Anyway I can post my blog tonite all by myself because of the Iowa DOT. Last night I was saved by Miguette. I couldn't get it to go with my Blackberry so I e-mailed it to her and she posted for me. I think I figured out how to do it though and should be good for the rest of the trip. Iowa doesn't go on forever!
Besides, Iowa has these people.
Within the over 800 kms we put in today we made a brief detour to visit my very dear friends the Gibson family. The guy in the middle of the back row is Jonathan. He's a very special 19 year old who just survived an incredible battle with viral encephalitis. He's in the process of learning to walk and talk all over again, but his determination is clear. Also in the pic, his mom and dad, his brothers Jordan and Justin and that's his girlfriend Ellie beside Roo. (Ellie....nice name eh?) We didn't stay long, but it was long enough to feed off the incredible energy and renewed closeness that this family obviously has. It was an energizing hour we spent with them. Thanks Rick and Amy!
After we parked our rig at their house Roo and I went for a run together, just to remind ourselves why we don't often run together....but we still got back as friends. Speaking of friends we also made several new ones of the Iowan canine type....like the people they were generally friendly.
I know I was supposed to bike today but my heart wasn't in it, and all the experts say that at this point if you don't "feel" like it, don't do it. I will ride tomorrow sometime. We can really take our time now as we're obviously making good headway. We are north of Des Moines about half way to the Minnesota border which we will cross in the morning. We are approx 1/3 of the way to Penticton.
We had a good suggestion from Rick today as he believed Mount Rushmore in South Dakota was barely out of our way. I checked it out and sure enough it's probably only a half hour off of Interstate 90 which is the main road we will take west. We could easily check it out.
So far Roo and I are doing great in each others company. As much as I already miss everyone at home I can tell that this is something we really needed to do. The last 2 years have been hard work and it feels good just to be away and forget about reality for a while. Which makes me think that come Aug 30th I'm gonna get a real does of a different kind of reality!!
I was just about to start panicking about getting my post up before midnite when I suddenly realized....you you got it...I'm in a new time zone! No worries!
Lastly for today, I got an e-mail from Janine Grespan this morning asking when we were leaving for the Ironman because she wanted to come an do a video shoot before we left! Bummer! But she's maybe working on something else. We'll see.
I wish to dedicate day 333 to my old friend Murray Mackey(aka Mrs Doubtfire) because being in Iowa reminds me of him.
"The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together."---Erma Bombeck
"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."---Jane Howard
....and this ones for my dad, for me and for my sons...
“Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice"---Anon
love
peter
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