IM11 – Rest Day in Muscatine Iowa

Muscatine, Iowa
Distance: 3.6 miles
Cyclemeter app not used

Cumulative Distance this tour: 446.1 miles

Good bye and good luck to Roger, who left fairly early this morning. We also said goodbye to Chris, who left us a “charge” to talk to every bicycle tourist we came across as a gesture of goodwill. Noted.

We’d decided last spring to add a rest day today. Jack had examined the Muscatine motel rates and found them fantastically high on Saturday night (like over $250), and then back to normal on Sunday night. Hence Saturday night in the tent and Sunday night in a motel.

Took neighborhood streets north and east. Phil lost a pannier and then got yelled at by a rude driver, but otherwise successfully completed his first 3 miles as a touring cyclist. More miles to come! We finally found the Travelodge Inn, and then the Farmer’s Diner for a hearty breakfast. We decided that our server Roxanne never stopped smiling once, for us or anyone else. I remember thinking about the simple comfort of sitting on a cushion.

At only 10:30AM, the Travelodge let us check in. Sweet! Phil ended up single (I can’t remember how he managed that), with Jack and I paired in the other room.

The rest of the day was pure simplicity. Veg and relax. Relax and veg. Chips, Pepsi, air conditioning, and beer. The PGA Championships were on – fine from the Golf Channel, but when it switched to CBS, the motel’s cable was mute. We tried all manner of troubleshooting and second audio programs. We even tried streaming the audio by cell phone, but the audio and video were 15 seconds apart or so – not workable.

Taking turns, everyone took care of showering and laundry, and soon we all felt semi-human. Phil and Jack took off for takeout pizza, while I meandered around and finally found some chicken fried rice. An evening watching Meet the Millers, a raunchy comedy that actually made me laugh.

Feeling refreshed tonight. Bring on the indy touring tomorrow!