Leaving the Nelsen's home to 45 degree temperatures, I put on my rain jacket to start the day for the first time in a long while. Ben left on a school bus and Kim and Jeff both left for work well before I departed so I locked up the house on my way out. The high winds from the north had some bite to them as they came in from my left side as I proceed east on D26.
Jumping back onto highway 20 after ten miles of nice county roads, I had two cars stop me on the way to Webster City. The first was Jeff on his way to Webster City from Fort Dodge for his job at Iowa Central Community College. He wanted to check up on the repairs we made yesterday. The frame repairs were holding up fine, although the cart now had a slight veer to the right that I would have to work on. A few miles after leaving Jeff I was stopped by a Webster City police officer who was responding to a call someone had put in about me. Apparently a man pushing a baby down the shoulder of a major highway is worthy of calling 911.
After a dinner at McDonalds, I walked through the old neighborhoods of Webster City to the Riverside Park on the Boone River near downtown to set up camp. I had seen online that there was a city campground in this park which would work perfectly for the night. I was disappointed to find a sign that the campground was permanently closed and even more disheartened that the park was now nothing more than a grass field.
I decided to head to the Briggs Woods campground on a bike path, despite it being a few miles away. Just about a quarter mile down the path I ran into Sandy walking her dog Tucker. After talking a bit about what I was doing she asked, "would you be opposed to staying in a house?" I wasn't at all.
We walked about a half mile to her truck, loaded my cart into the back and head to Casey's general store to get a post-walk soda and beef stick for Tucker. Before getting back to her house we checked on their cows a few miles from home. After checking the weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow I became even more appreciative that I ran into someone so generous to take in a stranger to avoid the cold and wet. After a long day today and a somewhat early start to tomorrow, we spent the evening relaxing and getting to bed pretty early. I slept in her daughter's old room, who now lives in Florida, that was stocked full of huge trophies from 4-H and county fairs.
Jumping back onto highway 20 after ten miles of nice county roads, I had two cars stop me on the way to Webster City. The first was Jeff on his way to Webster City from Fort Dodge for his job at Iowa Central Community College. He wanted to check up on the repairs we made yesterday. The frame repairs were holding up fine, although the cart now had a slight veer to the right that I would have to work on. A few miles after leaving Jeff I was stopped by a Webster City police officer who was responding to a call someone had put in about me. Apparently a man pushing a baby down the shoulder of a major highway is worthy of calling 911.
After a dinner at McDonalds, I walked through the old neighborhoods of Webster City to the Riverside Park on the Boone River near downtown to set up camp. I had seen online that there was a city campground in this park which would work perfectly for the night. I was disappointed to find a sign that the campground was permanently closed and even more disheartened that the park was now nothing more than a grass field.
I decided to head to the Briggs Woods campground on a bike path, despite it being a few miles away. Just about a quarter mile down the path I ran into Sandy walking her dog Tucker. After talking a bit about what I was doing she asked, "would you be opposed to staying in a house?" I wasn't at all.
We walked about a half mile to her truck, loaded my cart into the back and head to Casey's general store to get a post-walk soda and beef stick for Tucker. Before getting back to her house we checked on their cows a few miles from home. After checking the weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow I became even more appreciative that I ran into someone so generous to take in a stranger to avoid the cold and wet. After a long day today and a somewhat early start to tomorrow, we spent the evening relaxing and getting to bed pretty early. I slept in her daughter's old room, who now lives in Florida, that was stocked full of huge trophies from 4-H and county fairs.
If it were any warmer the Boone River would have been awesome for swimming
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