Day 114 - ending at Maquoketa, IA - The Great Plains Trail - Sort Of

September 5, 2023

Day 114 - ending at Maquoketa, IA

Day 114 - Manchester, IA to Maquoketa, IA

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Last night I started out sleeping on top of my sleeping bag. Later I pulled the sheet over me. Finally ended up inside the sleeping bag. Perfect sleeping weather by the time I was supposed to get up. I finally did at 6:56am. It was overcast this morning, but wasn't supposed to rain until maybe this evening. It was, however supposed to be windy from the south, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

I'd passed a Casey's last night as I made my way through Manchester in the dark. I'd stopped there to buy some items for breakfast. I'm getting to where I like cold canned coffee for breakfast if hot coffee is not available. After talking to a couple of park workers, I was packed and on my way at 9:40am.

Today I needed to get to Horseshoe Pond County Park on the south side of Maquoketa, Iowa - southeast from here.

I got sprinkled on a little while following county roads to Delphi. In town I got on IA-38, which took me southeast to Hopkinton. I arrived there at noon, able to report 12.7 miles for the morning. I stopped at Triple C gas station on the west edge of town for Gatorade, ice, and a package of cookies. This town has restaurants and it was time for lunch. Google Maps showed 4 Corners Restaurant in town rated 5 stars, so I went looking for that place. I was downtown where the place was supposed to be. I finally turned around. There it was, but they were closed. Across the street a fellow was walking toward a bar. I asked, "Is this the place to eat in town?" He said, "On Tuesdays it is." The Showroom Lounge provided me a very good lunch: a tenderloin, chili, and apple crisp. I was back riding at 1:15pm.

Back on highway IA-38 for a while. It wasn't as big of a surprise to me today when my routing had me leave the highway for county road 320th Street at 1:55pm. That road's name changed to Goose Hill Road at a curve. I arrived at the intersection with Kurt Road at 2:50pm, and had to consider whether I ready wanted to get on a gravel road heading south today. That was Google Maps recommendation. My at-home plan had me staying on Goose Hill Road longer, and going though Cascade. But that route had more hills. In the end I proceeded on Kurt Road into the wind. This got me to US-151 (at 3:09pm), where I got sprinkled on again. I turned south off the highway at Jay Road (at 3:23pm). The idea was to get to Maquoketa on a diagonal southeast line, though the line wasn't very straight. The roads on this diagonal after Jay Road were Richland Road (there at 3:43pm), Temple Hill Road (at 5:00pm), Bluebird Road (at 5:20pm), Skahill Road (at 6:25pm), 166th Street, and 45th Avenue. When I got to 150th Street (at 7:31pm) just west of Emeline, I was back on-track with my at-home plan.

It was getting dark now - I already had a sunset picture. At least 150th Street was paved. I've actually been on this road before, in 2013, though I didn't recall it being so hilly. When the road curved south, it became Caves Road. One last surprise for me today is I'd routed close to 4 miles more on a gravel road - on 85th Street to get from Cave Road to the north side of Maquoketa. It was completely dark now and riding on this gravel road lit up only with my headlights was an experience. The quality of the gravel, as far as rideability is concerned, was all over the place. It took me 50 minutes to complete this, though I did take a break, enjoying the quiet in the dark halfway along.

I was at highway Business 61 at 9:12pm. Once again it looked like I was missing out on seeing some city sights due to it being dark. The Hurstville Lime Kilns are here. They were lit up somewhat by street lights, so I did get a few pictures. It was an easy ride through town to Horseshoe Pond Campground. It took me a while to select my site. First I had to determine the color of the signpost for each site - was it green (on-line reservations only) or red (first come, first served). Then I needed a flat area within 12 feet of the electrical box. Site #19 worked and by 10:20pm I was paid, ready to set up. Ate a cookie and finished my Gatorade before I got to work on set-up. Rain was coming through the area, but stayed north of here. Lots of silent flashes of light in the clouds to the north. And it cooled off just when I went to bed at 12:30am.

I certainly didn't do any better than yesterday at getting to my destination before it got dark. I'm going to try for an earlier start tomorrow. We'll see.

Jeff

Spent: $9.80 (Gatorade, cookies, ice) + $17.32 plus $5 (lunch) + $20 (campsite) = $52.12