Chester, IL

We are staying tonight in Chester, IL on the Mississippi River. Today's ride covered 82 miles with a mid morning stop in Carbondale to find a bike shop. I needed new brake pads and the bike shop was nice enough to install them and check things over. The Adventure Cycling guide showed up in the store as we crossed over each other. They are overnighting in Carbondale with a rest day tomorrow so we will likely not see them again. We also saw a young woman at the bike shop just starting a trip to Pueblo, CO with a trailer. We caught up with her later in the afternoon. She seemed a little inexperienced so we wish her well. This area had a severe storm a couple of weeks back, and an ice storm in January. The clean-up was still under way. Storms threatened but did not appear during the ride. Lightening around us as we ate dinner tonight. However, the next week in Missouri promises more storm forecasts.

The route before Carbondale wound several miles through the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge and a sign identified it as a Wilderness Area. Sally had a nice hike there while waiting for me to catch up. Who knew such a thing existed in Illinois? The end of today's ride became a little tedious as we pushed ahead toward Chester. The last 10 miles had the combination head winds, hills, heat, and a rough road so Chester was a welcome sight. The only downside is that there apparently is no Mississippi River casino close by. But we learned that Chester is the home of the creator of Popeye with a Popeye statue by the river bridge. The restaurant we ate in served spinach salad of course.

PS - To Mitchell and Breaca - Hazel should know that the most persistent chase dogs are all Beagles.

Sally PS - My bad. Just because we go into Missouri tomorrow, I assumed the reunion in Door County started yesterday, but it turns out that Bob is just doing so well that we are already one full week ahead of original estimates. Glad Linda put out a message to straighten me out.