Return to Home Page

 January 31, 2010

 

Dear Porkers,


This is not some ordinary summer vacation, you know.   RAGBRAI is a pilgrimage, and you, friend, are a pilgrim.  Yep, whether you know it or not, you’re one who embarks on a quest for something sacred.  


Now you might say that strawberry-rhubarb pie is sacred, and we wouldn’t argue with you.  It’s a fine reason for a quest.  There’s something else you’re after, though.  It’s different for everybody and tough to put into words.  For Phil, it was looking down on puny real-life problems from glorious Iowa hilltops.  For Kim, the satisfying good-ache in her muscles at the end of a long road.  For John, trading in his phones and screens for happy, sweaty, face-to-face human beings.  As Kevin passed the corn, he came a long way toward healing from a great loss.  Frank treasured every hour of quality time, riding side by side with his 23-year-old son.  For Roy, it was as simple as “Hey, I still got what it takes.”

 

Over the years, a lot of folks have told us what they found in Iowa.  For you, it will be something different, and you may not even know what you’re looking for yet (except pie).  Then, one day between the pancakes and the beer, you’ll stop pedaling and wonder:  How can I feel so good while I’m suffering this much?  Who knew the mind could be this clear when the body is this dirty?  What the heck is going on between these two rivers?


If you’ll have us, we’ll be right beside you with a whole lot of support, entertainment, and relative RAGBRAI luxuries.  Our strong, friendly crew will brew your morning coffee, load your bags, ice down your cold drinks, hoist our circus tents, crank up the generators, plug in the Thingys and the Cool Zone misting fans, fix your bike problem, rub your sore muscles, serve yummy meals, put on hoppin’ shindigs, and host private concerts.  You’ve come to the right place—Pork Belly Ventures.  You’ll be finding what you’re looking for, pilgrim, and we’ll be taking care of the rest.  


Here’s a loose table of contents to help you find your way through the information below.  Feel free to skip around, but be sure to scroll to the end for “What should I do right now?” 

 

Reminders on PBV Application: YOUR GROUP NAME and SHARING TENTS

A Preview of Pork Fashion

2010 Ride Dates and Route

PBV’s 2010 Services and Prices (You won’t find prices at our website.  Please contact us.)

Our Cancellation Policy

Description of Our Weeklong Support and Tent Service

More about the New Stuff

How to Get An Official RAGBRAI Wristband

How to Reserve a Room at Our Designated Omaha Hotels

Shipping Your Bike to/from PBV

More FAQs, sprinkled throughout

 

Do I need a GROUP NAME when I register with Pork Belly Ventures?  If two or more friends are joining Pork Belly, you should establish a group name, like “Miller Group” or “Tony’s Friends.” If you want to be assigned to the same bus or located near each other in Tent City, you must have the same group name on your applications. (Individuals coming to PBV by themselves should not fill in a group name.  It causes difficulties.)


For a shared rental tent, how do I apply?   To avoid being billed for two tents instead of one shared tent, make sure that only one occupant registers for the tent.  So if Jack and Jill are sharing, Jill should register for the tent and include Jack’s name as her tent-mate.  Jack should not register for the tent service.


What’s new in Pork Wear?  Except for our “Pass the Corn” jersey, all of our garments are NEW.  Look at [garment link] for three new Pork shirts, a new Pork hoodie, and a new Pork jersey with all-over full-color printing, for RAGBRAI 2010.  The order form is in the works, and we’ll offer the usual combo deal to save you shipping and handling.  Watch for a special Pork Update soon on attractive and ridiculous new Pork Wear!    

 

What are the ride dates?  The ride begins before dawn on Sunday, July 25th, and ends on Saturday, July 31st.  That means that we’ll meet up with most of you on Saturday, the 24th, either at the Omaha airport, the ---- long-term parking area, or at the ---- campground.  A considerable number of you will fly or drive into Omaha on Friday, the 23rd, and stay in one of our designated airport hotels.  Most of those using our East/West Shuttle will drive to --- on Friday, the 23rd also.  Camping will be available in --- on Friday night, or you can find a nearby hotel.

 

What’s this year’s route?  Finally, an end to the guessing and rumors.  If you have been waiting for an easy RAGBRAI, this is your year.  The 2010 ride will be the shortest and easiest ever!  Your 2010 host towns are Sioux City, Storm Lake, Algona, Clear Lake, Charles City, Waterloo, Manchester, and Dubuque.  Daily mileage totals are as follows:  Sunday-68 miles, Monday-78 miles, Tuesday-51 miles, Wednesday-51 miles, Thursday-82 miles, Friday-62 miles, and Saturday a mere 47 miles.  We’re in a hurry to send this letter, but later on, we’ll give you more details about the places we’ll call home during our week in the corn.


What are Pork Belly’s services and prices?

 

Prices are not listed at our website.  Please email us: tammypav@cox.net or petephillips@cox.net.  Below this section you’ll find full descriptions of our Weeklong Support and other services.


Bus from Omaha to Sioux City.  On Saturday, the 24th, we’ll meet you at Omaha’s Eppley Airport and transport you, your baggage, and your bike to our campsite in Sioux City, the RAGBRAI start town.  (Last bus will depart by 4:30 p.m.) 


East/West Shuttle.  If you want to park your car in Dubuque (the end town) before the ride, we’ll meet you there early on Saturday the 24th and transport you, your baggage, and your bike to Sioux City (the start town).


Weeklong Support for Rider.  While you bicycle from host town to host town, we can transport your baggage across Iowa for the week, from Sioux City to Dubuque, providing entertainment, your daily shower and towel fee, and many amenities and support services, described more fully below. 


Weeklong Support for Non-riders is available; please contact us.


Return Bus.  On Saturday, the 31st, we’ll transport you, your baggage, and your bike fromD Dubuque (the end town) to the Omaha Airport hotel (see Hotel section below), so you can fly or drive home on Sunday. 


Optional Tent Rental and Daily Set-up.  See full description and details below.


 

You may use any combination of these services (except that the Tent Rental and Daily Set-up is available only to those on our weeklong support). We use only comfortable, quality motorcoaches, restroom-equipped and air-conditioned. 

 

What is Pork Belly Ventures’ cancellation policy?  Prior to Wednesday, June 24th, if you cancel all or part of the services you have reserved with Pork Belly Ventures, we will refund all but 10% of the value of those services you have reserved.  On or after June 24th, we will make no refund.  We may be able to help you sell your wristband, though.


What’s included in PBV’s Weeklong Support?  Here’s a list.  We’ll send you more juicy details on meals and entertainment after we’ve scouted host towns in May, and we’ll save some surprises for your arrival in Iowa.  There’s nothing basic about it, but here, generally, is what you can expect with Pork Belly’s “basic” Weeklong Support:

  

During RAGBRAI:

Forty able-bodied, can-do crew members (not including bike mechanics or massage therapists) to help, comfort, and revive you

Baggage transport from host town to host town

Excellent, well-appointed, spacious RESERVED campsites

*NEW in 2010, Your Daily Shower and Towel. Pork Belly Ventures has partnered with a portable shower vender who provides hot, private showers—more than one per day, if you like.  Details below.

*NEW in 2009, and back by popular demand!  Last year, we booked our favorite six-piece Irish band for two back-to-back private concerts.  And yes, we’ve booked the Elders for a Double Whammy in July of 2010, pending host town approval.  Check out EldersMusic.com, and stay tuned for more on our evening entertainment.

Our Open-Air Living Rooms (huge shady circus tents) with chairs and four big Cool Zone fans that blow a refreshing mist into the air

Ice-cold beverages, some free and some cheap, about 90 cents each

Our friendly Front Desk crew, ready to direct you to showers, kybos, and local amenities

Hot Coffee  We start brewing at 4:30 a.m., three gallons every eight minutes.  Help yourself!  Hot chocolate and hot tea, too.

NEW and Different Every Year—Two Dinners in Camp.  Last year, we included two wonderful church suppers.  Our St. Mary’s hosts roasted Pork Loins on Sunday and our friends at First Lutheran served homemade Turkey and Noodles on Wednesday—delicious sides and desserts, too!  After May 1, we’ll give you the mouth-watering details for this year.

Massage!  Five therapists, strong and superb, in camp (additional charge)

Professional Bike Mechanics, friendly and highly skilled, set up in camp daily

PBV’s Midweek Laundry Service (optional, proceeds to Juvenile Diabetes Research)  There’s nothing like dry, fresh, and folded.

Pete’s Shower Thingy  It’s a table, plumbed with five spigots, equipped with a mirror and a wringer for your bike shorts.  Fill water bottles, shave, brush your teeth.

EXPANDED in 2010—Juice Thingys for Electricity  Our dad is adding about 50 more outlets, so we’ll have upwards of 160 total (with a whisper-quiet generator) for charging phones, fans, and other electronics.

Pump Thingy, a special compressor to make pumping your tires a breeze.

Free weeklong storage of your bike shipping container, be it a hard-shell bike case or a box—$20 value, free to weeklong Porkers.

NEW in 2009—Luxury SAG Service  Details below, additional charge.

This and That:  come to the equipment truck and ask our crew for a band-aid, a plastic cup, a hammer for your tent stakes.  Just ask.  We probably have it.

 

Before RAGBRAI:

About 35 informative email updates to help you plan and prepare 

Several May scouting trips to host towns to reserve great campsites

Prompt answers to your questions on email and by phone

Our comprehensive June Letter with virtually all the info you need in one document

A compilation of Tips for First-Timers from our RAGBRAI Veterans

An opportunity to ship your bike by FedEx to PBV in Iowa

NEW in 2010  PBV Locations on a laminated card at check-in

Mechanical assistance on arrival with uncrating your bike and getting it road ready


At the end of RAGBRAI:

Assistance from our mechanics with getting your bike ready to fly or ship home

A special FedEx receiving area right in our camp in ---- for shipped bikes

A fond-farewell letter that recounts the week’s highlights

NEW in 2009, an audio-visual memento of our week together


So that’s what we know so far about Weeklong Support, but we’ll know more in May, after we’ve met with our hosts.  As ever, we are always, always thinking of ways to make you merry.  So long as we keep raising our standards and you keep lowering your expectations, everybody’s happy.


*Each town’s host committee has the final say on shower venders.  It’s possible that a town may prefer that we use another vender.  When we scout in early May, we’ll make arrangements in each town, and in any case, every Porker will receive a daily shower from PBV.   Similarly, it’s possible that a host town would not allow an Elders Concert.  But we’re optimistic.     

             

Do I need THAT much support?   Well, ask yourself this: after a long hot road, what’s it worth to have a big helpful crew waiting at my well-appointed camp?  What’s it worth to have access to the whole Pork Infrastructure, the full range of Pork Comfort, and continual Pork Frivolity every day?  You will pay more for our charter, but it could mean the difference between a complicated, exhausting bike trip and a carefree athletic adventure.  


Can you say more about the new stuff?  Sure.  


Start with the Daily Shower and Towel, okay?  Yep.  Pork Belly Ventures has partnered with a portable shower vender, so that a hot, private shower and a clean towel each day are now included in your Weeklong Support.   Shampoo and liquid soap are provided, and stalls are wiped down regularly throughout the day.  Of course, you’ll need to grab your toiletries and a change of clothes from your duffel, but you won’t need cash or a towel.  You might still want to bring a small towel for other needs, but without that large wet mildew trap, your duffel will smell a lot better!  Since your Pork Wristband admits you to the shower, you can take more than one shower per day if you like.


What’s the story on the PBV Sag? Since DOT regs don’t allow charters to squeeze saggers into cabs and vans, Pork Belly hires a cushy 57-passenger motorcoach and driver for the purpose of sagging riders who do not choose to cycle on a given day.  We'll hang bikes by a wheel, as we do on our east/west shuttle.  You’re welcome to place bags under the bus for immediate access to them in the next campsite.  You’ll depart each day at 7:00 a.m., and you’ll be in our new camp by about 9:30 a.m.  The bus has AC, the seats are soft, and you can snooze all the way. The restroom is larger than a standard kybo. This is a very comfortable and secure way for you and your bike to get to the next host town for $25 per day.  (There’s a special price for non-cyclists spending the full week with us.  If you don’t bring a bike at all, the price is $150 for the week, in addition to our weeklong support.)


Who are The Elders?  Well, you’re liable to see Porkers at Elders concerts all over the country.  I just spoke with Ron who saw them in Albany.  They are described as five “wicked-fine Kansas City musicians with a passion for Celtic music, and a charismatic Irishman with a love of all things American.”  These guys don’t sit back and play.  They jump around.  So will you.  Their vocal harmonies will pierce your heart and move your feet! 

 

What’s included in Pork Belly’s Tent Rental and Daily Set-up?  We’ll come right back to that, but first, a word about HOW to register for the tent service.  To avoid being billed for two tents instead of one shared tent, make sure that only one occupant registers for the tent.  So if Jack and Jill are sharing, Jill should register for the tent and include Jack’s name as her tent-mate.  Jack should not register for the tent service.


If you want to take a big chunk of work out of your vacation, our tent service is for you.  Our Cabela’s XPG Deluxe Three-Season tent is actually advertised as a four-man tent.  With duffels inside, we consider it a roomy two-man.  You can share, or you can occupy it alone (the majority of tent-renters in ’08 and ‘09 liked their solitude). Tent-renters simply pack up their bags in the morning, leave them inside the tent, and pedal away.  Enjoy your ride, and in the next host town you’ll find your chores are already done—tent up with bags inside—so you can relax and have a cold one or head off to the shower immediately.  We’ll set up Tent City on the same grid every day, and color-coded address cards on each tent will help you locate yours.  We are happy to arrange the grid so that friends are next door to each other.  WE CANNOT MEET THE DEMAND FOR THIS SERVICE.  It will sell out quickly, so don’t wait to claim your tent.

 

Please note these limitations:  We’ll aim for set-up by noon, but obstacles beyond our control, like the host town traffic and inclement weather, can sometimes put us a bit behind.  If you pride yourself on arriving very early in camp, we don’t recommend using the tent service—you’ll be happier if you just set up your own tent on your own schedule.  We don’t recommend three to a tent unless you’re all pretty small or one occupant is a child, and there’s an extra charge of $75 for handling the third person’s baggage.  We offer this service for seven nights, from Saturday night to Friday night of RAGBRAI (not on the Friday night prior to RAGBRAI).  It’s available only to those on our weeklong support.


Suppose I want to bring my own tent?  That’s absolutely fine.  Most of our Porkers do that.  We’ll carry your tent and other gear (two-bag-per-person limit) from town to town, and we’ll have plenty of camping space for everyone. 


What’s the advantage of booking a round trip into and out of Omaha? Basically we take care of you from the time you hit baggage claim in Omaha to the time you step off our bus at the front door of La Quinta on the evening of the 31st.  You simply make air and hotel reservations and register with us.  (See below for Pork Hotels.)  We’ll meet you at the Omaha airport and deliver you to Sioux City on a comfy coach.  You’re ours for eight days.  At the end of the ride, climb aboard our Omaha-bound coach and doze off.  After a meal stop, we’ll drop you about 11:00 p.m. at the door of La Quinta Inn and Suites.  On Sunday, the free hotel shuttle will take you to the airport.

 

A little free advice:  We caution you about using the open-admission shuttles to eastern Iowa airports at ride’s end.  It’s tough to make those connections in a crazy, partying town where everyone is trying to make some connection.  You will have baggage.  You won’t have a car.  We’ll have our hands full and can’t give rides around town in gridlock traffic.  It’s so darn simple to book a round-trip ticket to and from Omaha. 

 

What is the advantage of using the PBV East/West Shuttle?  It’s ideal for people who live within driving distance of RAGBRAI’s end town.  You drive to Dubuque on Friday the 23rd and park your car in designated parking (the Dubuque host committee will charge a reasonable long-term parking fee; see their website after May 1).  Our crew will meet you there for bike-loading on Friday night and/or early on Saturday, the 24th.  By late afternoon, we’ll have you and your bike in Sioux City.  You bike for seven days, back to your car.

  

What does it take to do RAGBRAI?  People of all ages, all shapes and sizes, all abilities (and disabilities) ride this ride.  You should expect elements, like wind, heat, and long challenging hills, but with diligent training you can do the athletic part.  


It’s the other part, frankly, the attitude part, that will make your trip to Iowa.  You’re on a quest, pilgrim.  Be inspired by the beautiful land around you.  Be encouraged by your fellow pilgrims and kind hosts.  Be propelled by the momentum of twenty thousand wheels humming past the corn.  Be grateful for the best week of the year.

 

What does it take to do RAGBRAI with Pork Belly Ventures?  A good description of our charter is “neighborhood block party,” not “college frat party,” so you’re signing on for good, wholesome, healthy fun and quiet after 10:00 p.m.   These four words are our bottom line:  Live like a pig.  Translation:  when you’re sweaty, hot, hungry, and tired (and you will be), you need to take it in stride.  You’ll soon be cleaned up, cooled down, sated, and rested, so in the meantime, treat the people who serve you, namely our friendly, hard-working crew, with courtesy.  Courtesy.  Courtesy.   Keep your expectations low and your sense of humor ready. 

 

(For more on us, our crew, our Porkers, and the nature of our group, scroll to the end of this letter for “Who Is Pork Belly Ventures LLC?”)


What if I don’t even bike but want to experience RAGBRAI?  You can.  We’ll carry you on our 57-passenger motorcoach.  To arrange to join PBV as a non-rider, please contact us.  (Note that non-riders traveling with charters may NOT bring their own vehicles, whether or not they have secured the RAGBRAI vehicle pass.  This is a RAGBRAI rule, by which we must abide. If you’re with a charter, you must use that charter’s transportation and leave the vehicle passes for smaller families and groups.)  

 

How do I get an official RAGBRAI Wristband?  At ragbrai.org, register electronically by April 1st.  Note that snail mail applications are due much earlier.  By May, you’ll know the lottery results, but if you’re not selected, don’t worry.  See next question.


Warning:  Pork Belly Ventures has always insisted that every Porker MUST have an official RAGBRAI wristband.  Sorry to say, we had a few folks dodge this rule last year.  This year, we will ensure that every Porker has a valid wristband number and is wearing a RAGBRAI wristband at check-in.   

 

Should I wait to learn my fate in the lottery before registering with PBV?  No.  We will very likely be full long before the lottery announcement is made.  Many people contact us when they cancel, and we’ll almost certainly be able to point you to a seller and help you follow the Register’s simple procedure for transferring wristbands.  We aren’t allowed to promise, but in over twenty years, we have never not found a wristband seller for a patient Porker.  

 

If I’m driving to Dubuque on Friday, how can I get reservations at a hotel? For hotel rooms in eastern Iowa near the end town, you may check the Dubuque website on about May 1st for nearby hotels.   Or you might google hotels relatively close to long-term parking.  PBV will not have a designated hotel in eastern Iowa.  (FYI, camping, food, and showers are typically provided in the end town on the Friday night before RAGBRAI.)  


If I’m flying or driving into Omaha, will I need reservations at a hotel?  On the nights of July 24th through the 30th, you will be camping with PBV, but if you’re flying into Omaha on Friday, the 23rd, and/or returning with us to Omaha late on Saturday evening, the 31st, you will need Omaha hotel reservations.  We have room blocks for both nights at two hotels.  They are virtually across the street from each other

 

All Pork Belly buses will depart from and return to the Omaha airport La Quinta Inn and Suites, our primary hotel.  Call 712/347-6595 to access our large block of rooms, and mention our name for a rate of $119 for double queens or kings—a few kings have sleeper sofas.  (We’ve blocked several suites, some with Jacuzzis, also discounted for our group.)  All rooms have wireless internet service.  Big pool.  Free breakfast includes more than the usual cereals and juices—delicious pastries, biscuits and gravy, made-to-order waffles.  For Friday night dinner, they’ll shuttle you for free to Omaha’s famous Old Market district, where you’ll find great dining, shopping, and music. 

 

Please don’t hog the Pork rooms at La Quinta.  We have blocked almost the entire hotel, but that probably will not be enough.  If you are part of a large group coming into Omaha, please reserve only as many rooms as you will use.  If you find you don’t need them, release rooms back to our block.  For safety reasons, the hotel staff will need an occupant’s name for every room and a credit card number for each occupant (one per room).  Cardholder and occupant should be the same person.

 

We have a smaller block at the Holiday Inn Express, conveniently just across the street.  Call 402/505-4900 for the Holiday Inn Express, and mention our name for the rate of $104.  This is an excellent hotel also, with many amenities and great management.  We’ve worked with them for six years.

 

Later on, when these hotels are full, we’ll send out the names and numbers of additional hotels in the area.  If you stay elsewhere (at other airport hotels or downtown, near the Old Market), that’s fine, but you’ll have to arrange your own transfer to and from La Quinta Inn and Suites on Saturday the 24th and quite late on Saturday, the 31st.  Once again, all PBV buses will depart from and return to La Quinta.

  

Will weeklong parking be available near the Omaha airport?  Yes, and we’ll send you details later on.  Expect to pay $4 or $5 per night.  La Quinta and Holiday Inn Express will actually valet your car for you to airport parking, if you are their guest.  

 

May I ship my bike and/or luggage to and from PBV, before and after the ride?  Sure.


First, you need to remember to use OUR SHIPPING INSTRUCTIONS, not the shipping instructions at ragbrai.org.  If you want to find your shipped bike and bags in the PBV Sioux City campsite, ready to claim, and if you want the convenience of shipping directly from the PBV campsite in Dubuque, then watch for our bike shipping information in March or April.  


Until then, here’s what we can tell you:

 

All bike and baggage shipping to/from PBV should be via FedEx.

Porkers can ship to a special FedEx location in our hometown where your bike and bags will be secured until we claim them and truck them to our campsite in the first host town.  You’ll find everything waiting for you on Saturday, July 24th.  

At our mustering site in the last host town, Pork Belly Ventures will have its own receiving area and FedEx trailer.  Once you crate the bike (with the help of our excellent mechanics), just place your shipping label on it, and give it to our crew to load.  Very simple.


Shipping luggage is becoming a great alternative to lugging bags through an airport and increased airline fees for luggage.  A lot of Porkers are doing it already.  Particularly your camping duffel with tent, sleeping bag, and Thermarest pad can be shipped to PBV prior to RAGBRAI and shipped from our campsite at ride’s end.  (Just bear in mind our two-bag limit.)  

 

What if I have a problem or a special situation?  Tell us what you need, and we’ll try. 

 

Who is Pork Belly Ventures LLC?  We are a brother/sister team, Pete Phillips and Tammy Pavich, partners in Pork Belly Ventures for eighteen years.   We live in our hometown, Council Bluffs, Iowa, right across the river from Omaha, Nebraska.  We’re best known for our weeklong support, chuck full of extras and relative luxuries, described in greater detail above.  We have a long RAGBRAI history, and we’ve ridden over a decade of Iowa rides, so we know what our riders need when they come in from a long hot road.  Every year we dream up new ways to make them happy.  It’s a privilege to show off the beauty of Iowa and the kindness of its folks.

 

The weeklong Pork Belly Crew will simply bowl you over with their helpful, cheerful attitudes.  Their daily work begins at 4:30 a.m. and ends around 11:00 p.m., yet they stay strong and chipper all week long.  Who ARE these people?  Well, many of them are schoolteachers, farmers, firefighters, and paramedics.  The new generation is a muscular, energetic bunch of young guys (many of them sons of firefighters and paramedics) who make the physical labor of PBV look almost easy.  Our whole family is involved, too, from Pete’s youngest, who is eight, to our mom and dad, who are still helping us in their eighth decades!  

 

And finally, a word about the folks who pass the corn with us.  Every July, Porkers converge on Iowa from all over this country and even beyond it.  We get plenty of twenty- and thirty-somethings, but most of our folks are middle-aged, whatever that means.  Our charter is diverse in terms of lifestyle, vocation, and velocity.  Some zip through Iowa “on your left,” for instance, and others take it slow and smell the pork chops.  But all Porkers have these important things in common.  They think young, laugh much, and keep their expectations low.  Whether you come to Iowa with your parents or kids, bring a group of friends, or try RAGBRAI on your own, at PBV you’ll be among fun-loving people like yourself.


Pork Belly Ventures operates in full compliance with the Iowa and U.S. Departments of Transportation.  


What should I do right now?  Whether or not you’ve already entered data at www.pkbelly.com, please go there now.  Hit “Apply,” log in, and make sure that we have your contact information, group name (if there are two or more of you), and the services you are requesting from us.   When you submit or resubmit your application, you’ll receive a confirmation/invoice by email. We will hold your reservation for ten days while you mail in payment.


Those of you using our Omaha buses should make hotel reservations soon.  Every year, La Quinta Inn and Suites fills up, so get right on it.  Otherwise, if you’ve applied for RAGBRAI and registered with Pork Belly, you’re in good shape for now.  In June, we’ll ask you to log in again and enter your travel info and bike shipping plans.  Feel free to call or write with questions.   


Did you ever wander aimlessly at the mall or in the potato chip aisle, looking for that nameless thing?  Well, here’s an old-fashioned idea.  What if you bid farewell to hearth and home?  Suppose you put on your spandex pants and set off on your bicycle in search of whatever you’re after?  We invite you this summer to venture upon a quest from the deep and Muddy Mo to the wide and Mighty Miss.  We invite you to pedal over bridges, under water towers, along brick streets, and out into the rippling corn, until you come across that something, just for you.  It could be, simply, time to think or room to breathe.  Or maybe it’s permission to ease up and goof off.  Your steepest hill, your longest laugh, your new friend, your old self:  sometimes, you don’t know what you’re looking for till you go looking. 

Oh, and also pie.  If you’re up for the quest, we’re up for the rest.  Put in your saddle time, pilgrim, and we’ll meet you at the river in July.   Until then we remain, 

 

Your friends,

 

Tammy (Phillips) Pavich                                         Pete Phillips 

712/328-0161 or tammypav@cox.net             712/328-6836 or petephillips@cox.net