RAGBRAI 2018 . . . . . Day -1

Well, we have arrived in Onawa, Iowa. Got here late afternoon yesterday. What a beautiful place! Green grass, tall trees, lightning bugs…. A little island of calm before the craziness begins later today. David is part of the support team (that makes us 2 strong this year 😁) this year as he continues his recovery from cancer treatment in Houston last year. We are supporting 6 riders in 2018: son Kevin (Colorado), daughter Rebecca (Arizona), nephew Ed (Indiana), Ed’s fiancé Dawn (Indiana), Dawn’s son Chris (Indiana), and friend of Kevin’s from high school Erik (Ohio). Kevin and Rebecca are here (Rebecca drove in to Kevin’s place from AZ on Wednesday), and the rest of the team is inbound as I type this. They all drove to Davenport (the ending town) yesterday and got on a shuttle bus early this morning headed for Onawa. They’ll be here sometime this afternoon…..as will thousands more riders 🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲. Onawa will soon be filled with people from all over the country, as well as folks from other countries. RAGBRAI is a hugely popular organized bike ride, and people come from everywhere, bringing every kind of bike you can imagine.

But right now, it’s still a quiet place.

Our trip from Kevin’s place to here involved much advance preparation, of course. We pulled piles of things from the motor home to make for more carrying space. Then there’s the food prep…..

And the trip to the start town begins.

Take Ark IV and add a trusty, tricked out dingy . . .

Ark IV is primed and ready

Pull over at rest stop to make lunch and stretch our legs

Hello, Nebraska!

Overnight stop at the North Platte Walmart – a family tradition

And the gear prep

Heading down the road . . .

Kevin at the wheel with Rebecca riding shotgun

Killing about 70,000 bugs between the Kevin ranch and North Platte gas stop

And then cleaning them off…

Back on the road to cover some more miles and slay some more bugs…

And then Iowa opened its arms and welcomed us once again.