047: Days 58, 59 June 5,6: Carter Lake IA to Summit Lake Recreation Area Nebraska and then to Wisner NE: 100 miles for the two days and 1980 miles in total.

Well, we started in Iowa and were soon on the other side of the oxbow lake that gives Carter Lake IA its name.

Christine is looking over the lake to Iowa and we are satisfied, we are in Nebraska again.

We followed the Missouri River Trail and found several more of these sculptures telling more of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.  

We cycled on the Missouri flood retention barrier for several miles and enjoyed the river view. This being Saturday, we were surprised to see so much activity in the industrial areas. The economy is moving. 

We saw a lot of yellow pollen on the trail and eventually found the flower where it comes from. Hope you can help us out on this one, guys. What is it called?

The Missouri is a big river.

A beautiful park in front of a power station with the trail continuing upstream.

We passed through this lovely section and 

soon after we cycled past this bridge,

we came to more open parts of the trail.

I loved cycling next to this bluff.

Christine took this great photo as well. When we reached Fort Calhoun, we saw that there were quite important meetings between Lewis & Clark and the Indian Tribes living here at the time. This is where the name Council Bluffs come from.

The grass along the trail is quite tall and the strong wind 

gave us more pretty sights. 

The trail close to Fort Calhoun runs across a plain that is divided haphazardly between farming pastures and wildlife protection areas. The roads are not in good shape and here I noted how Christine absolutely ignored a road sign. Well, we saw others do it as well.  

We planned to bypass Fort Calhoun but  Christine found a roll of grass to play with first.

Our last sight of the Missouri was from within a Recreational Vehicle (RV)-Park closed to all but the people that have plots there. Our bypass showed that we must pass here, but the roads have been closed some time ago.

The effort to find a bypass around the RV-Park resulted in us cycling through Fort Calhoun in any case. We saw this mural next to the gas station where we filled up with Lemonade and ice. It was very hot and the wind did not help much.

We stopped at the Walmart in Blair and met this lovely woman, Linda, working at the store. She is originally from Togo and we could not say good bye. She gave us water and was ready to share all she had - a real trail Angel. 

We had a quick lunch under this tree in the Blair City Park. At this stage the wind was blowing strongly in our backs and we decided to cycle to the next town, Tekamah. We were moving along at great speed, about 15-20 miles per hour. The wind was a great help.

At one point on the road to Tekamah, we passed this vista over the Missouri river Valley. This was a beautiful spot and we stopped under a shade tree for a short rest as well.

We passed through Tekamah and saw this mural that is in need of TLC. Jim, shall we not go here to do the job after you retire?

We decided to camp at the Summit Lake Recreation Area close to Tekamah. This is Christine tackling the last hill around the dam wall. 

Our camp site.

A view towards the camp grounds from a jetty.

Nightfall with a fisherman trying for the evening catch. We had a tot of Fireball each to end off a tough day on the road but having completed 57 miles.

The morning brought this lovely sunrise and we packed up quickly. The wind was blowing and out of the Southwest. We were in for another tough day. 

Between Oakland and Westpoint the wind was blowing into our side and we had trouble cycling at times. The weather forecast said 20-30 miles per hour with stronger gusts. I am certain we caught a substantial number of those gusts. 

We passed this farm just before West Point. 

At West Point we stopped at the Dairy Queen for something to eat and a milkshake. Lynette and her husband, Ed, came over to chat and offered their support should we need it at all. We were so happy, as our faces must have shown the tiredness after the windy encounter.

From West Point to Wisner the wind was more in our backs and we soon stopped at the Wisner Camp Ground next to the Elkhorn River.

We are knackered, but we completed another 43 miles. We shall have an early night and tomorrow we should start with the Cowboy Trail at Norfolk, about 28 miles away.