We are getting better at listening to our bodies.  When Mike woke up feeling dizzy and nauseous, we decided to take the first day of our last leg off.  Walking 12 miles when you don’t feel good is just a poor idea.  So we strolled along the Cedar River Trail to explore the city of Cedar Rapids.  This is definitely an area that we could see spending some time getting to know in the future.

Day two conspired to keep us inside.  We have, and will, walk in the rain but there was thunder, lightning and severe weather in the area.  We got up early and drove to our end point.  After waiting a few minutes watching to see which way the storm was moving, we decided it wasn’t worth the chance.  So instead we found the St. Ludmilla Church kolaches festival.  The pastries only came by the half dozen or more so we chowed down on these interesting yeast buns topped with fruit jam.  We are hoping for at least one more day of walking before we stop for the spring.  Had another great dinner – this time in Iowa City in the Pullman Car Restaurant.  That’s our third good restaurant find in the area.

Yippee – we got back on the road on day three!  The weather was perfect – never higher than the mid-70’s, mostly cloudy and no gnats.  We did walk through brief periods of rain, hail and thunderstorms, but on the whole an easy day.  The only negative was the uniformly dull view – not much to see.  It’s bittersweet to be finished this spring walk – we are ready to spend some time at home with the boys but will have to put our cross-country walk on hold for the near future.  Stay tuned . . .

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