Monday, July 18, 2011 Muscatine, Iowa 0 miles

On this day off I forced myself to go back to sleep when I woke up bright-eyed at 5 AM. Kept waking up but my feet didn’t touch the floor until 7 AM. My, what luxury! There were several already downstairs having coffee, talking about the heat of yesterday, and being so thankful for this day off. Before my friend Mary Palmberg (Iowa City) arrived around 11:00, I had cleaned my bike, ironed a few garments (I know; I get teased about doing such nonsense), and completely repacked.

Yesterday, my bike wasn’t shifting as smoothly as I thought it should. When I flipped it over this morning, I discovered that a cable had come loose from its channel housing. We loosened the cable, popped it back in, tightened the cable, and added a little lube at that spot. Should be fine now.

Mary was introduced to several of my new friends, and she enjoyed seeing Lynda and Janet whom she knew from previous trips. Unfortunately, she missed Carolyn F. Mary was kind enough to run me over to Walmart where I found a couple of things that I needed. A clerk helped me locate mailing envelopes, so I asked her if I might also find a case for my good glasses. When I got to the optometry dept., she was there. I definitely didn’t want to spend $4-$6 for one, since I have several at home. This kind lady approached me and asked me I like purple and handed me a free, purple plastic case! It’s perfect.

Mary and I then drove into downtown Muscatine along the river (Mississippi) where we had a great lunch at the Button Factory. The museum isn’t open on Monday, but the restaurant served a delicious portabello mushroom burger and side salad. . . . At the turn of the century the Mississippi produced oysters in this area that were harvested to make pearl buttons. I wish I could have seen tourist movie about that process. I think the invention of the zipper must have done major damage to the button industry. http://www.muscatinehistory.org/pearl_button_industry.html



Mary from Meandering Mississippi '07

After lunch we drove to Harper’s Cycling and Fitness to talk about my helmet problem. The salesman there suggested that I try to raise or lower the gizmo in the back of my helmet to see if that makes it more comfortable. With a Trek helmet that is like mine, he demonstrated. Naïve me, I didn’t even realize that was possible. So, thank goodness. I’m still young enough to learn something new. J )

I soaked my cycling sandals today in bleach water (to remove the nasty foot smell) and have them drying out in the sun. 

Jean's sister, Myra, and Carolyn

Backyard pond

Lynda from Lake Charles

Our group is just back from a delightful backyard cookout at the home of some of Jean’s Iowa relatives. Just five miles from our hotel, the home is situated on one of Iowa’s rolling hills and overlooks a lovely pond where several of the gals enjoyed a swim. There was lots of shade provided by beautiful, old oak trees and a good breeze.  A veritable feast was prepared by various family members including fried fish (catfish and trout), corn on the cob, tomatoes with mozzarella cheese and basil, baked beans, pasta salad, couscous with fresh squash and red bell pepper and several desserts. There were plenty of beverages, too, to suit everyone’s taste. Many thanks to Jean and to all her family for providing this enjoyable afternoon of visiting and eating.  And, I must not forget to mention nine year Peyton who kept some of us entertained with his fish stories.  He's quite a story-teller, and yes, he's named for the famed Peyton Manning from Mississippi.

Peyton telling a fish tale