Another day, another detour

We have fallen into some bad habits.

Habit 1) We wake up early, only to wait around for rain to clear. Today was not too bad, we only had to wait until 9:30 to get going.

Habit 2) We think we will get there faster if we ignore detour signs. Here's the one we ignored today:

Think it's really closed? Nah, let's just go that way and hope for the best.

So far so good, and no pesky traffic on the closed road.

I had to tear my eyes away from the stunning Iowa scenery and pay attention to the road.

Half a mile down the detour we got flagged down by a construction worker. "Didn't you see the sign saying the road was closed?"

"Yeah, but I thought I was special because I'm on a bike."

"Turn around and get outa here!"

"Yes sir."

Our detour took us onto a back road where we encountered this unexpected work of art.

Habit 3) We're eating way more calories than we are burning off on our bikes. It's hard to make healthy eating choices when you stop at Casey's General Store or McDonald's, but it's so tempting to get off the bike when you come to a town and those are often the only choices. On a hot day the temptation to escape into an air-conditioned building is more than I can overcome.

My personal favorite snack is Sunbelt fudge dipped coconut bars. 50 cents a bar, 25 cents each when you buy a box of 10. The box says "no preservatives", meaning they must be healthy and also meaning I better eat them fast before they go bad.

Farmers need rain, but yesterday and this morning they got too much of a good thing.

The Little Sioux River didn't look so little.

The river decided to leave it's banks and go exploring.

Two ducks were swimming in this field right before we snapped the picture.

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