Breakfast was waffles again at the motel restaurant (I had 3!) I got chatting to a motorcycle rider who was also passing through. His name was Rick Crank and asked me to say hi to the queen as she drove past in her little car when I get back home! He also wished me luck on the rest of my travels.
After a while lazing around in the room, I decided I should probably get on with my chores for the day. First stop: laundry. The motel would do it for a charge of $10 (!) but there was a laundrette in town called 'dirty2pretty' that would do it for $2 so I went for that. I sat in the laundrette for about an hour wearing my spare cycling top, compression tights and barefoot watching American Dad on tv whilst everything else got a much needed wash. Lucky it was empty in there!
On the way back to the motel I stopped at a small supermarket for a few supplies. More peanut butter, more athletes tape, some protein bars for recovery (nearly run out of the drinks), and the manliest pepper spray possible. I've heard dogs and other wildlife start to get a bit more prominent as I head up towards the Rockies, so a little deterrent is always handy to have.
The rest of the day I spent sorting out my stays for the next few days, finally fixing that punctured tube from a few days ago, and shuffling some finances. I managed to sort a last minute couch surfing host for tomorrow night in Norfolk, so that should break up this long stint of motel stays I've been in.
For dinner I went to the nearest restaurant to the motel, 'El Jimadors', a Mexican restaurant chain. They served complimentary nachos and salsa with my drink whilst I waited for my steak slice burritos topped with cheese. According to certain reviews, this is on Iowa's '100 foods to eat before you die' list so naturally I had to try it! They weren't wrong, the burritos were delicious and very filling! Nothing to travel any great distance for, but very very good!
Tomorrow I'm back on the road, heading into Nebraska and up to Norfolk. Its going to be a long week crossing this state, with the beginning of the foothills to the Rockies fast approaching!
After a while lazing around in the room, I decided I should probably get on with my chores for the day. First stop: laundry. The motel would do it for a charge of $10 (!) but there was a laundrette in town called 'dirty2pretty' that would do it for $2 so I went for that. I sat in the laundrette for about an hour wearing my spare cycling top, compression tights and barefoot watching American Dad on tv whilst everything else got a much needed wash. Lucky it was empty in there!
On the way back to the motel I stopped at a small supermarket for a few supplies. More peanut butter, more athletes tape, some protein bars for recovery (nearly run out of the drinks), and the manliest pepper spray possible. I've heard dogs and other wildlife start to get a bit more prominent as I head up towards the Rockies, so a little deterrent is always handy to have.
The rest of the day I spent sorting out my stays for the next few days, finally fixing that punctured tube from a few days ago, and shuffling some finances. I managed to sort a last minute couch surfing host for tomorrow night in Norfolk, so that should break up this long stint of motel stays I've been in.
For dinner I went to the nearest restaurant to the motel, 'El Jimadors', a Mexican restaurant chain. They served complimentary nachos and salsa with my drink whilst I waited for my steak slice burritos topped with cheese. According to certain reviews, this is on Iowa's '100 foods to eat before you die' list so naturally I had to try it! They weren't wrong, the burritos were delicious and very filling! Nothing to travel any great distance for, but very very good!
Tomorrow I'm back on the road, heading into Nebraska and up to Norfolk. Its going to be a long week crossing this state, with the beginning of the foothills to the Rockies fast approaching!
Truly enjoying your blog and views of middle America. Hang in there, you'll soon be in the lovely Rockies!
ReplyDeleteBob Holder