Day 2 - 4/23/19 Iowa City, IA to Columbia, MO

After spending an evening catching up with Kat, I woke up in my cute little studio, showered and headed to the main house to have breakfast and good strong coffee!  We were up and at 'em early today, and left the house by 7.  At 7:30, I am at the car and ready to head out, with 236 miles on the GOM!

A quick look at the forecast predicts clouds and weather in the 60's... AND the best part??  A northerly wind, to push me a long a bit.  After pushing against the wind yesterday, it will be nice to have a wind (even a moderate one) with me.  Today's trip is about 251 miles, so I will need to charge along the way for a bit.

About 9:30 (mile 71), I stop at a gas station by a HyVee store with a charger in Fairfield, IA... really nice store and people.  After plugging in, I headed over to the HyVee store and Starbucks to write on my blog.  I spent a couple of hours there, before leaving again with 202 miles showing on the GOM.  This charger didn't charge at quite the same rate as the previous one, giving me only about 20 miles/hr, vs the usual 25 miles/hr.

I pulled out at 2:05pm, with 180 miles left to go in this leg... wondering if I'll need to charge again before Columbia (there was one more easy option for charging if I didn't).  About an hour later, I realized I was "gaining" on the GOM, and would have plenty left in the battery going straight through.  Must have been the push from the wind...

I stopped in Kirksville, MO to enjoy a walk around some ponds and prairie areas in a conservation area.  That was a good stretch for my legs, and spied a meadowlark too!

At 4pm, I rolled into the Nissan dealer for my overnight charge (a comfortable 53 miles left).  I had contacted them a week ago about leaving my car plugged in overnight, which they were fine with. Also had a good discussion with them about my two previous Nissan Leaf leases, and why I decided to purchase a Chevy Bolt.

While waiting for Marybeth, I walked to a liquor store to pick up a nice bottle of wine for dinner.  Marybeth came to retrieve me, and we retreated to their "estate" for a good walk through the woods... one of their dogs got into something icky, so we headed down to their pond where she could wash herself off. picked off only one tick!  I was treated to a wonderful supper, and had my first opportunity to meet Eileen.  Marybeth was one of my backpacking partners a couple of years ago, so it's a treat to be in their home and meet her partner... finally!

After supper, we talked and I played guitar/sang until time for bed.  This is a two-night stay here, before heading toward Nebraska on Thursday.  Tomorrow, we have a local hiking adventure planned... weather dependent.  Oh... we have to pick up my car too!