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Hey friend,
Somewhere around mile thirty yesterday a man was standing at the end of his driveway with a garden hose, spraying down anybody who wanted it. No sign, no tip jar. Just a guy who figured out that a few thousand people were about to ride past his house in a hundred degree heat and decided to do something about it.
We’re in Iowa. We’re riding RAGBRAI, which is a week-long ride all the way across the state, every July, with thousands of people. This is our second one. Between the heat and the hills we’ve reorganized the entire route around soft serve, and we’re calling that strategy.
Kramer came with us. Sara found him a hat with a spinner on top, which has turned him into the most photographed member of this family by a wide margin. He does not get a pup cup at every stop. He’s aware of this. If somebody wants to correct it, he’ll be the one in the hat.
P.S. What’s a small town you’d tell someone to stop in? Hit reply. We’ll share the best ones next Monday.
🎥 This Week's Video
 🎥 Wales Might Be Great Britain's Best Kept Secret
There's a village in Wales with 58 letters in its name. We tried. It did not go well. We also found a town that sells almost nothing but books, and the smallest house in Great Britain, which is exactly as small as advertised.
👉 Watch it here
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👀 What Caught Our Eye
This $16 clip fan
It clips to anything, runs off a battery, and has a bendy tripod leg that wraps around a tent pole. In a hundred degrees in Iowa it’s the only reason our tent is survivable at night. It’s $15.99 right now, 20% off.
👉 Get one here
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| Would you ride RAGBRAI with us next year? |
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📍 Worth Sharing
A few things we bookmarked this week:
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💰 Going Sale
Going's biggest sale of the year is still on: 51% off Premium and Elite.
This is the tool we use to find every flight deal below. Premium covers the economy deals, domestic and international. Elite adds the mistake fares and premium cabin deals. One fare you actually book pays for the whole year.
Use code BIGSALE51 at checkout. It runs through August 16 and it’s the lowest price Going hits all year.
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💬 From the Replies
Last week we asked why you go to the grocery store when you travel. You buried us.
Leda goes at the end of a trip, not the beginning:
"The grocery store is always a first stop but more so the last stop so we can bring home the best stuff for people back home. Once we filled half a suitcase with goodies for Tyler, our roaster who was holding down the fort back home." Aryn took her husband, who's from England, into his first American grocery store in Gatlinburg:
"When we went to Ingles to stock our AirBnB they were playing country music before you even crossed the threshold. He quickly whipped out his phone to take a video because country music isn't much of a thing where he's from. That was his first American grocery store and he thought it was great. Now this is nothing compared to the first time I took him to Costco, but it's still one of my favorite memories of our first little vacation together." Betty had just gotten home from Italy for her niece's wedding:
"Right after I arrived at my hotel I asked where the nearest grocery store was and walked a couple of blocks. I picked up a few things to make a sandwich. The butcher and I used sign language, my little French and his Italian to communicate. He helped me pick out some local meat and cheese. We both spent a lot of time laughing. I left with some delicious food and dry pasta to take home to my grandkids. I'm sure it's a memory I will cherish more than some of the places I visited." Michael went somewhere we hadn't:
"It's so easy to see a short clip, form an opinion, and forget there's a real community and real people behind it." Keep them coming. We read every one.
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Thanks for reading Field Notes. We're trying to make this a space worth saving, full of things we'd actually send to a friend.
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And if something in here made you laugh, think, or book a flight… we'd love to hear about it. Just hit reply or tag us @chrisandsara_ on Instagram.
More soon,
Chris & Sara
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