Day 50 – Another Milestone!

After a great job and quick emergency help by Bike and Trike Outlet of Omaha, Our Hero was on his way again today, Friday. Let me add that Bike and Trike also fixed his front brakes, which had been damaged, and his saddlebags, while they were at it!

Still riding the flatlands of Nebraska, he then managed to pass into Iowa today! And apparently very excited and grateful for a repaired bike after such a devastating event, he hit ninety-four miles today! Day 50 of riding across country, Dear Readers. What a milestone!

Before hitting the state line, Art crossed the Missouri River in Nebraska:

And then, arising like a phoenix from the fire of flatlands into a lush, green world again, LOL, Our Hero enters Iowa:

The water alone tells the tale of a change of scenery, but here is what was in store for him:

The sky, the green, an adequate shoulder to ride on! LOL. Things are looking up. Here, he approaches Red Oak, Iowa. Obviously, a small farming community, something Iowa has a great deal of:

And an opportunity to cross yet more water, the East Nodaway River:

Here, a historic site, the location of the Icarian Colony, was created in France by Etienne Cabet. His vision was to gather many talented and educated people who would give all their worldly goods to a common fund. They arrived in 1848 and initially settled in Dallas, Texas. But a fever swept the colony, and many died. Some moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, and purchased land. In 1860, some of them left and purchased land in Adams County, Iowa. As is always the case with utopian colonies, it dissolved in 1895. But buildings and a cemetery ensure they are remembered for their efforts.

Jay and I had to move our sites today. Usually, an RV park will rearrange its incoming guests, rather than ask someone to move to a different one. Not this place. Sigh. But it didn’t take us too long, and this site was a little bit easier to level on. We’re in Valley View RV Park, in Layton, Utah, and most, if not all, of the sites are slanted. Everyone has had to use levelers of some sort to avoid their wheels in the air on the west side of their RVs. It makes it tough. But such a short move also allowed us to get our Snap Pads on the four jacks that were missing them. We have six jacks total. One simply fell off one day while we were traveling (probably from a deep bump) and was lost. Two came off in the mudslide in The Woodlands, Texas, debacle I posted about some time ago, in which one was buried so deep in the mud, we couldn’t recover it. One popped off when Jay hit a curb. We were able to rescue two of the four, so that was nice. They are not cheap, but they really help on dirt or gravel sites. And now we carry a couple of spares. Pro Tip: Carry spares of lots of items!

In the meantime, our little pups give us lots of joy. Both are aging, and that’s been hard to watch. Here are a couple of pictures of Sophie, aka Lil Bit, and Tristan, aka My White Knight:

Tristan loves to lie at my feet when I’m writing:

Next Up: Day 51 Brings More Iowa!