RAGBRAI Day 1 (2)

Finally I am getting a chance to post about RAGBRAI this year! It has been a few days since we got home but here goes!

Really it is Day 2 of RAGBRAI...we had some very important birthdays to celebrate at home the first day of riding this year. So we packed up the minivan a day late...notice my motorhome is missing this year...and headed bright & early to the 2nd sleepover town Greenfield, Iowa.

A nice long drive...with us, 2 ornery kids, 2 Uncles and a bunch of camping gear. Things got a little hectic...so hectic in fact that poor Sean lost his bearings and managed to run the van completely out of gas in Russell, IA. He turned off the main highway as the car started to sputter....

...right next to these girls who were clearly fascinated by us. They weren't mad like me.

Luckily, the farm these girls lived on was owned by an extremely friendly couple, Dan & Toni, who not only let us use their lawnmower gas stash but let our kids, including Uncle Robby run around on their farm while we drove into town to replace the gas.

We were lucky, their son's BBall team was planning a food sale in a few days when RAGBRAI through town. So they didn't think we were completely crazy. Iowa truly has the nicest people on earth.

So we were a little off schedule by now and the weather was cold and rainy so we weren't super excited to get to Greenfield to set up tents, etc. We spotted a Maid_Rite and decided to give it a try.

Gavin likes to make a mess wherever he goes. And of course you need a huge pile of salt on the table to balance a salt shaker on one of them....right?

Gabby thought the ground beef sandwich was strange looking...but ended up being tasty.

Mmmmmmm.....mmmmmmaid-rite. (Uncle) Steve was very happy to have had the opportunity to try one.

We arrived in Greenfield in the rain and drizzle & set up the tents in a host family's front yard. I miss my motorhome already, putting together 3 beds in a tent...not fun for me or my back. Sigh. The rain finally stopped so we took a walk into town to get a bite to eat...let the BBQ eating begin! Tomorrow, we ride.