Archive - July 2013

Springfield, IL; Santa Rosa, NM; Show Low and Scottsdale, AZ … THE FINAL 4 S’s! (Days 13-16)

The memorable stops on the way back all started with “S”:  Springfield; Santa Rosa; Show Low; and of course, the final, final stop:  Scottsdale! The last four days of our journey home were slow … and made slower by my toxic meltdown after a 10-hour day of nonstop driving in high winds and heavy traffic.  We “recalibrated”...

Pontiac, IL: PLACES WE LOVED (Day 12)

Our four-day journey back to Scottsdale included stops at places that were deemed by the Diversions Committee (President, Philip Miller) to be important or memorable, and (most importantly) were directly on the route home.  One such city was Pontiac, Illinois (visitpontiac.org), home of the National Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum.  A majority of our...

Des Moines, IA: EVEN BETTER IN SPANDEX (Day 6)

Day Three of RAGBRAI: after today, we are halfway done!  Today’s route goes to the “big city” of Des Moines, whose marketing department has decreed itself “Des Moines: Even Better In Spandex.”  A little obvious; everything is better in spandex, right?  (Maybe not Chris Christie.) Today, riders were encouraged to wear a...

Perry to Harlan, IA: CHOCOLATE-COVERED BACON?? (Day 4)

Day One of the RAGBRAI Ride started with a time-honored tradition, like all of the 40 previous RAGBRAI rides, with a “back tire dip” in the Missouri River.  All of the riders take their bikes down and baptize them for good luck, hoping and praying that the Bicyling Gods will keep them safe until they can dip their front tires into the Mississippi...