A rest-less night, literally...

...But before leaving Iowa City we did manage to locate the 'lost' package of electro-mix right at the postal station it was intended for. This, after one bicycle trip, 2 Uber rides and a plea for help from a Post Office employee. All in a day's work!  That evening, my Iowa City 'Couchsurfing' hosts (a lovely international, intergenerational household), drove us out to a restaurant in nearby Kalona, in the heart of Amish country.  Tidy goat farms, horses, buggies and women in bonnets - picturesque as anything.

After a hot and muggy walk the next morning, I paused in the town of West Liberty and went looking for a camping spot, and in this case judgment failed me in my choice of location.  Afternoon was spent writing and showering at a public swimming pool. And as I was settling down for sleep I was visited by the local constabulary, nice officers who moved me over to the (off-season) county fairgrounds where camping is permitted.  There had been rain forecast for that night and was another reason for their concern (aside from the 'private property' issue.) Had it still been light, I'd have had time to scope out the situation, but as it was I made yet another unfortunate choice(!), and situated myself under a large roof in a semi-sheltered place - with a drain in the concrete floor below (which should have been a clue!).  A serious storm blew in on schedule, one that my little tent would never have withstood. And just as it seemed that the worst of it had passed by, it started pouring in earnest (and thundering, and lightening-ing), and kept it up all night.  Needless to say, the shelter floor was soon flooded out and, after jamming stuff into whatever bags were nearest at hand, I took cover in an animal barn where I was able to hang sodden tent parts on the dusty racks and shelves that stood in there.  And there I sat until the birds began to wake up, and it was light enough to see and re-pack! 

It would have been a good day to stop and recover, but I'd made an arrangement to meet with an local matriarch in the next town of Wilton, and so I set off again under still-threatening skies, and sure enough, before long a 'severe weather alert' had been posted on my phone.  No surprise when it started raining again.  After a few miles a nice lady stopped and offered a ride (her teenaged daughter silent and frowning disapprovingly),  Whimpering slightly, I accepted, and was delivered to another vintage motel, unprepossessing from the outside, but scrupulously clean, where, after keeping the aforementioned appointment, I had an early night. Sheesh.

Now in Davenport - tomorrow (weather permitting) I will cross the Mississippi River!

Vintage soda fountain (Candy Kitchen) in Wilton, IA - set to re-open soon with new owners.

Parents of the new owners let me inside to take a look.

The local lady I met had run this business with her husband for about 50 years.

Sighting the next water tower.

Through Nebraska and most of Iowa most towns have had tall water towers, some visible from miles away, allowing me to get my bearings and guess-timate distances. In the last few days the towers have looked shorter, the hills have closed in a bit and there has been more vegetation; I have noticed that, without a steady point of reference, I sometimes lose the sense that I am moving at all, despite all of this incessant stepping!

In fact, recent heat, humidity and seriously rolling hills have reduced this walk to a virtual crawl.  The westward walker I mentioned last post talked about 'zero' days and ´nero´ days (from his experience on the Pacific Crest Trail).  Zero days were, of course, the rest days, but ´nero´days were the ones when people would walk short distances, just to move, without being concerned about distances. Nowadays, some of my walk days are feeling decidedly like ´nero´days. Yesterday I arrived in Iowa City, at another comfortable and hospitable ´Couchsurfing´ destination. The main goals here are to have a chiropractic adjustment and to investigate what has happened to the high-dose electrolyte powder I tried to have shipped here, General Delivery...

 The other day I met history teach Barry, his wife Jen, and Barry´s sister Melissa (the support vehicle driver) who are walking in my same direction, with a Chicago destination (and making better time, I must say!)  They are walking a Civil War era Underground Railroad route from Nebraska, to raise awareness of contemporary human trafficking. Their Facebook page is called ´Walk Forever Free´. Barry gives presentations along the way and they marched in the Iowa City Pride parade yesterday.  On the day we shared Rt. 6 I was able to take advantage of their support vehicle for some water, electrolyte mix and tailgate shade, and learn about their mission.

Recent offers of shelter have come from the Iowa Rt. 6 Tourism Association director (who also provided a tour of a few significant spots), a passerby in Colfax, and farmers in Grinnell.  Road Angels, all!  Interesting landmarks:  The Ladora Bank Bistro, converted from an historic bank building (hence the name, of course!), not open when I walked through, although I got to see inside; a vintage motel where I stayed in Marengo; historic registry ´jewelbox bank´in Grinnell, one of a series of small banks designed by architect Louis Sullivan early last century.  Oh, and I got some background on another of Rt. 6´s early appellations -- Grand Army of the Republic Highway -- a reference to the Union army in the Civil War.

With Barry from the Walk Forever Free march

Inside the Bank Bistro

Ladora Bank Bistro

Merchant´s National Bank, Grinnell

GAR Post meeting hall, Redfield

From an oasis in Des Moines...

Where to start?  So much has happened since Omaha…  Varying terrain and road conditions have been sort of challenging at times; lots of very rolling hills, little to no road shoulder to walk on, or shoulders of 'unwalkable' gravel.  

Interesting small towns along 'Historic Route 6', which parallels the commercial route.  Some of the old buildings are being restored; local business people have been encouraging travelers to take look past the usual 'freeway' businesses and explore some of the older town centers, many of which are well worth seeing.

 I have found a couple of excellent camping places in parks, with showers(!) At about 18 - 20 miles one day I stopped and asked to camp on some private land where a tattoo'd young man offered samples of his home canned produce and bread he had baked.  One of the best serendipitous meetings was with Orien (pronounced 'Oren') who has a small farm dedicated to donating produce and helping disabled adults, kids and physically/mentally wounded veterans, some of whom help with the farm work.  He also has a year-round Christmas store in the town of Oakland, a 'free store' in his home (available to anyone in need of give-away kid's clothing and toys.)  His many enterprises are volunteer-run, and he holds summer 'camp' days for kids and the disabled, featuring inventive and sensorily(sp?)-stimulating entertainment.  Whew…  and the list goes on.  He invited me out to the farm which was a short detour off my route, and I spend half a day cultivating rows of potatoes, and feeling quite happy to have been able to offer something in exchange for the meals and lodging. Now here, I thought, is a real living Bodhisattva! His website is at: www.santascampandwonderland.org.

At a very cute little motel in the town of Anita I met another walker!  He also had a cart for his gear, and a reflective vest. This fellow was headed west and walking to publicize the American Discovery Trail (though he wasn't actually on the route when we met).  It was an interesting encounter and I would have enjoyed a bit more time to chat with him, had the situation allowed.

In the town of Redfield my route intersected with a part of the Racoon River bike and pedestrian path, which I followed all the way into Des Moines.  It was sheer bliss to be off of the roadway for a while!  The path follows a former train route and is, therefore, flat, straight and shaded. There are mulberry trees all along the way, and some had fruit I could reach.

After having some initial problems with the website (still don't know if those are resolved) I can now say that I have used the app called 'Couchsurfing', and in this instance at least, am totally happy.  I have a great new friend; we have loads of stuff in common it's been wonderful getting acquainted. There is a large and beautiful vegetable garden and the front yard is a bird-watching paradise. Jill and Zen friend Shodo (who came down for a day from Minnesota) have carted me around town to REI, to get a massage(!) and to do other walk-related errands. Des Moines is so spread out that, without these 'taxi-bodhisattvas', I'd have spent many more hours and Uber dollars.  (Actually have used Uber once here and once in Omaha, and it did work very well.) Now I have to apologize profusely to Shodo, who had been looking forward (as was I) to our meeting up somewhere around here, for a day or two of walking. As it happened, some difficult foot problems had developed and dictated a couple of rest days for me in Des Moines, to her great disappointment, and my chagrin... So we had a 'stationary' visit at Jill's house, but no walking.

And the last coincidental encounter I have to report, from yesterday, was with a radio host and environmental activist from here who was an organizer for the coast to coast Climate March that happened in 2014, and ended up in NYC for the huge ('yuge'!) rally that took place there in the fall.  Here was another encounter it would have been nice to extend a bit, but hey - who knows where the connection may lead?

Old railroad station along the bike path

Camping spot on the Racoon River

Town Hall in Adel, IA

Downtown Des Moines cafe, with Jill and Ed

Visiting the State Capitol

In the Capitol law library

Beautiful flora and fauna. It's not all a 'walk in the park', though!

Have been meaning to return to some previous 'wondering', about what sorts of wildflowers would be growing along the roadways in the Midwest.  And here I am sorry not to have any photos.  It is not too surprising that most of what grows 'wild' around here are grasses.  Beautiful, for sure, and if it is not mowed, some is more than waist high. There are also some scattered vetch, mustard and other, mostly small and inconspicuous flowers I haven't any names for.   Lots of purple ones seem to be 'stock'; it even smells sweet. It's been surprising to see a lot of  'ditchweed' (cannabis), that I'm told is left from the days when Nebraska was a hemp-growing state.  Domestically, I have been amazed at the lilacs (now past flowering) that are huge and prolific, as well as some of the biggest, leafiest tradescantia (spiderwort) I have ever seen, in all of the usual colors, as well as some unusual ones.

Around here the squirrels are either red or black.  I have heard that the black ones are a legally protected species in parts of Iowa.  Oh, and the birds!  There has been so much interesting birdsong - and me without a nice compact guide...  One singing bird I did identify was a cardinal; their song makes me smile whenever I hear one.  And a very flashy yellow and black bird is the Nebraska state bird - a meadowlark.  Distressingly, I see lots of animals (mostly birds) dead on the highway.  Om Mani Padme Hum...

It is tempting to post all of the best of this venture, and leave out the relentless, sweaty, daily effort.  I often feel very 'middle-class' and self-indulgent around the subjects of food and shelter.  But the work is pretty grueling at times, and I flatter myself in thinking I've earned some comforts!  Yesterday's observations included:  salty sweat dripping into my eyes and burning (where's my sweatband?); the sound of traffic on concrete roadway is so much more punishing on the ears than when the road is made of asphalt...  I hear that there is a challenging set of hills in the eastern part of Iowa, where I will be in a couple of days.  But first - there is a good museum to see here in Omaha! 

Photos from Eastern Nebraska

Glass sculpture - downtown Lincoln

Antelope Creek flood control project (park) - Lincoln

Tile mural

Inside State Capitol building

State Capitol

'Whirly' sculpture made from Harley parts. Seen on a Hwy 103 detour...

Hard to believe it's almost time for a new map!

Since the last post I have turned my Nebraska map over to the east side, and am now close to walking off the edge of it! Am continuing to try for miles between rain squalls, of which there have been many.  Notable days/moments: fighting broadside winds of more than 30 mph one very long walk day; trying, on another occasion, to find a camping spot out of the wind, and finally setting up in a veritable junk yard of derelict and abandoned stuff (including wrapped rolls of TP and a dusty 12-pack of Budweiser); being interviewed by the Hastings Tribune. (http://www.hastingstribune.com/news/woman-walking-highway-route-on-mission/article_2ba606ae-1dfb-11e6-975d-7f7f6e2876c8.html) Not too bad; just a couple of mistakes...

But my most notable on-going experience is this seeming 'current of kindness' in which I have been traveling. Related family members from the towns of Funk, Minden and Lincoln, and Hastings/Lincoln have opened their homes and offered the most incredibly generous hospitality and friendship. In addition to lively, interesting conversation!  On a daily basis I am saying good-bye to new friends (and places) that I hope to see again some time.  What to do...   except to carry on down the road, reciprocating as and when I can, and remembering my gratitude practices along the way!

Photos to follow.









  

Whoa! A lucky meeting, and my first tornado sighting. (!)

Part of my learning curve:  the plains are not all 'dead flat'.  Some of this rolling hill terrain has been a surprising amount of work in view of my previous assumptions.  I remember crossing the plains in a car and can only say that on foot the variations in terrain become much more, and sometimes painfully apparent!  All is gorgeously green right now, what with the wet weather. 

Speaking of road angels!  In one town of about 350 population (Bartley) I sought out the public park and then crossed the street to inquire of the folks at work splitting logs as to whether they knew about the lawn sprinkler schedule (something to which one must always pay attention when camping on city property!)  The man replied that he wouldn't be turning on the sprinkler system as rain was expected(!)  I had asked the right person!  And before I knew it I was sitting with the family on their covered deck, enjoying a meal and some homemade brew.  Over the next several intermittently rainy days I was adopted by this town's maintenance manager and family and included in their week-end activities.  Also continued my walk to the next nearby town and was brought back to Bartley for another night indoors.  Believe me, it was not easy to say a final good-bye yesterday.

The night before my departure a tornado edged close enough to Bartley for the warning sirens to be activated.  While it was not headed directly toward the town, we learned that it had actually touched down in the town of Indianola, through which I had passed (and had lunch) on my way to Bartley.  A Colorado friend reported tornadoes in their area, too, in this past week.  Well, this is the season, I hear!

Top of the tornado

Being hosted in a corner of paradise.