I waited on the rain to move out before I left this morning so I left a bit later than usual. But I'm glad I waited, the weather was nice if really muggy. I rode through some nearby neighborhoods and tried to make a bee line for the trail by the river. But I found a couple dead ends until finally finding a place that connected. The trail was paved and fast. I had the southeast wind against me but it was pretty light and the city blocked a lot of its force. I got turned around a couple times in Waterloo where the path zig zagged around and wasn't obvious. Soon though I was back in the country on a rail trail with a protective line of trees next to me to block the wind. After a while the pavement ran out and turned to hard packed pea gravel, and I was glad because it was smoother than the crack ridden pavement. I intended to stop for a cold drink from a store at some point in the middle of the day, but the stores were a bit off the trail and I convinced myself to wait for Cedar Rapids where the trail went right in front of a Dairy Queen. But when I arrived I was disappointed to find it just like all the others in the country, closed to dining in. Apparently I'll never get to use my gift card. So I ended up just riding on through Cedar Rapids which was fine as I had more than enough water and food. The path through the city was very nice. It was even separated from cars in downtown. I saw a little otter beside the path and a little creek which was advertised on a sign as being Iowa's only urban trout stream. I pushed on and stopped quickly at a Casey's in a tiny town called Ely for a cold drink and pushed on to the lake, bypassing Salon. I cut through their high school complex a few hours before a home football game just as cars were beginning to file in. The road out to the lake had a nice shoulder and while this is a primitive campground with no electric or water hookups, it is a Friday night but hopefully won't be too bad. I am on the absolute edge upwind of everyone and away from the lake.