Culver, IN: REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD (Days 10 and 11)

RAGBRAI was over but the fun would continue ... we woke up early Saturday to get rolling (last bicycling pun, I promise) ... for today we would drive all the way to Culver, Indiana to visit our 14-year-old son Max at summer camp!  He had been gone for five weeks now and we were excited to visit the Culver Academies, where he had spent the past three summers.  Had he grown?  Had he missed us?  Would he come running into our arms like Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, running across a field of daisies to each other in order to spend quality time together?  (Answers: yes, possibly, no.)

The RV campground we stayed in after Philip's triumphant RAGBRAI finish was literally a big grass patch in the middle of a cornfield.  All night long, every 30 minutes or so, we would hear the chugging and the low whistle of an approaching train, which would go by about 150 yards from our RV.  To some, that would be an annoyance.  To me, that's heaven!  It was so charming, terrifically old-fashioned, and such a departure from anything we ever experience in Arizona.  The 6-1/2 hour drive through Illinois to Indiana was under beautiful, ever-changing configurations of cloudy skies, and Philip was grateful for the "forced relaxation" to let his muscles recover from the day before.

We arrived at Culver (www.culver.org) just in time for "weekend permits," the designated time when cadets can go off-campus for R&R time (though they must be in their full uniforms even when they are leaving campus).  Culver is built right on huge Lake Maxinkuckee, has been around since 1896 and offers a six-week summer camp; this year, 1,394 attendees came from 38 states and 39 countries around the world.  It is a military boarding school (primarily Navy and Air Force) for high school students during the school year, and a huge camp for boys and girls during the summer.

Because of Max's interest in the military, he loves being with other like-minded young men, as well as the structure, the rankings, the advancements, the ceremonies, the marching ... all of it!  This type camp is not for everyone, but they have a huge array of classes, in all sorts of crazy interests like fencing, sailing, horsemanship, lacrosse, biology, ice skating, military leadership, and 70+ more.  Each summer you take 15 different classes, 5 per two-week session.  His favorite this summer was Basic Aviation, which culminated in a 30-minute flight where he actually piloted a Cessna 2-seater!  (Don't worry ... there was an instructor on-board, too.)

Needless to say, Mommy was super-excited to see her "little" boy again!  We would have six hours on Saturday and four hours on Sunday to hang out.  Max brought along one of his best friends from camp, Austin from St. Louis Missouri, whose parents were not visiting this weekend.  (Max had gone with Austin's family the previous weekend.)  He called me "ma'am" and Philip "sir," which was both refreshing and disconcerting at the same time, and he and Max are already plotting to be dorm-mates next summer when they will move up to "upper camp" and out of the current 14-boy cabins.

At Culver, they have no electronics and basically little communication with the outside world, except a one-way system of writing to your child called the "Bunk Note."  Basically, you type a message into a website program, and the camp prints the messages out and places them in their bunks the following day.  But for the campers, they do not have computers, cell phones, Ipads, Iphones, Ipods, televisions, or anything else.  So, as you can imagine, Austin and Max were not so much interested in deep, heartfelt conversations with grown-ups, so much as they wanted to immediately check Facebook, YouTube, and the various other online forums of which they had been recently deprived.

What else did they really, really want?  Juicy grilled cheeseburgers!

(Little ones for Bella and Sprinkles.)

And the final thing Max was really craving?

Love from home, a.k.a. snuggles from Sprinkles!

Max is a member of Culver's Marching Drum and Bugle Corps, which dates back to 1919 and this year has 72 members.  They perform at various events, including a performance at Six Flags Great Adventure in Chicago each year (a 30-minute performance which earns them 6 hours of running around the park and riding roller-coasters until they puke).  

While visiting this weekend, we were lucky to get to attend the weekly Culver Garrison Parade.  The Garrison Parade is a long-standing military tradition, providing an efficient method for the Commanding Officer to inspect all of his troops at once, present special honors and awards, and honor special guests in attendance.  All of the units attend, including the 80+ horses and all 1,400 campers in full uniform, who perform a precisely choreographed program for all in attendance.  It is an amazing spectacle filled with lots of pomp and circumstance, cannon booms and fly-overs, music and patriotism and pride.

Max will finish one more week at camp and then fly back home by himself.  He mentioned in passing that there had been a wrestling tournament last week, and he had pinned a 273-pound guy to win the semi-final round, so he will be in the final championship on Tuesday.  I am afraid for whom he will be wrestling in that one .... 300+ pounds?  Nobody better hurt Momma's little boy!

Sunday was the first day of the entire 11-day "vacation" so far that we didn't have to be somewhere right away and could sleep in and, thanks to the miracle of modern conveniences, enjoy a Sunday morning on the road that is just like a Sunday morning at home!  Cardinals news in the Arizona Republic Sunday paper (online edition!  yay!) ... check.  Emails and Facebook and Words with Friends (thanks to a handy little traveling WiFi modem called "Jetpack" from Verizon) ... check!  Scrambled eggs, hash browns and ham a-fryin'... check.  Fire in the (electric) fireplace ... check (OK, we wouldn't be doing that at home, but it's dang cold here today, and we woke up to 58 degrees outside!)

So, as you can see, there is no real reason to return home ... ever!  Well, I take that back. We really miss having a washer and dryer, and Philip's pile of stinky bicycling clothes from the past week had to be banished to the "basement" ... a outside storage compartment where we keep chairs and folding tables and whatnot.

Indiana has been beautiful and scenes like this farmhouse have **almost** made us want to replace burritos y guacamole, with ham loaf and frozen custard!  Tomorrow, we reverse the direction of the last 11 days.  Where we have been going continuously "East" and "North," now we begin heading slowly back "West" and "South!"  Wagons ho!

Oskaloosa to Fairfield, IA: HE DID IT! HE REALLY, REALLY DID IT! (Day 9)

Today would be Philip's final day of the RAGBRAI ride, and we awoke with mixed emotions.  Yay ... it's almost over!  Boo ... it's almost over!

Today's planned ride was from Oskaloosa to Fairfield, but Philip would ALSO be doing tomorrow's planned ride from Fairfield to Fort Madison ... a total of 118 miles!  Phoenix to Tucson is 116 miles, and you know how long and boring that ride can be (even at 75 MPH, instead of 15!)

So, you can imagine Philip's trepidation at doing not only his longest daily ride EVER, but especially when tacked onto on the tail end of five previous daily back-to-back rides of 50 to 107 miles each.  He wasn't sure he was going to make it!

Saying a quick prayer for strength!

As Philip's support crew, Bella and Sprinkles and I have really enjoyed following him from town to town, trying to provide inspiration and celebration with each milestone!  Today, our support would be especially important for the second half of the day, because all of the other RAGBRAI riders would be staying in Fairfield, while we were just taking a lunch break (pork tenderloin sandwiches! yes, again!) and then going on for another five hours (!!!) by ourselves.

Bella gave him a little pep talk and a high-five in the Fairfield town square during halftime ....

 and then, Philip bought me a t-shirt just to make sure there was no confusion about my role in the shebang.

Today's cities and celebrations took a backseat to one thing, and one thing only .... SURVIVAL.  The heart wants what the heart wants, and Philip's heart wanted to finish this damn ride!  As support crew, we would drive ahead 10 miles, wait for him to catch up, offer cold water/words of encouragement/cocktails, then do the whole thing over again every 10 miles, until we reached the end!

A glimpse of our guy out the front windshield of the support-mobile!

There was one city, however, that really captured our hearts and that we actually spent some time hanging out in.  It is called Bonaparte, has a population of 468 people, and was founded in 1837 on the banks of the Des Moines River.  It has been named the smallest "Main Street Community" in the U.S., and their Riverfront District is part of the National Register of Historic Places.  It was totally enchanting!

But then, you don't really want to hear about charming historical places ... you want to hear about the GRAND FINALE of the ride, right??

If you recall, RAGBRAI began at the Missouri River and would end at the Mississippi River, spanning the entire width of the State of Iowa.  The ending point was Fort Madison, and the terrific thing about wrapping this up an entire day earlier than the rest of the crowd, is that THERE WAS NO REST OF THE CROWD!  We had the finishing line all to ourselves!  He was literally the first person to finish the race!  :-)

Philip's Fan Club was at the finish line about 10 minutes before he arrived, allowing us to get "in position" for him to roll through the finish line.  This also allowed us to meet the one old guy who single-handedly designed and constructed this awesome finish line marker (those are real bikes!), and who was just leaving for the night as we pulled up:

Both Philip and I were literally crying as he rolled through the finish (and not just because we also cry when somebody wins at the big wheel on The Price Is Right).

And then the REAL celebrations began!  Jumping for joy ....

Mounting the podium ....

Spraying the champagne ....

And of course, the important moment, the final ceremonial dip of the front wheel in the Mississippi River!

We couldn't help but reminisce about the start of this biking obsession, I mean hobby, for Philip.  In 2010, he weighed 290 pounds and due to a long-standing knee injury, could barely walk across the street because of excruciating pain.  He wanted to have knee surgery, but the doctor told him the surgery would not be successful unless Philip lost 25 pounds before the surgery and 25 pounds after.  "How can I lose weight when I can't exercise on this knee?" Philip asked.  "You can ride a bike," said Dr. Russo.

And so it began.  He proceeded to lose 65 pounds and over the past three years has ridden in organized bike rides and races in Phoenix, Tucson, Scottsdale, Mesa, Flagstaff, Las Vegas, Lake Mead, Solvang (CA), and now across Iowa.  He started on a heavy, clunky mountain bike and gradually moved his way up to his current love, "Ariel."  ("Grace" has been put out to pasture but is still remembered fondly.)

Most importantly, he has had the time of his life and enjoyed every single minute, and I could simply burst from pride at all that he has accomplished.  It was barely 45 minutes after finishing RAGBRAI that he said, "I think I am going to do the ride from Oregon to Mexico down the coast of California next!"  And so, I think we can call this experience a success!  Thanks for the good times and memories, RAGBRAI!

Fairfield to Des Moines, IA: SEWER 101: TESSA GETS AN A+ (Day 8)

Day Five of RAGBRAI.  Kinda like "Hump Day" in a regular workweek ... the worst is behind you, but you still gotta make it to the end.  273 miles in, 165 to go!  One guy is running the entire RAGBRAI route.  That means he is running at least two full marathons (back to back) every day, except Monday when he ran three full marathons.  They interviewed him on the news and he said, "There are no easy days, just less-hard days!"  Philip agrees, and noted that today's tone and energy level was definitely a little more subdued for the entire group. Today's ride was 50 miles to Oskaloosa, and as you can see here, Philip is developing some awesome abs!

The first town, Pella, has a Danish heritage and was proud to show it off for the riders.  Under the sheltering gaze of multiple classic windmills and Danish-style buildings, residents were dressed in traditional Danish attire, and riders participated in a variety of Danish themed games and activities.  In one such contest, riders would replace their biking cleats with wooden clogs, fill pails of water and carry them on their shoulders about 100 feet,  dump the pails, and race back, all in these hideously uncomfortable and non-fashion-forward wooden clogs.

Or, if wooden shoes weren't your thing, you could instead load up as many cheese wheels as possible onto a sled, race to the end of the course for the fastest time and/or the least number of cheese wheels, which would of course falling all over the place and careen down the street, knocking down little children and old people.  If that was too much frenetic activity for you, you could instead hop on a bicycle built for 21, and basically fake like you were pedaling and allow the other 20 people to do the work for you.

Pulling into another extremely small town, Bussey, all of the town residents had come out into their front yards and set up rows upon rows of lawn chairs.  This in itself is not unusual, but their people were having their own par-tay complete with full potluck and cocktails, not for the riders but for themselves, as they chatted and watched the suckers, I mean the riders, go by.  Philip decided that today was the day to try eating and drinking like a 30-something, and indulged in fresh homemade pizza (where the chef was pounding the dough and mixing the sauce right before his eyes), then gulped a couple of cold beers, just like all the other crazies.  He confidently climbed back on his bike, strapped on his helmet, and then ... reality hit.  He almost puked as the melted cheese and spicy sausage and beers combined in a toxic mix of motivation-killer.  But this day was not gonna finish itself, so on he rode, searching in vain for a vendor selling Tums or Maalox.

The riding scenery has been spectacular and we have become solid fans of this beautiful state!  If you have not visited, you really should!  (This blog sponsored by the Iowa Department of Tourism.)  Seriously ... we have a real appreciation of Iowa and its people and would visit again in a heartbeat!  

Today's ride ended in Oskaloosa, (another) darling town which just happened to be serving the most scrumptious, oversized pork tenderloin sandwiches ... an Iowa classic, and my favorite!  Nom nom nom!

Somebody asked if it was difficult to drive from place to place, with so many bikes on the road.  It really isn't, for a lot of different reasons.  (1) They have everything roped off, so that even if you have to go on the same road as the bikers, you are right next to them but in a totally different lane.  (2) If you need to cross the bikers' path, you drive on ahead to a designated turn, where a police officer will periodically let cars through.  (3) There are a lot of different back roads in Iowa so with careful plotting, you can mostly avoid them altogether.  (4) The end cities put out very detailed maps so you can enter town from a different angle than the bikers.  (5)  My fabulously detailed and organized husband spent many, many hours putting together a 3" thick notebook of maps and directions and confirmations for this entire trip, so all I have to do is open the book to today's section, and off I go!  Thanks, darling!

"Then you turn left, then you go to the second right ..."

Because Philip leaves on his ride long before I leave to drive to the next town, the care and maintenance duties of the RV are my responsibility.  It is not difficult, but I live in terror that I will forget a step.  If I forget to unplug before driving out, I will rip the electrical junction out of the ground!  If I forget to wind down the TV antenna, the tree will rip it from the roof!  If I forget to fill the fresh water tank, we won't be able to take showers at the next campground!  If I don't secure every last item, they might come flying out of the cabinets as I drive over yet another curb!  For a neurotic, this RV stuff is breeding ground for insecurity.

The most crucial task in an RV trip, of course, is the periodic dumping of the sewage tank.  There was never any doubt that I would have to learn to do this, and I didn't raise a stink (pun intended).  The first few times, I watched Philip.  The next few times, I helped Philip.  (Disposable gloves ... mandatory.)  Finally, it was time to try the entire process on my own, and I didn't want any help because I had to be sure I had the whole thing down pat, for when I would be doing it while he was out riding.  The most hysterical thing was to watch other campers driving by, sneering in disgust at a strong, grown man (Philip) just standing there with his arms crossed, while his little wifey-poo (pun intended, again) struggled with the hoses and couplers and valves and whatnot.  They clearly thought he was the biggest jerk in the world!  But, now I can dump like a pro ... black tank, gray tank, it doesn't matter, I got this!

Tomorrow, Philip will be doing a "two-fer" ... two days fer the price of one, combining the Friday AND the Saturday rides for a total of 115 miles.  This is because we are heading to Max's summer camp in Indiana on Saturday and have to be there to check him out by noon, so there won't be time to ride the last day on Saturday.

We have really enjoyed all of your messages on this blog and Facebook, so know that they are giving Philip great motivation to know that the "home team" is rooting for him!  Philip says, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" ... so say a little prayer of encouragement that he finishes strong tomorrow and brings home the gold!

Des Moines to Knoxville, IA: FREE SKINNY DIPPING! (Day 7)

Today's fourth day of RAGBRAI took Philip 54 miles from Des Moines to Knoxville, Iowa on what could only be described as a roller-coaster of a ride.  Up a hill at 7 miles an hour, down a hill at 30 miles an hour, up a hill, down a hill ... rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat.  Whew!  It was extremely crowded today because a lot of Des Moines residents were joining in for today's ride only, so as the ride began, people were pouring into the group from every side street in Des Moines.

Today was deemed "RAGBRAI Jersey Day" and riders were encouraged to wear this year's jersey, or any previous year's jersey.  Of course, it is a badge of honor to have a jersey from past years ... the older, the better! ... and riders love to brag about how many years they have done this ride.  Unfortunately for spectators, however, it makes it extremely difficult to pick out the blur that is "your guy" when the majority of riders are wearing the exact same blue jersey as they go flying by!

There continue to be quite the variety of participants, including some people on unicycles, a guy doing the route on a skateboard, a guy pulling a cart with his two dogs in it, and hundreds of handicapped people in modified bicycles climbing the same hills using only their arm power ... totally inspirational!  And remember the hippie pulling a solar-powered stereo we mentioned in an earlier post?  Philip found him again and took a photo ... just for you, dear readers!

Today's pass through Runnells, Iowa came complete with a roadside sign advertising "Free Skinny Dipping" at a farmer's pond. The farmer had built the pond 9 years ago and had always hoped that the RAGBRAI route would go past for this express purpose (creepy voyeurism, but whatever).  People dropped their bikes, dropped their pants, and went charging into the pond, laughing all the way.  This joyous celebration of the human body was interrupted when the cops arrived, but not before Philip had snapped a couple pictures of "When Woodstock Meets RAGBRAI" .....

We know you are zooming in right now ... yes that guy is really naked ... and white

Law enforcement = not amused

The diversions continue.  Mechanical bull riding.  Slip-N-Slides down every big hill.  High school marching band dance lines.  At one point, the route passed through the Iowa State Fairgrounds, right by the carnival barkers out in full force, "Hop off that bike and come win a goldfish!"  In tiny Monroe, Iowa, the entertainment consisted of a Firehose Battle, similar to Tug-of-War, where they would dress bikers in fireman gear and put two at each end of an overhead cable with an empty keg strung upon it. At the whistle, each team would train their water stream onto the barrel and the winning team was that which could drive it to the other end first.  Clearly, RAGBRAI organizers are finding creative uses for the hundreds of kegs left behind in the beer gardens each day.

In one small town, their theme was "Christmas in July" and the entire town was decorated in holiday fare ... wreaths on the lampposts, Rudolph and Santa inflatables on the front lawns, an artificial snow machine (below), everything Christmas themed ... perfect for Philip ... a.k.a. Mr. Christmas!   While Philip was searching in earnest for a cup of eggnog, townspeople suddenly ran out from every booth, alley, sidewalk and front doorstep and "Frosty's Flashmob" performed a rap rendition of Jingle Bell Rock ......  right before Philip's very eyes.  Ho ho ho!

Lance Armstrong is doing RAGBRAI this year (how far must one's star fall from the sky, to go from winning the Tour de France, to Iowa in July, but who am I to judge); however, Philip says that Lance has not yet caught up with him (tee hee) so he hasn't caught any glimpses of him in person.  Or maybe he is wearing a disguise to avoid detection, and is actually the old hippie pictured above?  Hmmmm.

Philip had to use all 20 of his gears today because of all the hills, and his back derailer had to be fixed in order to continue on the ride.  Thankfully, at the Trails' End there are mechanics who can solve any biking related problem ... for a price, of course.  Don't kid yourself ... fun and fitness do not come cheap!

In each of the ending towns, the local churches host a variety of dinners for the hungry masses.  I have been trying to determine if each of the faiths specialize in a certain meal  ... it kind of seems that way!  Catholics ... spaghetti.  Methodists ... chicken and noodles.  Living Word ... hamburgers and hot dogs.  Apostolic ... lasagna.  Episcopal ... pork tenderloin.  Or maybe having the same churches do the same meals allows them to ship the leftovers on to the next town?  Now that's economy of scale!

The day ended in Knoxville, which seems to be a bit more affluent of a town that the previous host cities.  Every stop light post had been adorned with a decorated bicycle, and were mounted hiiiiigh in the air!

Tonight, we stayed in the Whitebreast Campground just outside Knoxville, with bicyclists and tents all around us, everyone bonded together in a mutual state of exhaustion, but after a couple Rum-and-Cokes, the enthusiasm returns by bedtime.  Philip is starting to get sore, after day upon day of riding, and is getting definition in muscles he never knew he had!

Tomorrow ... on to Oskaloosa .... Philip's last relatively "short" day of the ride (another 50+ miles).  He has informed me that today he is going to take his time and really enjoy all of the goings-on in each of the towns.  This bodes well for some more interesting stories, don't you think?  Stay tuned .....