Iowa

Dinner at Snappers in Spirt Lakes Iowa 

Day 25: Canton SD-Spirit lake
88 miles
Slept in till 6:30 and enjoyed a quick breakfast with Brenda and Jeremey before heading off to spirit lake. They had suggested the Okoboji store as a place for dinner and so naturally our first break of the day consisted of us looking over the menu to dream of food all day; their menu looked delicious! Rolling through the miles pretty quickly we waited till 60 miles in for lunch and picked a nice spot under some trees with plush grass; I will say one of our better lunch spots for sure! The only sad news from lunch was that the Okoboji store is only open Thursday-Sunday and it’s Monday. After lunch we continued on, coming into the spirit lake area around 4pm, we went to the store for some quick groceries and to ask around where to go to dinner. The young whipper snappers in Walmart suggested Snappers. Even though it was only 5 by the time we got to the restaurant we were ready for dinner. Kelsey’s aunt was treating us for the meal since we passed 1/2 way mileage wise woot woot!!! So we got some alcoholic beverages, salad, tacos and a burger that we all split then got a dessert as well. We hung around the establishment for quite some time because they had a nice vibe and were right on the water. By the time we left we were full and happy! We slowly rolled our bodies down the road to the local park to pitch a tent when we passed a church on the way. The church looked like it had nice grass and the only cars in the parking lot were parked at the back, which we noted was odd but thought maybe it’s a carpooling situation. We swung around back and pitched tent because it was about 9pm, while still tossing and turning just before sleep we were abruptly interrupted by a light shining in our eyes and male voices, it was the POLICE! They politely told us that an alarm was set off and asked us if we saw or heard anything suspicious; when we answered no they apologized for interrupting us and said “have a good night.” With adrenaline high it took a while to settle down, and just before we did the bright light and voices were back, this time accompanied by a civilian. They asked if we had permission to camp here, which we answered no, then they said the pastor was out front if we wanted to ask permission. So we strolled with the police officers around to the front and politely asked permission, which we were granted. We moseyed back to the tent and whispered “it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission hehe”

Day 26: 118 miles because we hate ourselves

We woke up EXHAUSTED in the morning because of our evening guests and tried to get going early because we had a long day ahead of us. Our new friend Jeremy from two days ago suggested we try to make it to his parents in St. Ansgar, only 118 miles from Spirit Lake (HA). We basically hauled ass for 68 miles where we took a lunch break in Thompson. We needed a salt fix so we purchased a large bag of Doritos to split. At this gas station, they think it’s appropriate to charge 35 cents for ice and no free refills on soda. Fine, be that way. We won’t be back. We called Judy and Don, Jeremy’s parents, to let them know our ETA after a 20 minute nap in the grass, and proceeded on our way. The last 20 miles of the day were pretty rough, with very tender backsides, but we knew we had dinner and a shower waiting for us. About 3 miles from the house, we see a gentleman driving towards us who gave us a very enthusiastic wave. Turns out, it was Don. And if we hadn’t made such good time, he would have driven us the rest of the way. Huge mistake on our part. But it’s okay, all part of the experience. After showers, we shared a delicious meal with Don & Judy and then walked down towards the river. It was a very peaceful evening in Iowa.

Don and Judy Ask. 39922 Foothill Ave St. Ansgar IA 50472

101 College Dr, Decorah, IA 52101. 10/10 would recommend visiting this town

Some of the best ice cream yet! 

Cute little co-op in town. This town feels like mini Burlington 

Day 27: All the smells
Deep sleep is exactly what we needed, the only thing is since we haven’t gotten it in a while it actually made the day harder because our muscle got a taste of what rest feels like. There were a lot of ouches and ahhs as our feet touched the floor and our muscles were needed for function. Don came knocking on the door and informed us that breakfast was ready s he held a plate of bacon and tongs. We joined Don and Judy in their beautiful home for a breakfast of waffles, sausage, eggs, and bacon. Judy, the sweetheart she is, prepared a mini bag of black jelly beans for the road knowing that it’s Kelsey’s favorite. After saying our goodbyes we hit the road following Don and Judy’s suggestion on how to get to Decorah Iowa. This was by far the hardest day yet! Not because of elevation, heat, humidity, or wind; merely because of pure exhaustion and pushing our bodies to go further. We moved like snails, okay not quite, but we weren’t much faster than them. It took us 8 hours to go 65 miles since we needed a stop every 10 miles to lay down, drink water, and grab a snack. We finally made it to Decorah!!! Rolling into town first stop being the bike shop, we topped off our tires and talked to the owner of the bike shop, Travis. We inquired about where to get bulk items, they have a co-op, asked where to get the best ice cream, he said get a flight at sugar bowl, then we asked where to pitch our tent, he said out back in the backyard. It was a one stop shop! Travis even said we could leave our bikes and walk the couple blocks to downtown to do our errands, much better to walk than sit on our saddles. We bopped around downtown, finding that they even had a farmers market running, free mini libraries, and lots of other cute shops. Honestly this town is small Burlington and we love it! People are biking and walking around, people wave to each other, their is a co-op and their is a wide span of ages, mountain biking, bike paths, and a Nordic influence; down fall of this town, tons of flies!!  We bought some groceries and things to make salads for dinner and spent the rest of our evening people watching downtown before turning in for the evening.
Best ice cream so far on this trip has been here at the sugar bowl, and in Kalisbell at sweet peaks. Still trying to find a place as good as canteen in VT.
Mileage: 65