You really ought to give Iowa a try... in December

Hello from Maquoketa, Iowa!
This is our third night in the lovely state of Iowa where tiger lillies grow abundantly on the roadside, red wing blackbirds scream persistently at harmless cyclists, hills appear out of nowhere, and the smell of manure follows you wherever you go. Iowa is hotter than.... many hot places. Although the endless corn fields are beautiful, we've found it hard to see though the sweat dripping into our eyes. The humidity and high temperatures have kept us stuck to the tops of our sleeping bags at night and puffy eyed when we crawl out of our tents in the morning. The sunsets and sunrises are stunning though, and we can't seem to get pictures that do them justice. Sunday night we stayed in New Albin, right on the Minnesota- Iowa border. From there it was 82 miles to Elkport--- a town that reports a population of 88, but we couldn't figure out were they hid the other 85 of them. Today was the first time we attempted the early morning ride, getting up at 5:30 to escape some of the afternoon heat. The Pizza Factory in Farley, IA as well as not one but TWO public libraries hosted our smelly selves from 10 until about 3. Oh for the love of air conditioning! After a total of 92 miles, we are ever so thankful to be enjoying the air conditioning at the Super 8 Motel and looking forward to a wonderful night's sleep.

Tomorrow (July 17th) is the annual Steps For Stanley luncheon at the Outback Steakhouse in Harrisburg, PA. We wish we could be there to thank all the attendees in person but are excited that it has gotten bigger and better each year and tomorrow should be no different. Thank you all so much for your support, thoughts, and prayers!