"Sorry I have not written sooner – it has been a busy and tiring week. RAGBRAI in Jefferson was really a great opportunity for the community. The Jefferson theme was “With all the Bells and Whistles”, but the true underling theme was hospitality. In general, the citizens welcomed the bikers with open arms. I was in charge of the meal at our church; I decided it would be a good way to see if this is what I want to do in my retirement years. The menu included ham balls, cheesy potato casserole, green beans, yogurt and fruit parfaits, and home made pie. We decided that we could feed 500 from 4-8pm. It was great. I might never eat a ham ball again after making over 1,500 of them. The bikers were so nice and appreciated the AC, a clean “real” bathroom and the home made food. When I finally returned home (exhausted) around 10pm, I was greeted with a yard full of motor homes and tents. Leo had invited additional groups as he rode on Sunday and Monday. I would guess we had around 50+ people at our home. I was too tired to spend much time with them and many of them had gone to bed. The next morning I was up at 5AM getting ready for the ride to Ames, I walked out of the house and the sun was just beginning to come up, I wish Barb would have been there to get a picture of the tents and the dew in the early morning light. It was fun to watch the bikers start to stir and get ready for the day. I had lots of bananas and granola bars to give the bikers to get the day started. I think I was the first biker out of the driveway, I was scared about not being able to make it to Ames, so I wanted to leave early to ride in the cool and have the whole day to make the trip. When I arrived back home on Tuesday afternoon it was as if Monday had never happened, not one piece of trash anywhere. What a great group of people to have at my home. I had a great time riding to Ames and only suffered a little sunburn. Leo is still on the road with a group, I think it might take several days for his recovery."
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