Bicycling the Lewis & Clark Trail
Onawa, IA to Omaha, NE

Friday, August 27, 2004
Distance Cycled: 69 miles
Average Speed: 14.3 mph

Today is the last day that Barbara and Scott will be riding with us. They'll be missed!!!! We ate breakfast at the motel. We started riding at 7:00 AM. The sun had just gotten high enough to make shadows. For the first 40 miles the route was very flat and we had a light tail wind. The day was beautiful and there was no rain. Therefore we traveled at least 15 miles per hour. We all stopped for a breakfast snack in Mondamin. Actually, it was more of another breakfast than a snack. Next to our lunch stop in Crescent, there was a beautifully restored 1920s Ford coupe. The proud owner was delighted to show it to us. Just before Council Bluffs, we climbed up 2 really big hills (10%+ grades) to the Lewis & Clark Monument Overlook. There was a beautiful park there with views of Council Bluffs and Omaha. As we looked over the bluff we imagined how Lewis and Clark may have viewed the area as they stood on the same spot. After the overlook we threaded our way through Council Bluffs to cross the Missouri into Omaha.

We thought it would be difficult to ride our bikes over the bridge and into Omaha, but it turned out to be a pretty simple process. We found our hotel and were upgraded to whirlpool suites. How cool is that? The suite is bigger than Barbara and Scott's last apartment.

That evening the group decided to go out for a really nice dinner for Barb & Scott's last night. So we all showered and put on our regular wear of tee shirts and shorts and headed out on the town. We chose the Old Market area in Omaha. When we were walking through downtown we found it to be a quite nice and pleasant area. After looking at a half dozen places to eat, we chose the Spaghetti Works. We all had pasta dishes that were so big that Jim was the only one to finish his dinner. We then all toured the city a little more. Barb and Scott went to a little grocery store to find food so they would be able to eat on their train ride home, which leaves at 5:36 AM.

With that all said, Scott and Barb want to thank the whole group for the great time we had and hope the rest of the trip goes well. We wish we could continue on to St. Louis. Good luck and we hope to meet and pedal again.