September 25, 2017. Guttenburg to Dubuque, IA. 31 miles.

This morning we walked to Mike's Fish Shack for breakfast. This little restaurant has no sign, and it really used to be a fish shack! Mike told us he was working by himself this morning and he hoped we were not in a hurry...

We ordered coffee and water, and family style scrambled eggs and toast, and by the time he was done cooking it his help had arrived. We had a great time there, listening to stories of old Guttenburg. We walked back to The Landing and got ready to leave.

The Landing used to be a button factory, and a button press and clamshells that have been "buttoned" still exist here.

We drove out of town about 5 miles before starting our ride. Here we are with the Iowa countryside behind us.

We did not much like riding on highway 52. There were a lot of trucks, and while they gave us plenty of room, they did not slow down any. 

Tom, Diana and Fred were ahead of Dianne, Dennis and me when my phone navigation told me to turn on Thunder Rd. We stopped and tried to call them, but failed to connect. Then we called Bill and Doris and told them where we were. The three of them kept on where they were, on the highway. We continued on Thunder Rd. It started to cloud up, and then we felt a slight mist--it never rained on us, but we got to see a rainbow in the misty sunshine.

We found out later that the other three riders got caught in a downpour!

We all met up again at Rickardsville, where we had a snack break.

My phone told me to get on a bike trail, but it was dirt, so we did not. We stayed on the highway 52 all the rest of the way into Dubuque. The photo below is representative of the road: a curve with a 6% grade, falling rock warning and rumble strips on what little shoulder there was!

Diana and I saw this old police car in Durango.

We were supposed to meet Bill and Doris for a lunch stop before Dubuque, but did not see them along the route. We rode right to the Redstone Inn.  It was too early to check in, so we loaded the bikes, found a parking place for the trucks and trailer, and walked to lunch.

After lunch most of us walked to the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. We stayed there a couple of hours, but it could have been an all day excursion!

I walked to the Harbor District, because I wanted to see the Shot Tower, which was used during the Civil War to make lead shot from locally mined galena. It was a long walk.

Finally I walked back to the Redstone Inn to check us in. Robert, who checked us in, was totally amazed--he said "this has never happened before; I have 6 rooms for Linda Tilley, another 2 rooms for Linda (different last name) and 3 rooms for Roger! All of my rooms are let to Linda and Roger!" 

I saw the Delorean car (complete with flux capacitor) in the parking lot when I went to get my bag. I found out later that it was part of a television show they were filming here to publicize missing children.

After showers and rest, we all walked to the Cable Car. Most of us took it to the top of the bluff.

Diana took our photo in the car. Bill and Dianne were waiting for us at ground level.

We walked to dinner, and then stopped for ice cream. While in the ice cream store Bill struck up a conversation with Lisa after she hailed us on the street and told us it was the best ice cream ever. When she asked where we were staying and he said the Redstone Inn, she told us they were the "Rogers" and we must be the "Lindas" that Robert told them about! We all had a good laugh. Here they are, still smiling about our encounter.

By the end of the day I had walked 7.3 miles and climbed 14 flights of stairs, in my sandals, in addition to the bike ride. I am very much done.