Off Day Iowa City, IA

Off Day Iowa City, IA

Today was an off day in Iowa City.

I slept great at Donna and Tommy’s place. I had a nightmare about getting lost on my bike in eastern Iowa. The gravel road yesterday really traumatized me. I woke up at around 6am. I smelled the coffee that Sam had made, and got up to hang out with him before he took off. Afterwards, I sat on the floor where the sun was streaming through the window and fixed the pull-tab on my handlebar bag.

I unpacked and charged my new tail light. I sat out on the porch with Tommy and wrote post cards. Donna, Tommy, Iowa City artist Robot, and I went to the Hamburg Inn where Donna and I ordered the Iowa Breakfast. I stole a coffee mug, which I’ll now have to lug.

I washed all my dusty clothing, and Donna gave me a tour of Iowa City. Donna and I know each other from film school. She was also involved in photography and theater. She was the first of my Iowa friends to move to New York. From there she moved to Los Angeles. A few years ago she moved back to Iowa City with her husband, musician Tommy Santee Klaws.

Donna hooked me up with a tour of the University of Iowa art department with professor and sculptor Isabel Barbuzza. The program has changed dramatically since I was here. It’s an impressive facility.

Donna brought me back to her place where I installed my new rear tire that I had shipped to Sam. I washed all the dust off my bike, and plotted my route back to the Northern Tier.

We had pizza at Pagliai’s, and then went to the Airliner bar and then finally to Joe’s. I learned from a reader on Crazy Guy that the photo yesterday was a female bull frog.


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