridge and Gabby handled it really well. She seemed mostly unfazed that it swayed a bit. 

We ended up getting on the most difficult trail first. Not planned but we were in it and there was no turning back. Gabby did awesome traipsing through water, on slick sand stone, up muddy banks and steep inclines. She was a champ and definitely rallied!  

There are 11 different trails in this park and we did all but 4 of them. After about 3 hours and a little over 5.5 miles we had been on all the “very rugged”, “rugged”, and moderate trails. There were some very steep climbs and slippery descents!  We went walked down boulder canyon and I’m not sure Gabby likes boulders but she did it!  Here’s a pic of Diana and I with the boulders in the back. The picture doesn’t really show the steepness. Oh well!  

We then took Gabby down to the river for some swimming. Well on the way there she got in a lot of mud so it was perfectly timed for a little wash off. She was getting tired and appreciated the cooling off period. The river was packed with people on tubes, kayaks, and canoes. Honestly too packed for my liking. It was so loud and there were people everywhere. It would be a great place to kayak in the fall when people aren’t so crazy. We had to take the suspension bridge back to get to the other side of the river. Well now there were so many people that the bridge swayed a LOT!  We were about a quarter of the way across when Gabby put in the breaks and was like “I’m not liking this”. With some encouragement from Diana and the cheers of strangers she made it. We took a break to get water, eat our snacks and give Gabs some rest. 


After our break we decided to hit up a couple shorter trails and then we’d call it a day. Gabby was getting tired and it was starting to get hot. We found some really cool views and some steep hard climbs. 

When we finished up for the day we put in over 7 miles in some very tough terrain. It was by far the hardest hike Gabby has ever done and she did amazing!  I was so impressed that she handle it all so well. In addition to handling the rigors of the hike, she also was amazing when she met other dogs. Not a single bark!  She also met lots of other people and she was extremely polite all the time. After about 30 min into our day I realized I had made a big mistake. I didn’t charge people for every time they said “beautiful dog” or “that’s an amazing German Shepherd”!  Seriously by the end of the day I could have been rich. She got soooo many compliments all day. There’s one part of the park that has ladders to climb down into the canyon. We had already decided we couldn’t do that because of Gabby, but when we got there this one guy said, “ I thought for sure when I came around the corner she’d be on the ladder! She’s been so good!”  Even others were impressed with her hiking skills!!

We grabbed some lunch at a restaurant near by. We sat out side with Gabby and everyone that walked past her just smiled because she was being so good!!  She makes people happy!!  I think she was being so good because she was soooooo tired!  She didn’t want to get out of the car at the restaurant...I think she thought she was going to have to walk more! Here’s a pic of the ladders we skipped!

After lunch we headed back home!  I can tell you I’m tired, Gabby is tired, and Diana is tired!  It was the perfect trip. I can’t wait to go back and try to cover the 4 trails we didn’t do. And to see the park in the fall as I bet it would beautiful!! 

I think this pic sums up how Gabby felt about the day!  Fun but tiring!!  

So this brings the week that was supposed to be RAGBRAI to an end. It wasn’t what I had planned but I made the best of the situation! I think that’s something we all can do these days.  There is a lot of uncertainty and divisiveness right now, but you can wake up each day and make the most of the situation. Smile, be kind, and help one another...if you do that it’s going to be a great day!  

Here’s hoping that next year I’ll be back on the bike and riding through Iowa!! Thanks for reading and joining along in this adventure of life. Hopefully next year the blog will be less about work and more about biking!  Until then...I have leftover pie to finish!   

Seven Years Ago

Today was a great day and it started off awesome because last night I decided today was going to be one of those days where you let God wake you up!  No alarm!  Yay!!  After the past two mornings of a 5:15 alarm this was welcomed!  So I woke up this morning rested and on my own time.

I did a little work when I got up. I swear the emails never stop coming!!  Then I hopped on my bike for another power test for the week. This test consisted of some hard one minute intervals. Who knew a minute was so long??  It is when you’re trying to go as hard on your bike as you possibly can. It’s funny because Facebook reminded me that 7 years ago today I took my new bike out for my first ever ride. I think I went 13 miles but I had a plan that I would bike for the next year and ride my first RAGBRAI the following year. Who knew seven years ago where deciding to buy that bike would take me? Coincidentally last year on this day was my longest...and hardest ride ever!  122 miles and over 4800 feet of climb. To date this year I’ve ridden my bike over 2100 miles!  Never did I think I’d be riding this much when I bought that bike 7 years ago!! So many people have taken up biking in this pandemic. It make my heart happy!  Maybe they’ll all be on RAGBRAI next year!

After lunch....nothing fancy just some avocado toast and an apple, Gabs and I headed to Mounds State Park. Today on RAGBRAI we should have been going to Maquoketa home of the Maquoketa Caves State Park and we would have been celebrating 100 years of Iowa state parks!  So it was fitting that we went to do some hiking and exploring! One thing I love about the Iowa state parks is that you don’t have to pay an entrance fee. In Indiana if you’re a resident it is $7...which isn’t bad but I took Iowa free parks for granted. I decided to buy a year pass today because it pays for itself after a few trips and I can support the parks that way! We went on some trails I haven’t been on in awhile. We didn’t see too much wildlife...just one squirrel who was racing us down the trail. 

We did meet a group on one of the more narrow trails and they had a dog. I could tell from a distance they weren’t too sure about their dog and how it would act with Gabby. She moved off the trail a bit and Gabby and I proceeded, but this dog was growling and generally unhappy about Gabs presence. When we got even with them the dog lunged and jumped on Gabs. I’m very proud of her for not overreacting! She pulled back when I pulled and we got away unscathed. I think that dog needs some obedience classes!  After almost 2.5 miles of hiking it was time for a swim. We headed to spend some time in the river. 

Gabby made some new friends with kids playing in the river! She splashed with them and let them pet her. After we finished swimming we headed back to the car via some other trails. Overall we put in 4 miles of hiking. It was not too hot of a day and the trails were mostly shaded. 

When we got home I mowed the lawn and Gabby was lazy in the air conditioning. Figures!  She never pulls her weight! I had dinner early and then later I went for a quick 30 min run. Still got to get my miles in even though we hiked!  

When I got home I decided to eat my RAGBRAI treat. Now it wasn’t a Thelma’s ice cream sandwich but it was pretty close. I went to Macino’s Sweet Shoppe and got a homemade ice cream sandwich. It was a lemon white Chocolate chunk cookie with Blueberry cheesecake ice cream. It was HUGE and I ate it all!!  It was also delicious! 

I mean when you bike, hike, and run all in the same day you deserve a treat right?  Well I think so anyway. 

Since we did so much activity today we are going to try the tent again tonight. Gabs is currently sleeping so that may not help!  

Tomorrow is the last day of RAGBRAI. We were supposed to be riding from Maquoketa to Clinton...my old stomping grounds with the route taking us through my hometown. So I’ll have to do something big to celebrate tomorrow!
I’ll leave you with a few more pictures of our hiking adventures from today. Wish us luck in the tent. I’m tired...I just hope Gabby is tired enough to actually sleep!  

Uh oh wrong goal

Today was another early morning wake up for swimming. I really should have done a cannonball to commemorate the event but I just got in, did the work, and got out!  It was cloudy this morning, so there wasn’t a good sunrise over the pool. But that’s ok because sometimes the sun is so blinding off the water it’s hard to see!!  As I was driving home from the pool I thought to myself, man you could really make this a RAGBRAI day and have pie for breakfast!  I decided that pie before 8 am was probably not best and that I should at least hold off until noon!  So no actually pie for me. But I did have pumpkin overnight oats which is kind of like eating pumpkin pie! I’ll call that a win!

Most of the day was spent working. I had a meeting with our program faculty and then worked on getting some administrative tasks done for the semester. I’m trying very hard to get a bunch of work done this week so I can have fun next week. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but it won’t involve my computer!  So Gabby had to entertain herself for most of the day. She did some squeaking and sleeping. 

I would like to thank those of you who participated in my unscientific hot dog consumption poll on Facebook. As my friend Julie pointed out the number could be skewed because  kids eat a lot of hot dogs. I’m not sure they eat 70, but maybe!  

Since the pandemic started a few friends have been meeting up on Zoom for happy hour on Thursdays. Sometimes we have a beverage and sometimes we just talk. I hopped on that for a few minutes before heading to Yorktown to watch a friend’s daughter play in her soccer game. It was a beautiful day for some soccer!

Addi plays on a U6 team and these kids are hilarious!  They have more fun on the sidelines than in the actual game I think. Addi scored the first goal of the game!  She may have scored more but honestly I was talking to Stephanie most of the time so I probably missed it!  I did see this one girl score. She was so pumped to get the ball in the goal only to realize that wasn’t their goal and she scored for the wrong team. Whoops!  Oh well she was having fun and that’s all that matters! Addi’s dad Adam is a coach on the team and he is a giant compared to these kids. It’s funny seeing them next to him!  I think Addi got Adam’s height because she was by far the tallest kid there! 

Overall the kids did pretty well with the game and they while they weren’t too bumble bee esque...they won’t be winning a World Cup title anytime soon, but hey they’re trying! Lucas, Addi’s brother wasn’t totally into watching the game so mom sent him to run down to the field sprinklers at one point. Surprisingly he didn’t come back completely soaked. I was impressed by that!  

Today was the Rhubarb Rumble on the virtual RAGBRAI. The Des Moines Register has a pie eating contest against a team from NPR (No Pie Refused) a team of actual NPR reporters. They did the contest via Zoom this year and the Des Moines Register came out on top. As one of the contestants said, “Pie just makes people happy!”  So on that note, I think it’s time for me to eat my piece of pie for the day!  

Hopefully more exciting things to write about tomorrow. We’ll see what the day brings!

Chasing Rainbows

Normally on RAGBRAI we get really excited if our camp is near a pool. There is nothing better than taking a dip in the pool after a long day of riding. Well today involved a pool, but not at the end of the day. Today I had a morning wake up swim. Sometimes it’s hard to drag yourself out of bed to make it to the pool, but today I was awake early. Unfortunately it was raining and there was some thunder so I was afraid they wouldn’t be having lap swim. I called the pool and they were currently in a lightning delay but would be opening at 6:15, so I got ready to go swim.  It was still raining a bit, but thankfully no more lightning and I was able to get my swim in. Swimming in an outdoor pool at sunrise is pretty awesome actually. I’m still not the best swimmer in terms of speed, but I do enjoy it. I am sad to report that there were no mullets or fish net spotted at the pool. I wonder if Skippy is missing RAGBRAI like I am. 

While on the way to the pool I heard this little tidbit. Today is National Hot Dog day!  Happy hot dog day everyone!  It seems like there is a day for everything these days. What I found most interesting about this day is that they say the average American eats 70 hot dogs a year. SEVENTY HOT DOGS! Let that sink in people!  That is 5.8 hot dogs a month!  I have no idea how that is possible!  I think people like Joey Chestnut the Nathan’s Hot Dog eating champion (He ate 75 hot dogs in 10 min) are skewing the data. I’d really like to see the mode number for Americans because that mean number seems extraordinarily high. I don’t think I eat 5 hot dogs a year. How many hot dogs do you think you eat a year??  

When I got home from swimming I had to convince Gabby to go out to go to the bathroom. She wouldn’t this morning because it was raining...her hair gets frizzy when she gets wet so she doesn’t like the rain. Of course as soon as I get her outside it starts to pour so she ran back in the house. It was almost noon before I got her out. She has an unlimited bladder I swear!

Unfortunately for all of you, most of the morning was spent doing work and not a lot of fun!  I was working on setting up our new patient encounter tracking software. Real fun stuff!  Lol

It continued to rain off and on all afternoon so Gabby and I had some play sessions with her new cow toy. She still doesn’t quite get it when I say “get your cow”...she looks at me weird and then runs to the door or window. I think she associates the word “cow” with my dad and thought he was coming to visit. Here’s a pic of her with her real cow friends from her last visit to the farm.  

There was a break in the rain so I decided to get in a short run this afternoon. Well that was a mistake. I didn’t pay attention to the temps and the temp had risen almost 10 degrees with crazy humidity so I ended up running at a very bad time of day. I almost didn’t make it, but I survived. Running in the heat is not my thing, but I got it done and put another deposit in the fitness bank. Can’t complain about that!!

Probably the best thing about today was that pie returned to my RAGBRAI week. A nice peach blueberry pie should tide me over for the rest of the   week. It will go along nicely with my beef avocado stir fry!  I am definitely eating a lot more vegetables this week than a normal RAGBRAI. Hence why I NEED the pie!  

I saw this quote on the RAGBRAI page today from Don Kaul one of the founders of RAGBRAI. 

“You can’t find a bicycle ride and say: “Boy, if the sun shines and it doesn’t rain and there’s no wind, I’m gonna’ have a good time”. You say: “Man, I’m gonna’ have a good time no matter what happens!” And that’s what this is about.” - Don Kaul, 1976

That attitude is what we should all strive for. No matter what is going on in the world or what the conditions are we should always strive to have a good time no matter what!!

Update...the pie was delicious!  I’m thankful for leftovers tomorrow!  

It’s a good thing I didn’t post the blog because I was treated to another good rainbow tonight. Here are some pictures. The selfie picture and the sunset picture were taken from the same place just one was the Eastern sky and one was Western. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a rainbow in RAGBRAI, so non-ragbrai week is winning that count!!

You can kind of see a double rainbow in this pic!!

Eastern sky selfie

Western sky sunset

Final sunset of the night!

Are you walking a cat??

Some days on RAGBRAI are a real bust. The pass through towns don’t have fun activities, the food in just ok, and there aren’t many fun photo moments. It doesn’t happen often but it does happen. Well let’s call this one of those days. Today was not all that exciting. This picture of Gabby sums up her day today!  #boredom

I got up this morning and rode my bike, but I did it on my trainer because I’m doing a block of training right now working on bike power. So that meant a quick inside ride before another day in the Zoom colloquium. 

I’m going to be honest I was struggling this morning to think of spending another 8 hours on zoom, but I rallied and made it through. Today we talked a lot about Quality Improvement in terms of faculty development, diversity, equity & inclusion, programmatic assessment, and clinical education improvement. There were some great ideas and discussion. Another good day of learning...but another 8 hours of screen time!  

The biggest excitement of the day was around 4 o’clock when we had a major weather shift. This happened to coincide with a short break from Zoom so I quickly got Gabby outside for some business....and yes she went right in front of the tent again. Ugh The sky got real dark and the wind kicked up. As I was trying to make sure the tent was secure, Gabby was trying to bust down the door to get in the tent. I guess she thinks it is a safe space. I told her we’d be safer in the house so see she sprinted to the door. At first I thought the rain would miss us, but then it let loose. Monsoon rain with lots of wind. My poor tent was getting a workout, but it thankfully stayed put!  I’m not sure how dry it is inside though. :(

About an hour later the sun was out in full force!  After the colloquium ended Gabby and I went to check see how wet our beds were...not a drop of water in the tent!!!  #winning That little tent is small but mighty! Since there was a chance of more rain coming soon I decided to get in a quick run. Gabby stayed home to guard camp and I headed out. I had to dodge lots of puddles and down tree branches. 

You know how I said some days just don’t have anything to report on...well I thought that was going to be the case today. Until I was about halfway through my run!  I was a ways from this women walking her dog, a beautiful golden retriever, but she kept turning back and talking to something. I thought she was talking to her dog which seemed kind of weird, but not that out of the ordinary. As I got closer I realized there was also a cat. She was talking to her cat telling it to come. Now this cat wasn’t on a leash...the dog was...but the cat was just following along after them. Now you rarely see someone walking a cat period, but I’ve never seen someone walking their cat without a leash. So as I ran by I asked, “Have you trained your cat to walk with you?”  She replies, “yeah....I know it’s kind of weird, but yeah.”  To which I replied, “I think that is impressive!”  Unfortunately no cat picture since I don’t have my phone when I run. You’ll just have to trust me on this one. 

Leftovers for dinner tonight and no pie today. Maybe tomorrow I’ll rectify the pie situation since I don’t have a day of zooming. I’ll try to make tomorrow more interesting!  

A different kind of Zoom

I posted too early last night because right after I published the blog I noticed that we were having an excellent Indiana sunset. I took the “birthday” girl out and we hunted down some nice sky pics. We were also treated to a really nice full rainbow. I couldn’t get a full pic, but I did get this nice rainbow and tent picture. Not a bad camp view in my opinion. 
That rainbow and clouds also made for some really great sunset pictures.  It was nice to be able to end the day in such a beautiful note!  I’m not sure Gabby appreciates the views as much as I did, but she’s always game for another walk!

The wake up on Day 2 of RAGBRAI is always a little rough. You’re tired from the first day but still excited to get going. Today was no different here in Muncie!  I was able to get out and on my bike fairly early this morning. The sunrise was nice and clouds were rolling in. I was hoping I wouldn’t get wet!  Snapped this nice bike silhouette picture against a bean field as I got started!   

I headed out for a quick ride and decided to test out a couple new roads. This is always a bit of a crap shoot because you can come across some terrible roads and major potholes!  To my surprise one of the roads that has been really bad in the past was paved with new black top....hallelujah!  Nothing better than zooming along on a nice new road. It was early so few cars and just my bike and smooth pavement. You really can’t get any better!!  On my ride I saw goats, cows, and 5 yellow gold finch at different points during the ride. This is of note because I’ve never seen them on a ride before, and it’s the state bird of Iowa, so I think they wanted me to feel like I was actually on RAGBRAI!  Once on got on the new roads I hadn’t ridden before I was pleasantly surprised that they were relatively smooth and well maintained. That was until they weren’t...lol. I hit one road that was not great. It looks like they had milled the asphalt about 3 years ago and then didn’t replace it...ugh talk about a teeth rattler! Thankfully that only lasted a mile or two!  I wore my Iowa Hawkeye jersey today...which was a risk because every RAGBRAI in the past four years it has rained on the day I planned to wear that jersey. Would I get rained on today...I didn’t think so, but who knows!  After a nice roll through the Indiana countryside I saw it...the elusive water tower...that means you’re getting close to town. Well this meant today that my ride was almost over. It wasn’t a RAGBRAI length day but still nice to get out! 
Why was my ride so short you ask?  Because unfortunately this isn’t really RAGBRAI and I had to get home in order to be able to join a online conference. A very different kind of Zoom. Don’t get me wrong Zoom has allowed many people to stay connected and teach during a pandemic, but it’s exhausting. I’d rather be zooming around on my bike!!  

Now this “colloquium” is geared towards athletic training education and moving our profession forward. The first talk was very honest and sobering about the state of higher education, especially given the pandemic. I think it’s safe to say that everyone felt the weight of our futures during this talk but also were energized about how we can work together to get athletic training better positioned in healthcare. Our problems won’t be solved overnight but collectively we can make positive change!  

So this Zoom colloquium lasted 8 hours with a few short breaks. I’ve been on my bike for 8 hours but staring at a screen and engaging in discussion is exhausting. The concept of Zoom fatigue is real and honestly I’m fatigued out!  I’m thankful for good work development opportunities but man did it highlight how much I also like unplugging for the week of RAGBRAI. I think after this colloquium is over I’ll need to unplug regardless!  Gabby is not a huge fan of Zoom meetings either!  She has zoom fatigue too and couldn’t even manage to put her head on the bed this afternoon! 

There were no church ladies or Bobs to cook for me today so I had to take that on myself. I threw some chicken and sweet potatoes on the grill and had my first non-ragbrai grill session. It wasn’t as good as Mr. Pork Chop but it was the best Muncie had to offer today. 

Unfortunately the long day of meetings meant that there was no pie too. Total bummer. But I did have this nice rhubarb bar that was pretty tasty. Gotta love when mom sends home some treats for the freezer!  Iowa grown rhubarb and a bar made with love was a perfect way to cap off the night. 

There could be another great sunset tonight, but I’m so tired I don’t know if I’ll catch it. Gabby is currently getting in her exercise by running back and forth with the neighbor dog on the other side of the fence!  She didn’t ride her bike this morning so I guess she needs some exercise too!!  It’s hard work to man the camp site while I’m out riding!

I just realized (it’s 9 pm) that today was college jersey day on Ragbrai . :( How did I miss this?!?  At least I wore my Hawkeye jersey this morning so I kind of played along. Don’t worry I’ll rep my Central College gear later in the week to make up for. Wow that was a rookie mistake!  Shoot!  I always like college jersey day because it’s fun to see how many other Central jerseys I can find.  And it’s always great to have a little CUI fight song break out during the ride. I’ll also miss my annual picture with my buddy Ray in his Villanova jersey. I guess there’s always next year!  

Zoom meetings all day don’t make for great blogs but thanks for tuning in. We’ll see if I can get Gabs to write tomorrow while I’m working!!

Apple Pie Surprise

Well I know you’re all dying to know how sleeping in the tent went with my four legged roommate. Let’s just say we didn’t start out on a great note because of fireworks in the distance. She did ok though and we carried on. Here is a picture of the nice large space I gave her with her own bed. 

She wasn’t happy with that space. She wanted to either be on top of me. Literally at one point she was lying on top of my head. Or she wanted to be in the little space between the tent wall and my mattress. I told her that space wasn’t sustainable all night mostly because it meant I’d hear panting in my ear the whole time!  So here she is in her tiny space. 

After about an hour I convinced that large space was pretty awesome and she finally quit moving around. But if you know anything about German Shepherds you know they’re protectors. So she took it as her night duty to stay up and protect the tent. She did not sleep or even put her head down for over 3.5 hours. Which meant I didn’t sleep much either. So at 1:30 am I took mercy on the pup and we went inside. She was asleep in less than 5 min!  Mental note...it’s much easier to sleep in a tent when you’re exhausted. Next time we will do lots of activity before making her sleep in a tent. Oh and she also needs to learn camping etiquette because every time she goes outside or by the tent she pees right in front of the door!  Come on man....move a little further away. Never did I think I’d be complaining of that instead of porta potty doors slamming in the middle of the night!

Day 1 of RAGBRAI always means an early rise because of the excitement of getting started. Today was no different except it wasn’t due to excitement. It was because I wanted to get my run in before it got hot. Well that was futile. Yikes it was toasty. I got in 8 miles and I don’t think I’ve ever sweat so much in my life. When I finished it was only 83 degrees, but there was 80% humidity and a dew point of 72. So just gross!  On my run I saw a man mowing his lawn while smoking a cigarette. I really wouldn’t recommend that. For a variety of reasons!!  I also ran by a house that has a nice garden and lots of little statues in the garden....and all the statues were wearing masks!!  Glad to see they’re doing their part to make sure you all can read an actual RAGBRAI blog next year!!  

Since it was so hot on my run I knew I needed to rely on an old standby RAGBRAI fueling method. PICKLES!  I needed to replace the salt so I had 4 big pickles spears....I’d say that’s equivalent to one big pickle. 

The real excitement of the day started around noon when Gabby was awoke from her mid day nap...told she didn’t sleep last night!  Someone had dropped something off at the door. When I looked to see what it was it was a GrubHub delivery from Bob Evan’s. Now I didn’t order any Bob Evans. So I called the restaurant trying to figure out who this needed to go to. They said don’t worry we’ll just deliver a new one...you get free food. It was about that time when I realized that someone had anonymously ordered me a RAGBRAI lunch. This wasn’t a wrong delivery...they wanted to make sure I had a RAGBRAI experience today. So I got to eat Chicken & Noodles, salad, and apple pie!  That’s right folks...my first pie of RAGBRAI!  I’m telling you Bob could give the church ladies a run for their money!  It was pretty tasty!  Church ladies probably still get the win, but the thoughtfulness and generosity of someone to do that puts Bob heads and tails above the church ladies this year. 

And the best part....I didn’t have to do the dishes or make the food!  This week is looking up!

In addition to being day one of the at home RABRAI, it is also the 8th anniversary of picking up my camping buddy furball. Yep today is Gabby’s gotcha day!  So I decided this afternoon would be a “gotcha day” party for her. Many of her fur friends are out of town this weekend but we still had fun. We went for a walk by the river and she did a little wading. She’s not much of a swimmer!  

We watched some kayakers, she chased some squirrels. The squirrels taunted her...it was a good afternoon. After our walk we headed to Petsmart where I told her she could pick out a toy and a treat. She went up and down both aisles twice checking out all the goods. She didn’t bark at any other people or dogs and she made friends with the cashier!  I think she had a good trip to the store.  She doesn’t get to go often.

After we got her treats and toy I had another surprise for her. We made two drive through stops. When we got home we put on our party hats and had a little gotcha day celebration. She wore a moose hat and I put on my taco hat! Then she got her birthday lunch of a cheeseburger and ice cream pup cup!  It is National ice cream day after all!  How could we not get ice cream to celebrate?!?  Don’t worry I got some ice cream too. I didn’t want her to feel left out!!  

Right as we got back to camp, there was a big gusty rain storm that came through. Complete with thunder. Don’t worry though...I’m a RAGBRAI veteran and I knew to close my tent up before we left!  Hopefully it’s not too wet in there. The nice part about camping in the back yard is you can come in the house when it rains!!

Happy Gotcha Day Gabby!!  Everyone should put on a fun hat and celebrate!!  

This picture cracks me up because she is licking her lips waiting for that burger and ice cream. And to no surprise of mine...she devoured the ice cream first and then ate the burger!!  She actually took the patty out of the bun and ate it and then the bun was last. I guess she likes to eat her favorite things first and save the boring stuff for last!  

I’d be remiss not to mention that on the first day of RAGBRAI there is always a “Mile of Silence” where we remember those that have lost their life while riding their bike. It’s always a sobering mile and everybody turns off their radios and reflects on how lucky they are to be able to see the world on two wheels. So if you’re reading this and ride a bike, please be careful, be seen, and follow the rules of the road. If you’re reading this and don’t ride a bike, please watch out for cyclists, please pass with at least 3 feet, please stay off your cell phone, and remember that cyclist you’re annoyed by could be me. 

I’m not sure what the rest of the evening will bring. I don’t know if there is a band playing tonight or not. I’m guessing the organizer of this at home RAGBRAI forgot to book one! It’s hard to find good help these days. 

Oh I forgot that the toy Gabby picked out was this cute squeaky cow. I think she picked it because she is missing her week at farm camp. 

I decided I should go get some groceries for the rest of the week since I doubt the Bob Evans fairy will keep coming back!  Gabs held down the tent while I gathered the goods. I came across a solid sale on blueberries so who knows...maybe a blueberry pie is in the cards for later this week. I think we’ll sleep in the house tonight. There is potential for more major thunderstorms tonight so Gabby would probably appreciate being inside...and I’d appreciate being dry!

Thanks for tuning in to this little piece of ridiculousness!!