There'd been a bit of rain last night, and the day dawned overcast, but there didn't seem to be any in the forecast; even so I wrapped newly dried items in grocery bags just in case.

I left just after 8, not planning a particularly long day (although I laid one out, just in case). US 20 goes through the small town of Epworth, the location of a seminary college that I attended for a couple of years in the mid '60s. I detoured in through the back, and noted how much the town had grown since I'd been there. I'm not sure, but I think I recognized a little general store; not much else. The grounds of the college looked the same, from what I could observe from the seat of the bike. Apparently, one of my former classmates is on the faculty, although not currently in residence, so I didn't stop.

Past Farley, then Dyersville (location of the "Field of Dreams," still a very active tourist destination) and a bunch more familiar names, slowly fading.

Dropped down to 151 and skirted Marshalltown, then angled southwest toward Des Moines and avoided most of that, too, although how much traffic could there be, on a Sunday? Refueled at a farm station near Massena, then zigzagged down to US34 and the Nebraska border. There are three bridges crossing the Missouri River there, the most visible one carrying a pipeline over the water. The railroad and US34 bridges are rusty steel, and the US34 one says "Toll Ahead"!

I don't have a lot of options, here, much as I hate to pay tolls; I resign myself to stopping and digging out some money. The friendly lady wishes me a nice day and says "$1..." I tell her OK, but I have to pull over to get money out. She glances around conspiratorially, and waves me through. Thanks!

It's 3-ish by now, and I'm thinking about quitting, but not seeing any lodging on my current route. Looks like I'm approaching Lincoln, so I punch that in and all kinds of motels pop up close enough to where I'm running, so I head in. There's a big shopping center, anchored by a Wal*Mart, and across the highway an AmericInn and a Holiday Inn Express. I pick the AmericInn, just because.

"Room?" "Yes" "Discount?" "What'd'ya got?" "AAA" "$80-something..." "What's the 'Walk-Away' rate?" "...you have been traveling. $75"

Still more than I wanted to pay, but it's brand new, comes with breakfast, and is close enough to Wal*Mart.

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