We have found our new blood vein through a state. Route 18 is our road through Iowa. Though we are not enthusiastic about the quality of the road’s shoulder. Yesterday it was very narrow, most of today it was gravel and we had to ride on the road and rely on our Garmin radars to warn against traffic coming from behind.
More sustainable energy
Towns are along our route more frequently and we do not have to plan lunch and refreshment breaks so far in advance. We can just decide to find a watering hole when we need it. Most interesting towns on our way today were Spencer and Emmetsburg. Spencer looked like the Marty McFly’s Hill Valley of “Back to the future” – the part were we are in 1950’ies. It appeared as if shop owners were encouraged to preserve old neon signs and house fronts – but Troels commented that they might not have left the 50’ies yet.
Emmetsburg did not have the same charm but it was a lunch rest stop and we got a small conversation with a worker from Vestas who was part of a crew which was assempling 170 turbines east of the town. Though the project had been opposed by some of the neighbors to the mills it was the worker’s verdict that Iowa wanted the mills because it belives in renewable energy and currently 20-30% of the State’s energy comes from wind. Speaking of wind, we enjoyed another day of tailwind. We travelled a little over 120 miles and have one more full leg in Iowa and one that takes us into Wisconsin.
Garner
Now we are in Garner in the middle of Iowa. Probably not a place you would pick for a vacation as there are more interesting names around with “Lake”, “River” and “Falls” as components. As mentioned earlier it is a day’s travel distance which makes a town appealing.
Every town its watertower 
The Chevy dealer mainly sells trucks 
Everything is connected to agriculture
popscycletour.com 