Day 20: Albert Lea, MN to Elkhart, IN

We stayed in a small roadside hotel that cost a whole $40. We didn’t expect much, but the manager did go on a bit about the continental breakfast, so we were hopeful. Breakfast, however, turned out to be indivdually wrapped danishes from the gas station and coffee that was at least from 1987. Oh well, we had bananas, bagels and peanut butter in our bike bag in the car.

Today was a really exciting day! Our first stop was Dyersville, Iowa, which as everyone knows has the baseball diamond and farm house from the movie Field of Dreams (greatest movie ever). It was aweeesome! Everything is as it was in the movie, and it is free and open to the public, both tourists and locals. We both grew up watching the movie, so it was surreal to be on the field and in the corn. We were waiting for Shoeless Joe to appear, but sadly it did not happen. Nor did we hear any voices.

Our other stop of the day was in Le Claire, Iowa, which as everyone also knows is home to Antique Archaeology (the American Pickers store). As we pulled in, Frank and Mike were waiting to greet us...just kidding. It wasn’t quite what we expected as they don’t keep a lot of their inventory there. It was more of a well-decorated shop with touristy things. Still, it was a cool stop.

We thought Le Clare, Iowa seemed pretty far from home, but it turns out that it’s only about 10 hours away. We decided to drive a few more hours today and complete the rest tomorrow. As we neared our hotel near South Bend, Indiana, we crossed back into the eastern time zone.