Day 6

Cornhugging Children of the Corn

Field of Dreams.  That was today's destination.  Having finally sighted corn, it was time to immerse ourselves in it.  
Onlookers gazed in fascination as the crazy Californians did unmentionable things with corn....wait, it's not what you think. 


On the very field that dramatically featured baseball players emerging from fields of corn, Mutt N Mutter attempted to duplicate the same scene....with their Harleys.  The site managers were not quite on board with that idea, though, and we therefore had to satisfy ourselves with replicating the scene to the best of our ability.  You be the judge of how well we did.  

After getting our fill of corn, it was time to go consume some.  Lunch was being served at Breitling's, a highly regarded Iowa family restaurant with a sterling reputation for quality.  It also happens to sit at the highest point in the state,  which means the restaurant sits on land that is approximately 7 1/2 inches higher than the Mississippi River.  Apparently the family has not always gotten along, based on the corridors which are lined with newspaper clippings detailing each time the facility has burned down.  Judging by the frequency with which such events seems to have occurred, we felt compelled to wolf our dinner (as the mid-day meal is known in these parts) down as quickly as possible lest another blaze break out in mid-meal.  Fully expecting a fire extinguisher to be served along with the entre, we were a bit disappointed to find only asbestos napkins.  

We hurried out of Breitling's before the first sign of smoke and made our way back to the iron steeds in search of......a fairy......no, wait.....a ferry.  (It's been a very confusing day).  Having been told that we could cross the Mississippi River into Wisconsin by watercraft rather than by bridge, we decided that it was a no brainer - the ferry was a must.  Also, there was no bridege.

Mark attempts his own Blessing of the Bikes as his
 boots smolder on the 140 degree deck.

It seemed like a good idea....until we rolled on board and found that the deck was constructed of solid steel.  Steel that had spent the entire day absorbing the heat of the blazing sun, resulting in a reflection of warmth that had us regarding the deck of the ferry in somewhat the same way that pancakes regard the griddle.  The captain informed us that they had measured the temperature with a surface thermometer and found the steel to be a mere 140 degrees.  Barely enough to cook (American) bacon (not that goofy round stuff, eh?)  Luckily it was only a ten minute ride, but we did manage to accomplish the rare feat of flat spotting our tires without having even been in motion.  


Having reached Wisconsin, we confirmed that global warming has indeed taken effect.  Impossibly, the Badger State was even warmer than Iowa.  In fact, it was so warm that, as roadglide.org forum member CheesyRider stated, "our biggest motorcycle wreck fear was “What if we get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?”  Fortunately that did not occur and we finally completed our circuit, arriving back at Road Glide central, completing yet another day of exciting adventure in the midwest.  


Things we learned today:

• It is possible to consume (and savor) a one-hour lunch in a mere four minutes.
• One has adjusted to the hot conditions when the bank thermometer reads 104 degrees and you regard it as too low.
• Sunburned Canadians small like maple-glazed ham.