Day 2: Saturday, September 16 to Omaha, NE, 29 miles [63.5]

 to Embassy Suites by Hilton, 555 S. 10^th St.

 

We awoke to dense fog, slow to clear; thunder began followed by rain. 

We dressed for rain but wisely decided to wait. The rain stopped and the fog lifted. Starting late fit our mood. We enjoyed beautiful weather the rest of the day.

 

It was all up-hill (not really but nearly) from Glenwood. We were still in the Loess Hills. The narrow shoulders were rumble strips. We took our place in the car lane. Courteous drivers gave us a wide birth, sounding the center rumble strips as they passed--not a bother but a helpful sound cue. This describes most of the first 18 miles or so of the day. After that we were mostly on bike trails in Iowa and city streets in Nebraska.

At one point a flashing red light appeared in Marney's mirror. Police? We stopped and waited as a funeral procession of cars with lit headlights passed us. !!! 

The Omaha-Council Bluffs bike network is maturing. We were able to cross the Missouri River bridge back into Nebraska on a separated bike trail. Multiple bike trails lead us to the bridge, and over and under roads and railroads. It is a mature, well-engineered approach to a city . It must have required extensive planning and funds. 'not yet perfect, but already impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We even sampled a few miles of the Wabash Trace Nature Trail that we will cycle on Monday. The ground stone surface, in this area at least, is quite conducive to comfortable cycling.

We had routed ourselves to the Lauritzen Gardens (Omaha Botanical Garden) but arrived too late and too tired to sample much. We were also too late for the cup of coffee we had both been craving all day. Admission was free because of our membership at Gardens On Spring Creek in Fort Collins. Marney did do a quickie circuit of a couple gardens and the conservatory. Bob enjoyed the ambience of the main building.

We know this is a must stop for a longer visit.

Our nice urban arrival from the Gardens to the Embassy Suites felt like "coming home" because we had stayed at the same hotel in Minnesota two years ago for the Komives family reunion. 

Sunday is a rest day for us, perfectly timed.

We have proved that we can still cycle, but we know we are still getting into shape. The end of each day feels wonderful. We judge our free drinks and snacks at Embassy Suites to be our just reward.