Day 35. Creston IA to Home. 74 miles

   Last day! The morning was perfect. The sound of birds singing was most wonderful. They serenaded me with a marvelous symphony for the first three hours of my ride. It was the most birds I had heard in the morning. I think the abundance of lush trees and grasslands from all the rain in this area played a part in it.
   The roads today were fantastic and I was able to make great time. I saw the birthplace of John Wayne in Winterset and then headed on to Martinsdale and the bike path trailhead into Des Moines. Larry met me there and I offloaded some of my stuff.
   It seemed really weird to be seeing bikes and no cars. I got to the point that I wanted to hop off and luckily, a lot of other people had done the same since there was a path through the weeds and up to the road. I didn't have far to go now. As I approached the last major intersection two bikers caught me from behind. I didn't know where they had come from, but they were really anxious to pass me. They did the "on your left" and I waited for them to pass, but they just kept saying "on your left" like a broken record. I pulled off onto the grass and they still followed me. To my surprise, it was Trent and  Allison. I could hardly believe it. They finished my ride with me! I had another great surprise of balloons and signs and Tyler and Erin at my "finish line".
   The surprises just kept coming. After a nap, I had beautiful flowers delivered from Nate and then we headed over to Tyler's. Trent couldn't find his wallet, but before he did, Alex, Jimmy and Stephanie snuck up to the car. Needless to say it was an amazing end to a wonderful ride.