day 55 Bennet IA

DAY FIFTY-FIVE Dyersville IA to Bennet IA
Oct 3/07 Wednesday D110.58 km M 46.8 A 16.3 PT6h52 RT8.5h total 4348.9km

Wind minimal from the southwest in am…. More from the south in pm
Temp Beautiful sunny day with no clouds! Up to 25C in afternoon…. Tank top day!
Road Condition Well so far we cann’t say much nice about Iowa roads… cement hiways [blump, blump] rough and gravel drop down shoulders… not nice, but all drivers seem to wait or move over for us
Food: Breakfast Outside the grocery…. Apples and high fiber bars!
Lunch Well we didn’t have a sticky bun stop… Ken will be in withdrawal! We had a picnic in Onslow I had a tomato, avocado with cheese pieces and carrots salad… the salad spritzer is a great invention… doesn’t need refrigeration… although I have my freezer pack frozen today. Many “pop” stops as warmer day Ken is a peanut butter boy!
Supper We repeated lunch with English muffins… the selection of breads is pretty poor… no bakery’s in these small towns.
Accommodation: Well we got back on track and made it to Bennet Park CG Although it is 5km out of Bennet, it is a really nice grassy spot and very reasonable at $5 [$7.50 with electricity] We splurged and bought an extention cord and a night light which is really nice in the tent! Mossies are out at sunset….. gone by dark…. Millions of stars!
Overall: Really a nice day with the warm sun… lots of hills….Had to play catch up and do 24km to Cascade from yesterdays plan…after that the day was long, but nice riding. The farms seem larger, more prosperous from the look of the farm yards. They are very busy harvesting today as it is one of the first dry days in a while. Corn and more corn today. Some more mixed farms… heard roosters crowing, saw really big pigs. They have small little “dog-houses” one for each sow… they are loving the wet weather… just laying in the mud!

The small towns seem to be more viable than say in southern Saskatchewan… everyone seems busy and they seem to be keeping their post offices and gas stations. ++flies… I think this is usual for the fall, but you cann’t even go in a restaurant without there being lots.

Flags….. every home has one… are they more patriotic? Lots of Pumpkins and Halloween ghosts and decorations.

Lots of the wood heaters seen…. We also saw them advertised as “corn burners” too.

Ken commented that we are still seeing lots of dead raccoons on the road, but we have yet to see one in a campsite… or have it come visit our stuff in the night.

Looking at going to Keokuk 184km out of the way so will take up the 2 extra days we are ahead and 2 more days to get back on track…. Worth it or not?