Life On A B-I7

Route

• Muscatine, Rest Day

Metrics

• Miles: 0
• Average Speed: NA mph
• Ride Time: NA hours NA minutes

Notes

• Laundry day. (Sorely needed.)

Thought #22

• If you lose patience, remember that obtaining patience is a lifelong endeavor. Take a step back, take a deep breath, then you will be able to move forward.

Looking ahead to the ride through Illinois and Indiana, it appears that I’ll be following a very rural route through these two states. That will entail fairly long distances between campgrounds. Hopefully the heat will subside a little bit, making the miles easier to pull off.

After doing laundry and drying out my camping gear, as much as I could, I decided to take a short ride out to the Mark Twain Overlook. The overlook is named after Mark Twain, presumably because of these words he wrote about the town…

“And I remember Muscatine still more pleasantly from its summer sunsets. I have never seen any other on either side of the ocean that equaled them. All the upper Mississippi has these extraordinary sunsets as a familiar spectacle. It is the true Sunset Land. I am sure no other country can show so good a right to the name.”

—Mark Twain, from Life on the Mississippi.

Samuel Clemens spent a few months, living and working in Muscatine for his brother’s newspaper the Journal. That paper is still in print today. Clemens is considered to be one of Muscatine’s most famous citizens.

Looking Back

I’ve been asked twice in the last week, “what is your favorite state?” That’s a tricky question. If you’re in Iowa (I was) and someone from Iowa asks you that question, it’s tempting to tell them something about Iowa because you don’t want to disappoint them. More importantly, it’s an honest question that deserves an honest answer. The answer I gave both times was North Dakota. The reason I said that is because the views in North Dakota are so expansive, and frankly inspiring. (I suspect Samuel Clemens would disagree.) The point I’m laboring to make here is that I should be periodically recapping those things that have made a large impression on me.

And so, as I leave Iowa, here are the thoughts that come to mind: Everywhere you look is a cornfield. It’s difficult to see the horizon because of the rolling hills. In fact, there really is no horizon unless there’s a corn tassel involved. The roads are a challenge and so are the hills. That said, the drivers are all extremely courteous and kind when passing you. I have enjoyed wonderful conversations with all the locals I’ve met. Whether it be watching a parade go by, sitting in a C-Store to cool off, or just running into someone on the street of a small town, like I did in Oxford Junction. Of course, we mustn’t forget The Field of Dreams and the Corn Sweat!

The view from the Mark Twain Overlook. Tomorrow I cross the bridge into Illinois.

Itinerary / Maps