We're Off to See the RAGBRAI Wizard - Day 1 Council Bluffs

Video Recap of Day 

And We’re Off!

Today it’s as hot as the summer in the Sahara.  If you take one step outside, you melt.  Literally.  (Pretty much, that’s what sweating is, ok!)

The wait is over, it’s too late to train, RAGBRAI is upon us.

We left a few hours behind schedule and I am relieved that my family is not the only one that never seems to leave when we intend to leave.  The most important thing to remember is . . . .

It’s not my fault that we left later than planned!  I was feeling pretty anxious that I would still be packing and everyone would be waiting around because I WASN’T READY.

Packing up and setting off takes a lot of work. 

As you can see, all the bins are labeled.

First we pack everything in bins.  Then they get loaded on the RV.  The food also gets loaded on the RV and we make a few last minute runs to the HyVee to get some things that were forgotten.  Once the RV is fully loaded, Jeff moves it from the driveway to the street so they can put the bike rack on.  The driveway is sloped and it won’t make it out of the driveway with the rack on.

So finally, after a gourmet lunch provided by Braden, everything was finally ready to go.

My home for the next week

There is no turning back now. 

Jeff started off piloting the RV with me acting as co-pilot.  It’s a pretty nice view from up front but we were sweating our behinds off.  Eventually we switched with Jeff's parents and I was able to work on the blog for awhile.

Jeff, the relaxed pilot

Joy, the not-so-relaxed co-pilot

Traveling in an RV is not so bad when you aren't the driver.

Kolton digs into the snacks.

Jeff gets organized

Riding in luxury

We arrived in Council Bluffs and found our host's residence.  In each overnight town there is a tent town and an RV town.  But you can also apply to have a host and if you are selected, you get your own private parking area and usually a place where you can plug in the RV.

Karen was our host in Council Bluffs.  Since the Missouri River is so high this year it is too dangerous to have a dip site by the river.  (A dip site is where you dip the rear tire of your bike in the river at the beginning of RAGBRAI.  At the end, you dip your front tire in the Mississippi River).  So there was an official dip site in town in a tub of river water.  Karen told us that part of the parking lot at Harrah's was under water and told us how to get there.  A short ride later, we got our dip picture without having to wait in line!!!

The Missouri River came to us!

After the dip picture, Jeff, Kolton, and I rode to the Expo.  We got there just as everyone was starting to pack up, but we persevered because I really needed new riding shoes.  We found a booth with shoes and asked the woman if she had anything comfortable.  She knew exactly what we needed!

These shoes are the right size, they don't bite into my ankles or leg, and they have clips!  Unfortunately although they also come in teal, they only had the one color.  Of course they had about nine different colors of mens' shoes (discrimination).  But I've been having a lot of problems with my left foot and I'm very happy that we found shoes that hopefully will not make that problem any worse.

Once we got back from the Expo, we celebrated the beginning of RAGBRAI with some dessert!

Angel food cake with strawberries and fresh Michigan blueberries.

Time for bed!  Ready to ride in the morning!

Here's some fun video clips from our day: 

Current Mood: hopeful

Predictions: This is going to be a long, sweaty, smelly trip.

Best part of the day: Finding shoes!!!!

Worst part of the day: the heat