09/16/08 - Day 14

Sorry this one's late; No internet yesterday. I took a lot of pictures today, so I'm actually suggesting you take a gander at the Photobucket page.

While riding, I have a lot of time for introspection. Today, as I left Nebraska, I decided to stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa for this photo.

The funny thing is, I grew up my whole life hearing stories about how my ancestors crossed the great plains. Now, intellectually, I knew the great plains were quite lush, but the stories always conjured images in my mind of pioneers crossing vast wastelands. The reality is, they crossed some of the most prime real estate in the country in order to settle in a valley who's primary feature is a large body of extremely salty water. Apparently, they got to the vast wasteland and said, "Oh! don't want to cross that. Let's stop here." :)

Moving on...I stopped today in Burlington, Iowa and put my stuff into my hotel room. I then ran out to my bike and took off for Nauvoo, Illinois. I raced the sunset the entire 38 miles, though I did stop to get a shot of my first view of the Mississippi.
As you can see, I beat the sunset by a few minutes... And here is why I was so all fired up to get there before sunset. This is a shot of the Nauvoo Temple as the sun is setting. It's quite spectacular I think. I wish I could have stayed a couple hours more in order to get a shot of the full moon rising behind it. For those of you who do not know, this is a temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is built in an historic city for our religion. The following pictures are part of why it is so historic. The first is a statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, depicting their last ride out of Nauvoo before they were slain. The picture below actually explains it better, though it might be too small to read here, so I direct linked it to the photobucket pic.
After the temple, I went down into the old Nauvoo streets and took some more photos. Everything was closed for the evening, but that was okay, since I am not one to go in for all the touristy stuff, but prefer to look around on my own.

heading back to Burlington, I stopped to get another shot of the Mississippi; this time with the moon rising over the bridge. I cannot fully describe how excited I am to be here. For some reason, the Mississippi River just makes me giddy. Maybe it's all the Mark Twain I've read over the years...or maybe its just a big, freakin' river. Either way, I'm loving it.
...and, of course, I couldn't pass up the chance to get a shot of me in the Mississippi. Yeah, I know. Its only an inch deep here, but you should see the eddies and currents in this river. No way I'm going deeper.