Fun in the Sun~

 With temperatures climbing to 70, time to enjoy it!  I loaded the bike & headed to Lake Manawa.  The Wabash has to be drying out quickly with the heat & sunshine, I might try it tomorrow.

North Wabash Trailhead~

I decided to leave from the trailhead in Council Bluffs & ride the connector trail to the Lake Manawa's trails.  It's not the most scenic portion, about 1.5 miles to the railway underpasses.

Heading south from the Parking, looking east~

The trail goes over Mosquito creek & under Interstate 29.  From here you can connect to the wide sidewalk/trail on the east side of the lake, where I turned north.

East side of the lake~

Both these areas are out in the open & the wind can be fierce.  Today though, it was moderate, 5-10 mph with only an occasional gust.  At the NE corner, the sidewalk goes alongside the Veteran's Memorial Highway.  It's noisy & I go at a good pace before turning off at Tractor Supply & taking the street that also acts as part of the trail system.  The end of it used to go into a campground, now deserted & sold.

In the campground~

I found this big log, under the Cottonwood tree & decided it would make a good spot to call Butch.  He'd texted he was done with his day's drive.  It's a pretty spot, just past the northern tip of the lake.  It's far enough away from most of the traffic to be quiet too.

South side trails~

The long stretch along the power lines & into the wind on the west side puts you across the bridge at Indian Creek & you turn into the pretty trails at the SW corner.

Picnic shelter, SE corner of the lake~

I almost missed the new to me pretty trail to the lake.  I'd taken the usual offshoot trail, then turned back onto the main trail going east, when I realized I had to have passed it!  I turned back, this time staying on the main trail & sure enough, there it was.  No wonder we'd missed it so many times, since we always took the pretty little off-shoot trail through the woods.

Me & Smokey~

This area gives such nice, sweeping views of the lake.  By now, it was getting later in the afternoon & even with the longer days, Nika likes her dinner on time!  :-)

The way back north~

At the SE corner, I turned north again, with the long trail back to the trailhead parking.  This time, the wind was at my back, it's so fun to fly along on paving!  By the time I was back at the Explorer, I'd ridden just under 15-miles.  

Tastee Treet was OPEN!  I had to stop for the barbeque pulled chicken, hush puppies & potato salad to go!  Nika was happy I made it home in time for her dinner!  What a day to end the month of February!  Now - if we could just get some nice rains...