This is the fourth update from the road. The ride has been going okay. The only thing off has been the weather. It's been fluctuating from the upper 60s to the lower 40s with everyday being a little bit different. I just wished that it would stay warm so that I can get out of my heavy coat and the other layers of clothes. Yesterday was the first day in several weeks where I was actually able to take my coat off for a while. The thing that I am dealing with now is high winds. Yesterday, I had to deal with high winds up to 25 mph. Tomorrow, I am supposed to be dealing with 15 mph winds coming from the west. There is the talk of snow flurries on Tuesday.

I've met some nice people between Savanna, IL and Hampton, IA. April 03rd, I had a home visit arranged through the United Methodist Church in Anamosa, Iowa. April 04th, I was the guest of the United Methodist Church in Manchester, Iowa. While spending the night at the church, I helped install new metal shelves in the food pantry at the church.

April 04th, I stayed at the University of Northern Iowa's Wesley Methodist Foundation Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa. I got to speak to some of the college students. Before leaving the Cedar Falls - Waterloo area, I was invited to speak at the United Methodist Men's Breakfast at the First United Methodist Church in Waterloo. Last night and tonight, I'm staying with a friend who is the Evangelical Lutheran Minister in Hampton. I've known Rev. Sorenson for almost nine years and I've visited with him at his first three churches in Iowa and Wisconsin. This morning, I was given the chance to speak to the Adult Sunday school class at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Hampton, Iowa.

From Hampton, I've got four more stops here in Iowa before crossing into Nebraska. I will be stopping for the night in Humboldt, Rockwell City, Carroll, and Woodbine. I have finally decided strongly that I shouldn't ride through Kansas in April since there might be a good chance for thunderstorms and possible tornadoes. I'm looking at following the same route that I took across Eastern Colorado and Nebraska that I took in 2006 but in reverse direction. This will have me taking U.S. 30 pretty well across Central Nebraska. Here are the towns in Nebraska that I will be stopping for the night in the order that I'll be doing them in: Fremont, Columbus, Grand Island, Kearney, Cozad, North Platte, and Ogallala. The first town that I will be stopping in Colorado in will be Julesburg. I'm also looking at riding straight across Oregon to Portland instead of riding up to SE Washington State before riding across Oregon.

Well, this is all I think I need to write now. The next update should be posted between April 13th and April 20th.