Bassett, NE to Onawa, IA - Connecting with people.

Something like 220 miles over 4 days. I'm losing interest in accuracy about these things.

Driving back from Wind Cave to Bassett was a quick trip and fun to see other parts of South Dakota. We still came South and retraced our steps along HWY 20 in Nebraska and eventually returned to Bassett, NE.

The weather had turned hot again (90F+), but it still felt doable to make 50 miles into O'Neill, NE. Bunny made it before me and noticed that there was a shamrock painted in the middle of the crossroads for the two main streets. They take their Irish heritage seriously in O'Neill.

Last small bridge in Nebraska before the big bridge across the Missouri.

Just after I pulled into the local town campground another couple arrived on bikes with panniers. As the evening progressed we took Poodle for a walk near their camp and struck up a conversation. They (RooseveltsRide)are riding across the country to New York. We discussed heading to RAGBRAI in IOWA, and they had done it three times previously, so the evening turned into an exchange of information and beverages. We stayed up way too late, but that led to the first fire fly sightings of the trip. I haven't seen fireflies since I was a teenager in Connecticut and they are still kind of magical. Once upon a time....a long time ago....I did a small two person play called 'Where Have All the Lightning Bugs Gone?" Not particularly relevant....but still....makes seeing them more poignant for me.

The next day was another quick 50 miles to Tilden, NE. Tilden was most notable for having a public pool that gave me my first 'senior moment'. I arrived in Tilden before Bunny had, and decided to go to the local town pool. Ainsworth had taught me that for a minimal fee one could get a shower and a cool swim. I had arrived just before the pool opened and followed the first staff memeber in through the gate. There were no signs about open hours or anything but since the gate was open, it seemed opportune to enter.

I asked the young lifeguard if I could take a swim and she looked at me with an expression that said.....'I'm not sure how to say 'no' to the old white guy'. What she actually said was, 'Maybe ask the manager?' to which I replied....'Okay....where is the manager?' which got another expression that looked like...'Why do old white guys ask hard questions?'. She just shrugged.

I started looking around for a manager and found her in the equipment room filling the chemical conditioners for the pool. I asked if I could take a swim, and she said they didn't open til 1P. I asked if I could just take a shower now since....you know.....the locker rooms were open already and I was gross and sweaty. She allowed as how that was probably a good idea. After a shower I sat pool side while other life guards arrived, each giving me a quizzical look as they passed by. Each look seemed to convey 'Who's the random old guy in lycra?' Eventually the manager told me to go ahead and swim while they finished setting up for the day.

I did a couple of laps and 'survival floated' to lowering my body temp, until Bunny showed up. I got out of the pool and asked how much I owed. Instead of 1 quizzical look I got the full force of 6 young women looking at me and one finally asked....'How old are you?'.

'55', I say.

'Oh, you're a senior, there's no charge.'

I blinked a couple of times and took a $10 out of my wallet and told them to please give out popsicles to the kids until the money ran out.

The town park in Tilden was notable for having an air conditioned shower/bathroom which made it a place we would stay for two nights while we did some laundry and picked up a couple of items from Amazon. Tilden also has a Dairy Keen. You know the menu based on some other franchise. This local place does all of it better.

Tilden to Wisner, NE was interesting because we ran into Eric and Christina again. They both had minor mechanical issues with their bikes that they had fixed at a bike shop in Norfolk, NE. After the fixes they rode to Wisner and found us in the park, so we had another night of exchanging stories and info about RAGBRAI in exchange for a couple of Ice Cream sandwiches.

We decided to spend two days in Wisner because we were still ahead of schedule. I did a 35 mile out and back ride to keep my legs working and get some penance milage in for the times Bunny hauled me to an overnight spot.

On Wednesday 7/15 I rode into Onawa, still 3 days ahead of schedule despite having taken the detour to South Dakota. We spent the next 4 days at Huff-Warner camp ground just outside Onawa. I did another penance ride from the Missouri river to Onawa on Friday.

We spent time eagerly awaiting the rest of the monkeys who would be joining the circus in Onawa, IA.

Sunset at Huff Warner