In honor of Dan's 29th year of birth, we packed up and headed to Des Moines for a Labor Day weekend biking adventure. We wanted to squeeze in 100 miles over 2 days, so the Raccoon River Valley Trail proved to be perfect--officially an 89-mile loop from Waukee to Jefferson and back.
But before we took off on the Raccoon Valley Trail, we had to take advantage of our Friday night by doing a little night riding out to the High Trestle Trail bridge. If you haven't been to this bridge, you need to book a trip before winter rolls in. It is simply breath-taking.
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| High Trestle Trail, Madrid, Iowa |
For the rest of the weekend, we mapped out the route to begin and end in Waukee; we planned to take the eastern leg of the loop, spend the night at the northernmost point (Jefferson, IA), and finish up with the western leg.
The first day was smooth sailing on the eastern leg of the loop. The trail was carefully maintained, clean, and charming as we passed through Dallas Center (stop for a picture in the big, red chair), Milburn (Nineteen 14 is a perfect beer/rest stop), and Perry (don't miss Mar's Diner). We filled up our tummies at the Mar's Diner buffet run by the three cutest little old ladies. Besides the adorable owners, it is also known for its broasted chicken making this is an essential stop for those who need a dose of protein to re-fuel before more riding.
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| Milburn, Iowa |
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| Raccoon River Valley Trail |
Dan booked the best lodging for our overnight in Jefferson--Little House on Russell. It turned out to be the perfect place for 4 people. The house was fully furnished with one queen bed, one twin bed, a pull out couch, and a twin-sized air mattress option plus it was just a block off the trail and only a few blocks from downtown restaurants and Hy-Vee!
We decided to try the local cafe, Uptown Cafe, for dinner---and boy, it hit the spot! I think we all opted for the "breakfast all-day" menu plus a piece of hometown pie for dessert. Since Hy-Vee was just around the corner from Uptown, we decided to pick up groceries for a home-cooked egg sandwich breakfast rather than hunt around for early morning breakfast option. I must admit, it was a little nerve-wrecking riding at night with eggs in my front basket--not for the weak of heart!
The next morning we cooked ourselves some yummy breakie sammies, loaded up our bags again, and headed off on the remaining loop back to Waukee. We pushed through the miles and didn't stop until Panora for lunch. We rolled in just in time to catch the lunch buffet at The Port overlooking the beautiful Lake Panorama.
Looks like all was well and good, right? Indeed, it was all well and good...because...that picture was taken just moments before I re-applied sunscreen and left my RINGS (yes, engagement ring and all) sitting on a table, outside the restaurant, in the hot, hot sun amongst many strangers.
Yep, that happened. And it wasn't until 15-ish miles down the trail that I even realized what I had done. Upon realizing this tragedy, I had to inform the group. We really had no choice but to keep riding (15-ish more miles) on to Waukee in order to get the car and drive back to Panora, so that's what we did. The Port had closed after brunch at 1, but we knew the outside "tiki" bar was still open. We were holding out that someone at the bar had found them and turned them in.
The rest of the ride was fairly...silent (as you can probably imagine). Dan was feverishly making phone calls to The Port (but to no avail), and I was feverishly trying not to throw up from guilt. But there's good news, my friends! We went back and FOUND THE RINGS! In the same spot in which I absentmindedly left them. Same spot. Same freakin' spot.
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| Raccoon River Valley Trail |
The reaction of the bar-tending crew, you might wonder? "Ha! Glad you found 'em! Obviously, we haven't even been down there yet to clean those tables! Ha!" And about not answering their phones for the past 2 hours..."Oh, well, the phone's all the way up in the restaurant! We could hear it ringing!" We all immediately ordered a round of drinks to celebrate our good fortune and sat back listening to a string of stories from others at the bar about their own ring mishaps.
With one drink down already, we headed into downtown Des Moines for a proper birthday celebration for Dan at Iowa Taproom. Cheers to being 29 and wanting to marry an absentminded goof, Dan!
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| Birthday boy |
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| Near Jefferson, Iowa |
Peace, love, and bicycles,
Kelly
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