Catching up: Illinois

Alrighty, here is the skinny on Illinois so far. Hopefully I will go back and fill out some of the days, but if I don't this will have to suffice.

July 20th. Shawneetown, Il to Murphysboro, Il. 67.27 miles. Another hot day, but our first full day in Illinois. It felt really good to be in our third state, like we are actually making progress. We are still riding with Chris, and his dad is still following us in his car. Sometimes I envy Chris, with someone to carry all of his stuff. He can afford to have along some more luxuries like a full-size towel or a nice big air mattress. But we are carrying everything and I find it, at the end of the day, satisfying to know that I got myself and all my stuff from point A to point B. Each morning Richard asks if I am sure I do not want to put my stuff in his car. Every morning I am tempted, but I always say no and this morning he didn't ask--though I am pretty sure he thinks I am crazy.

July 21st. Murphysboro, Il to Rockwood, Il. 30.32 miles. We had planned on this being our rest day, just doing 30 miles. But we got a late start and by the time we were riding we hit the heat of the day. It was hell. The first 7 miles or so were not that bad. We took a break under an awning with some construction workers. The bridge we needed to cross was under construction and closed to cars. But after they moved a large piece of equipment we were able to walk our bikes across. While we waited one of the workers gave us a bottle of Gatorade to split and a Ivan scored a free sandwich. We had also planned on making it to Chester, Il, but as we were riding past the Rockwood Trading Post we were flagged down by the owner. The Post was originally a small church, but Fred bought the land it sits on back in the '90s for $300. Insane I know. Over the years he had bought up the land around it, built a house next to the post, and he now lives there with his wife, Mary, and his two children: Stevie and Chase. Initially, Fred only invited us up to give us some water, but that water turned into dinner and then an invitation to stay the night. We couldn't turn him down.

July 22nd. Rockwood, Il to Chester, Il. 9.67 miles. I know the mileage for the day is short, but technically this turned out to be out rest day. From Rockwood we made the short jaunt into Chester, passing the Welcome to Chester sign, sporting a large, grinning Popeye. Chester is after all the home of Popeye, and the town flaunts this with several marble statues of the characters all over town. We stayed at the Eagles Lodge, where they had built a small bunk house for cyclists. I spent part of the day at the library, part of the day running round trying to get a money order, and part of the day at their city pool, which cyclists get to swim for free.

July 23rd. Chester, Il to St. Louis, Il. 72.25 miles. We made great time today; in the morning we did 18 miles in an hour and a half. Our time got little slower, but we made it to St. Louis in time to spend a couple hours at the City Museum (www.citymuseum.org). IT WAS THE COOLEST PLACE EVER. It is an old factory building that was given to a bunch of artists, who basically turned it into the largest jungle gym ever. There are numerous slides (one that travels down ten floors in a spiral), four crazy floors of tunnels, hiding places, and things to crawl all over. It was all my childhood dreams, fully realized in a couple adult hours. Glorious. Tonight we are staying with Rhonda. She has left us to go out dancing, seeing as how it is a Saturday night. There was a hot shower, laundry, a lovely beer in the fridge, and a very comfortable looking bed. I do not think we could ask for more.