Iowa is NOT a plains state

I'm currently in Lincoln, NE, but I'm getting ahead of myself (The NE synopsis won't be up for another week'ish). The last three days have been spent in Iowa, a state that I would have previously claimed was a plains state. I'm here to tell you it's not so. I took route 2 across the entire state, and for those of you who haven't been on route 2 before, it's a very scenic rural way to get across the state.

Coming into Iowa I crossed the Mississippi river and then dropped into a 300 mile stint of rolling hills. The first day was filled with various festivals. Donnellson, IA, a town of like 800, was celebrating Apple Dayz with some live music and bake stands. 40 miles down the road in Pulaski, IA they were having the 100 and somethin' annual corn festival with some pretty darn good pulled pork sandwiches and baked beans (I definitely indulged myself). And another 10 miles down the road in Bloomfield the annual bluegrass festival was just concluding--this were probably at least 300 RV's there. I got there in time to see three or four bands and meet some other bike tourers (one retired and another who'd just finished a trip). One of the gentlemen offered me a shower and a dry place to sleep which I took him up on, and the next morning I went back to the festival where I got an awesome breakfast of pancakes and eggs for $1.75. The woman sitting across from me with whom I'd been chatting must've known I was wishing I'd also gotten a hand made cinnamon roll 'cause she offered me her second one and later gave me one of the t-shirts they'd had left over from last year as a momento (it's now my only clean shirt).

As for the rest of Iowa I can't say a whole lot. There were a few small towns, a bunch of hills, a couple Amish guys mowing hay and going to church (one wagon I saw was packed full of a family of like 5), and a lot of corn/soybeans.

As for how I'm currently feeling...not too bad. My body seems to be used to the daily gruel of pedaling, though I'm not sure how it's going to feel when I hit some real mountains. Mentally it's a daily battle to keep going, especially in a city as cool as Lincoln where it would be so easy to just chill out for a few days, mail the stuff home, and take a bus to Fort Collins. However, I'm pretty stubborn and I think once my dad gets out here and once I get to Fort Collins things will go a lot smoother mentally. Unfortunately I definitely foresee the plains of Nebraska being the toughest challenge yet, but I'll let soon let you know.