By Ben |

It got cold last night -- so cold that ice formed on the autoharp case.  I woke up around 4 and couldn't get back to sleep because I couldn't get warm, and I was wearing 3 layers.

I put the tent away still damp, thinking I'd have time to dry it out in Burlington.  I did get to Burlington around lunchtime, but after that plans went awry.

Burlington, IA is a quaint, historic little town on the Mississippi.  It's clearly trying hard to retain its small-town charm in spite of the suburban sprawl going on to the west ... that's West Burlington, a separate town.  But because the downtown is  quaint and historic, I found I couldn't do any of my errands there and had to go west.  Everyplace I asked if I could use the phone line -- welcome center, library, a UCC church -- I was told, "That's not a service we offer," as if my modem was threatening to pull them into a different century.

Anyhow, I got all the errands done, but it took about two hours longer than I expected, so I never did get the tent aired out.  I rode hard to Geode State Park and just barely made it to the campground by sunset.

Total distance: 44.61 mi



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