RAGBRAI ends, the adventure starts

Where to begin? The last few days of RAGBRAI were 73miles, 100miles and 77 miles. My legs were heavy after the century. The last day was a 44 mile sprint to the Mississippi. Funny, a lot of riders are pokey about getting to the next town during the week, but when the final day arrives, you'd think you were at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!
I dipped my front wheel in the Big Muddy then waited for Brent and Dwight so we could start the fifty-plus miles we were to ride that day on in to Illinois. Oh yeah, there's a big bridge over the River, too. Ugh. "Don't look down, keep your eyes right in front of you, pedal, it'll be over soon." It was. After riding thru many more corn and bean fields,all of which look like the corn and bean fields in Iowa, we hit Highway 96 and the Scenic River Highway which parallelled the Mississppi River--it was gorgeous and a great change from the flat roads thru the field.
When we finished at 95 miles for the day in Hamilton, IL, across from Keokuk Iowa,I felt exuberant and knew that more miles were ahead of me. Hmmmm...