Nebraska City, NE to Council Bluff, IA- Day 5- 52.56 mi.

I wonder if Lewis and Clark ever had a problem like this? I carry only one pen and one mechanical pencil with me. I realized yesterday that I had lost my good pen. I pulled out my mechanical pencil and, you guessed it, I am out of lead. Finding a convenience store to buy a new pen and/or pencil lead became a priority. Today, it was almost as difficult to find a pen or lead as it would have been for Lewis and Clark. We biked 50 miles today without seeing one convenience store, restaurant, or even a grocery store. When we finally arrived at Council Bluffs, IA, I was too tired to even care about a pen or pencil, so I am still without either.

Except for Nebraska City, where we camped, we were fortunate today to have flat roads and a nice tailwind. Almost all of our miles were completed on a two-lane road that paralleled Interstate 29. It was a flat and very quiet—almost no vehicular traffic. That was the good part. The bad part was that, as I mentioned above, there were no services…no convenience stores, restaurants, or grocery stores. This made it necessary for us to stop at mid-day and cook our lunch. Luckily?? I am carrying about 20 lbs of food, a stove, and cookware, so I could set up shop and cook a meal fairly quickly.

Towards the end of the day, we again had the pleasure of riding on the Wabash Trace, another railroad converted to a hiking/biking trail. This was very well-maintained with rest benches about every ½ mile. We will be back on this trail again tomorrow when we leave Council Bluffs. We are at a motel in Council Bluffs tonight so we can upload this journal, have a great shower, and visit the Historic Western Trails Museum in this city. We plan a short ride tomorrow starting around noon after visiting the museum. See you at the next connection.

It’s time for the Seventh Grade Question of the Day! Today we crossed the Missouri River into Iowa. What states have a portion of their border defined by the Missouri River?

-ClarkWrench