Iowa!

When I was in Boise, I went to check in at a homeless shelter. As I walked through the doors, the smiling teen told me she would take my weapons, and lock them away. My backpack would be put away in a locker for the night. She would have to take my cell phone, check my arms for track marks, my hair for lice, and I would have to shake my bra to show I wasn't hiding any drugs.
I don't have the feeling of complete panic overtake me often. My gut felt frozen. Is this how it is? Is this how we treat those on the street? Is there a chance this place could do worse for me than good?
I sputtered some words to the sweet girl that reminded me of my sister's friend Kimberly. Curly hair, braces, round cheeks.  I turned and left so fast, fighting back the fear that had overtaken me. I may not have a home, but that doesn't mean I'm a junkie. I may not own a shower, but I am not that dirty.

Last night, I had a warmshowers host that didn't get back to me. In a mix of realizing I needed new tires, to get a job in order to buy the tires, and also find a place to stay, I was trying to remain calm.
The small town I ended my 45 mile day in has a homeless shelter in the old YMCA.
"I'm looking for a place to sleep tonight" I told the receptionist, who asked if I was aware it was a shelter. He slowly walked me through the steps of an interview, background check, and kindly asked to lock up my weapons for the night. Lights out at ten and on at 5:30, I got to shower, and wash the stench out of my stained clothes.
I didn't have the panic rise in my gut, but I did have the shelter kitten Bootsie to snuggle with.

The bike shop in town didn't open until 9, but i had to replace my tire no matter what. Killing time was a mix of writing and dozing off on a park bench in the quickly rising heat.
"Where are you travelling to?" an older gentleman with a police hat on cheerfully woke me from a doze. "You make us look so lazy! We're retired though. We only do about ten miles a day". He chatted on, making it easy to mirror his smile. They wished me luck and headed down the trail.
As I talked myself into heading to the bike shop, I was about to cross paths with them again
"Watch this girl go! She's heading to the Gulf of Mexico!" he yelled through cupped hands, getting five people to clap for me as I peddled past them. "Thank you" I giggled, spreading my smile to other morning walkers and joggers along the riverside park

I happen to be in Iowa during the week of The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. I have heard the cyclist count is over 10,000 for this years RAGBRAI, which ends saturday in the town I'm currently in.
One of the owners of the bike shop, Jean Harper, kindly sold me the tire. In trying to save money I was only going to buy one, but on closer inspection realised the good tire wasn't far behind the nearly destroyed one. I changed the tire in the shade by her display window, and was using my hand pump when she said I could use their hose. She also offered me a place to fill my water, use the bathroom, and gave me a map of Iowa.

While we were looking at the map, more people poured into the shop with flat tires. "You're going to have to wait 'til ten, everyone is on RAGBRAI" she informed them. A man walked in she knew, and he offered help on the directions in comparison to the book I've been following.
"I'm going to show her where 91 starts" he shouted to his wife, as he offered to drive me in his van to the intersection. I learned that Muscatine used to be a button manufacture. We passed Monsanto, many cornfields, a large distillery for vodka, and nuclear power plants that use the river for energy. The road was a bit intimidating. Shoulders aren't consistent in Iowa, and the heat of the day was steadily rising, already causing me to sweat.
After turning around, we noticed an MRT sign, the first I've seen in over 200 miles. We followed it to find it almost paralleled the highway, but was less frequently used. I felt more at peace with this route for this section of trail, and thanked him as I learned about him and his wife.

We got back to the bike shop, where I made the decision to buy the other tire and extra tube. When the mechanic heard what I was doing, he said "so you heard about this RAGBRAI thing and was like 'pansies, I'm riding the whole length of rhe country!'"
After friendly banter, I asked about cheap food, to which he pointed across the street. I walked in and asked about a lunch special, where they pointed to the buffet.
I was in deep contemplation of a late start, or staying in town to try and find work for a day. I was also concentrating on ignoring the fox news channel, as I looked up to see the wife (who's name I never learned or embarrassingly quickly forgot) of the man who drove me around. She smiled as she set down my prescription glasses on the table in front of me, taking a second to push my nose like a button. As she left, I think I got a "thank you" out of my laughter.

So here I am at the library. I have asked about jobs online, to the host, and the shelter. It seems like there isn't much gig work in this factory town. I do have a place to stay with the warmshowers host tonight, where I'm hoping to get a good night's sleep before I force an early start. I have about 100 miles left of Iowa before I'm in Missouri!

Thanks for following, I really appreciate the texts, emails, and kind thoughts sent my way. I hope you have a great week!

Find the beauty in this world ❤