2025 Upper Midwest

The rain rolled in overnight and lingered through much of the day, so we took it as a sign to slow down and catch up—on rest, on little adventures, and apparently… on gravity.

Today’s Highlights:

🚗 Scenic Drive: A leisurely loop around Saylorville Lake, Polk City, and Des Moines. Windows down, tunes up, and just enough sightseeing to stir our curiosity.

🍽️ Dinner at Arcadia: Don went for the Chimichurri Tacos (10/10 flavor, zero regrets). Beth had the Seared Salmon (also a solid choice—despite its lack of chimichurri).

🚴 Bike Ride on the Neal Smith Trail: About 8.5 miles of exploration straight from our campsite. All was going well until… Beth crashed.

Let’s set the scene:
Beth almost skipped her helmet. Don said, “No, you better wear it.”
Good call. She didn’t hit her head (whew!), but she did earn a souvenir scrape on her leg.

How it went down (literally):
Beth gamely followed Don off-road—through grass, over average-sized rocks, down a slight slope, and onto the sandy beach.
The way down? Fine. The way up? Not so much.
With Don hollering, “Pedal faster! Pedal faster!” she gave it her all… until her tire met the largest of the medium-sized rocks, stopped cold, and toppled over like a tired flamingo…in slow motion.
No major injuries—just bruised pride and a good story.

🔥 Evening Fire: We thought the rain might chase us off… but it was just a dramatic drizzle. So we fired up the not-so-rustic campfire (thank you, propane!) and held our ground like the seasoned glampers we are.

⸻

Funny Note:
Don didn’t actually think Beth would follow him off-road… and Beth thought, “Pfft, that looks easy enough.”
Turns out Don is always pushing her limits—Beth’s just the one who ends up scraping hers. 😄
She’s fine, slightly bruised, and currently accepting chocolate, ice packs, and new route suggestions!Read more