Missouri Valley, IA to Lewis and Clark State Park- Day 7- 46.07 mi.

We left our blog address with another gentleman today. We were biking along after having left Missouri Valley earlier in the day, when a silver pickup followed us for a few hundred yards, then it passed us and pulled off to the side. As we approached, the truck took off again and further down the road it was parked in a driveway with a gentleman waving to us to stop. We stopped and talked to this fellow and he, too, was interested in our trip. Ken called himself a “touring wannabe” but because of too many responsibilities, he is unable to tour. He has ridden Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa called the RAGBRAI for the past 16 years. It is 500+ mile ride from Iowa’s west border to the east border. Some 10,000 people ride this every year. I am totally impressed with 70 year-old Ken. Thanks for stopping and talking to us, Ken, and good luck on this year’s RAGBRAI.

We stopped tonight just south of Onawa, IA at, appropriately, Lewis and Clark State Park. It was a beautiful campsite within 10 feet of Blue Lake. This state park is unique because it has the exact replicas of the two kinds of boats that Lewis and Clark used for their transportation from St. Louis. That brings us to the Seventh Grade Question for the day: What were the names for those two kinds of boats that were used by the Corp of Discovery? They can be seen here in picture #1 and #2.