Day 15: 6/4/19: Waterloo to Rockwell, IA

Last night was the first night that I have had to sleep shelterless during a storm. At about 11 p.m. it rained hard. My tent held up well with no leaks in the rainfly.  I'm not sure how long the storm lasted.  I was just laying in my tent, and before I knew it the birds were chirping this morning.  Chirping birds are my alarm clock during tours.

I left Waterloo and went through neighboring Cedar Falls. Photo below is a portion of the town.

Below photo is an amphitheatre in a park in Cedar Falls.

At one point today I was on a paved road in Janesville that changed to gravel. I looked at Google Maps to see if there was a paved road to where I was going. I backtracked and went to U.S. Hwy 218 to check it out. It was a busy divided highway with a very small paved shoulder. I had enough or cars and 18-wheelers zipping by me at 60 mph yesterday, so I back-backtracked to my gravel road. I was on gravel about 6 miles and really enjoyed the peace and tranquility. You just don't realize how loud vehicles are, even just the tires on the road, until you are either walking or on a bicycle.  Some views of my gravel travel.

Near Waverly, I got on the Rolling Prairie Trail and stayed on it until I reached Allison. It was paved the entire way, about 15 miles.  Below are some pics from the trail.

I ate lunch today at Lizzy Lou's Diner in Clarksville, which is a small town on the Rolling Prairie Trail. I tried to make my hamburger meal a little bit better for me. Pic below

In Allison, a local lady stopped and talked to me outside of the grocery store. I told her my route, and she stated those were all gravel roads. She recommended a route on blacktop back roads that I took. I'm glad she stopped to talk because the route she recommended was excellent, very little traffic and good smooth roads.

Below is a very interesting sign for Aredale, IA.  I thought the slogan was funny so I snapped a picture of it. Later today, I was talking to a local at the place I will be camping, and he said he passed me earlier today in Aredale.  I mentioned the town sign, and he stated Jay Leno presented the town with that sign. He stated the town had elected an 18 year old mayor, and Leno had him on The Tonight Show to be interviewed.  Leno the provided the town with the sign.

(If you can't read the fine print, it says, "It's not your Dale, it's not my Dale, it's Aredale.")

A pic of neatly planted rows of corn. I bet the field will look a lot different in a few weeks.

Tonight I am staying at the Linn Grove Park Campground in Rockwell. Below is a pic of my campsite.

Total miles today: 79.7