Day 17 Burlington IA to Keokuk IA 51mi

Today started off looking like a promising weather day.  Rain had passed through early in the morning and was supposed to be over.  Wendy and I were told about Burlington's Snake Alley which dates back to the early days of Burlington when it was necessary  for horses to pull carts up and down the sides of this hill.  It's a series of switchbacks on a bricked street, not unlike another famous road in San Francisco.  Today it's just another fun way to get around town for pedestrian and bicycle traffic only.

We headed to the waterfront after leaving Snake Alley to check out Burlington's Mississippi River bridge crossing.

Wendy was checking on our way out of town.   We came across another cyclist who verified the route to Fort Madison, IA that was or designated lunch stop.   

Somewhere short of Fort Madison the low chance of rain that we heard about at breakfast time became 100%.  The skies opened up and the scene turned into a frog drowning shower.  

Here I am under the roof at the gas station in town.  Even my bike flag was all wet and stuck to itself.

We biked through the rain to a cafe at the south edge of town to dry out and hope for the latest wave of rain to pass.  The coffee, hot bowl of soup, and banana cream pie helped get my hopes up that the showers would soon end.   

After lunch and a bit further down the road, it was apparent that the rain wasn't planning on ending soon.   We ended the day in Keokuk, IA.  We chose a local motel to overnight and dry our gear off at.  Not all meals are at a restaurant.  Tonight we bought our meal at the grocery store to bring back and eat at the hotel.  Tomorrow we plan to head for one of Mark Twain's stomping grounds in Hannibal, MO.To get there, we plan to travel on the IL side of the river most of the day.