Goodbye Rich - Hello Janet and Eric!

Sunday, July 25
541 (long miles)

We woke up early this morning in order to get a jump start on a long driving day. When I looked out the window of our suite at the Missouri River I could see bikes already lined up to make the cermonial "dip" of their tire in the river. When they arrive at their final destination of RAGBRAI (Des Moines) they will dip their tires in the Mississippi. It is a cool tradition and a great start to the week-long ride.

We are on our way to Lincoln, Illinois today to have a stay with Janet and Eric (my sis and brother-in-law). It is a long way and we are anxious to get crackin'. We decide it might be fun to try and follow the bikes for a bit just to get the feel of the RAGBRAI experience. After some expert navigating by Janel, we finally find the bike route and spot the riders.

One of the lanes of traffic is completely blocked off for the riders. There are folks sitting out in lawn chairs in front of their houses watching the endless parade of bicycles and wishing them "good ride!" Little children seem especially excited to see all the bikes and wave and shout. We note that it would be really fun to be riding. Maybe next year???


We follow the riders to their breakfast place and try to see if we can spot Rich. No such luck. There are probably about 20,000 riders in this event so chances were slim that we would see him. Traffic is getting a little snarly with all the bikes at this point so we decide to say goodbye to RAGBRAI and hit the highway.

biker breakfast

We have decided to get a few miles under out belts before breakfast so I put it on cruise and head across Iowa. Iowa is a loooong state. Both kids are soon conked out. I begin to get hungry and start watching for signs of breakfast. Since we are basically in the middle of nowhere, there are not a lot of choices. I finally see an exit that looks like it has possibilities. However, since both Janel and John are sleeping, I determine that I should just keep driving for a little while and stop when they wake up. Bad decision. By the time they wake up we are REALLY in the middle of nowhere and exits with food are few and far between. This is quite the dilema because we are smack in the middle of a "Let's eat now so we will be hungry later" situation. We know that Eric will be cooking tonight and we want to enjoy his dinner.

We notice an exit with some kind of "country cookin'" type restaurant and vote to stop. It is completely packed with folks looking for Sunday brunch. We put our name on the list and have a look around. We are sadly disappointed to see that it is a buffet restaurant and we are simply not in the mood. We cross off our name and head out.

After consulting with Mandy (our GPS) we zoom off another exit in search of a promised Thai restaurant that she recommends. We only find the spot in which the restaurant used to exist. We drive a little further and come upon a possibility in Urbandale, IA - Stella's Blue Sky Diner. Looks great.

Stella's has a fun interior with decor from the 50's and 60's.


We order a tenderloin sandwich, burger and John also orders a chocolate malt. Little did John realize the "ceremony" that comes with the malt:

"hold still"

"hold more still"

"open wide"

Not a drop was spilled.

Lunch was fun even though the tabletop jukebox ate our quarter and never played our song (You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin").

Speaking of music: Janel and I have been playing "Name That Tune" in the car while listening to satellite radio. We go through all the channels and the first one that can guess the artist gets a point. I was particularly impressive a couple of days ago when a hip-hop song came on that I thought I had heard a glimpse of before. I surprised even myself by coming up with the artist - Tone Loc!!!

Back on the highway with thoughts of fresh Illinois home-grown tomatoes on our minds. Janel has been salivating for days over the tomatoes she hopes she will encounter at Janet/Eric's house.
When we get a text from Janet asking about our ETA, Janel inquires about said tomatoes. Janet sends back a shocking reply:

Should we just turn around and go home now?

We persevere and arrive in Lincoln around 6pm. We are greeted with a chilled bottle of Cava (Spanish "champagne") and a beautiful spread of 'tizers.

trying to pop the Cava cork

I think I see fresh tomato bruschetta fixin's

Oh Yeah!

It is a beautiful evening and we sit out on the back patio and enjoy the feast. Janet/Eric's friends John and Jackie and their son Nathan and daughter Carly join us and we have a great time laughing, talking, eating and drinking.

Eventually Eric rings the dinner bell and we step into the kitchen to view his creations. We are presented with BBQ ribs (made by friend, John), brisket, polenta with spinach (made by Janet), fresh green beans, corn, beets from the garden and the most beautiful platter of Eric's tomatoes. Wow. Now THIS is the meal we have been waiting all trip for.

(un-retouched photo - they really are this lovely!)

rollin' the corn in melted butter

If we move to Illinois can we eat this every night?

After a fantastic dinner Janet fixes us some yummy after dinner drinks and then offers pie! They are serving Great Grandma's Lemonade (and Limeade) pie and it is wonderful. Just what we needed.

We talk a bit and have fun with their dog, Rufus before finally giving it up for the day. We are so happy to be sleeping in a real house tonight instead of a hotel. Looking forward to a great day with Janet and Eric tomorrow.