Sunday

Last evening Sheryl and I were hosted by Jeff and Pat Nelson, a local family who had us for dinner. Pat has taught school locally for many years and the entire community knows and loves her. She seemed somewhat aghast as we parked the black and white police cruiser in her drive but graciously laughed about it while expressing a hope that her neighbors would think the worst.

Sheryl and I had a wonderful evening with the Nelsons and enjoyed an awesome home cooked meal of salad, steak and Iowa corn on the cob followed by (don't be jealous, Bill) apple pie and ice cream. After two weeks on the road it was so wonderful to sit in a family atmosphere with wonderful conversation and wonderful food. Thank you, Jeff and Pat!

Today we had the All Racers breakfast and debrief followed by a lazy day of hanging around and getting our nails done at the local salon which opened on a Sunday to take care of all of us bedraggled racers. They must have taken one look at us and realized we needed them!

Tonight was the Awards Banquet. Sheryl and I ended up placing 20 out of the remaining 31 teams in the race and one an award for one leg of the race. Although we would have been happy to make a better showing, we are still pleased as punch that we finished the race in good standing and that we had so much fun doing so.

Tomorrow, the trek home.