Day 2

Before some of my coworkers have even arrived to work, I have been on the road riding for 3 hours. Day 2 began much earlier than I would have liked. At about 2am, I heard a recorded female voice blast through the camp area. There was a storm approaching with lightning, rain and heavy winds. We were being directed to go to a shelter.

Not knowing what to grab, I ended up trooping down the road with many other sleepy and worried people, carrying my pillow! You'd think maybe I would have grabbed my money, my phone, but no, I needed my pillow. We went into one of those big metal (yeah, metal) half dome buildings that are common to Iowa. Most people stood, but I sat down and leaned on my pillow. I hadn't been sleeping well, but I almost slept better in a room full of mumbling people than I had in my tent.

In a few minutes, the rain dumped on us. The building amplified it so it sounded like hail. I had visions of my tent flying through the air like on the Wizard of Oz. Maybe it'd end up in Kansas! But after about 20 minutes, the rain completely stopped and we got the all clear. I didn't discover until light later that one of my tent's corner stakes came out of the ground. If it had persisted, my tent couldhave been a hanglider like I envisioned. But besides having to pack a wet tent this morning, I was fine.

Today is the longest ride. Thus, my break at 8:30 in the morning. We've already climbed about 20 huge hills. I knew this, but if you thought Iowa was flat, you were dead wrong. Lots and lots of hills. Twenty-eight miles of so far. They assured me here in Exira, Iowa that there are only about 30 miles (ack!) of hills left, then it flattens out.

I'll write more later at the end of the ride. I may work on getting some pictures in tonight.

I'm thankful to God for His protection. I prayed to be able to sleep well, and he answered the more pressing need, shelter from the storm. Somtimes life is like that, you know. God gives us what we need, not necessarily what we want. There you go, sermonette for the morning!