i.o.a.

hope everyone's gobbling up some sort of bird right now....

from when i last corresponded sheri an i had yet to hit iowa. we left mn and dove into the middle of the iowa trying to evade as many rolling hills as we could near the missouri an mississippi rivers and went to the first town in the state: buffalo centre. here we met the mayor and 1/2 the townsfolk as they stared and asked us questions. 1st observation about iowa: people are very curious.

we hit the road on a freekin windy day, raised our fists at our enemy, and noticed all the wind farms around us. 2nd observation about iowa: the middle of the state is a wind corridor.

frustrated, we shifted our travel plans east instead of south, bypassing the town of britt which hosts the international hobo festival every year. we really wanted to see the hobo museum, but instead saw thousands upon thousands of rolling acres of corn. 3rd observation about iowa: this state has 25% of the world's richest topsoil, and it grows an inedible crop that a person, if stranded, would starve in. (i also just read in the newspaper that iowa exports 2/3 of their soybean crop to china)

biking is difficult in this state compared to minnesota. there aren't paved shoulders anywhere, and only narrow passes over bridges, and semi trucks carrying massive wind turbine pieces or grain trucks carrying corn kernels. 4th observation about iowa: everyone waves, but no driver is kind.

we biked to clear lake, near the I-35 and felt dazed and confused biking through this wierd retirement/cottager town when someone yelled "hey you look hungry!". lovely folks ended up feeding us, bedding us and sharing their lives for 2 days. we needed to rejuvination, and we had a mock thanksgiving over a fine meal and hefty discussion with republicans. 5th observation of iowa: there are diamonds in the ruff

sheri an i made it to greene, iowa. we came here because we saw this movie called "king korn." i have a copy for those interested, it is similar to michael pollon's the omnivore's dilemma. we biked in the rain today, except it was cold. this might be the beginning of bad weather for us? we are trying to bike faster. today i took off my 'barack obama' pin i was given. 6th observation about iowa: this is a big, red state.

i am having a great time, reading good books, got no ass sores or aches, eat pretty well and have lots of energy. love you all ~d