The damage left by last night's storm was a bit of a shock. Some trees were reduced to a stump, lots of trees had branches ripped off and some garden sheds had been obliterated. It is sad to see a tree that's taken 50 years to grow reduced to a jagged stump. We cycled from the motel back to the route then through various small settlements during the day, not much in the way of food, though the cloudiness of the day made drinking water less critical. So 75 miles over quiet countryside, still soybean and sweetcorn, impressive in its productivity. I spend a lot of time on my higher gears, rarely leaving my big cog, the real mile eater). We did find Dollar General in Cambridge - but that was early on in the day
After that we found little in the way of food for miles. The library in Sherrard had a gorgeous mural painted on one wall. See photo. We did eventually find our way to the Mississippi, crossing an impressive bridge over a swollen river ( a good mile wide - see photo) and down into Muscatine where we were so thirsty that we drank a quart of orange juice between us at the Dollar General. I phoned our proposed campground by the Mississippi but they said that part of the campground was flooded and further sites might be unavailable if the water levels rise further. The only sites online seemed focussed on RVs - with hookups, hard standing and electric. This put us in a bit of indecision - should we cycle five miles out of town for a potentially flooded campsite, and pay a full hookup cost (probably about 35 to 40 dollars). Then we noticed a $50 motel on the google map about 1 mile away. That's as cheap as a youth hostel so we checked what it was like (a bit old fashioned but perfectly comfy) before booking. A quick trip to Walmart provided dinner (microwaveable tofu and noodles) and breakfast along with those Fat Tire beers we liked on previous trips. And tea too. No storm tonight. We are now in Iowa and starting a new map tomorrow (our 5th) of the Northern Tier set. Although today was easy cycling for the most part, the distance of 84 miles has left us sleepy.... Near to the end of Sinclair Lewis' Main Street, from 1920.