Day 72-What Is There to Know About Illinois?

Sunrise in Chester. We were a little concerned as it was a rather “red sky at morning…”, but so far, the day has been cloudy, but rain free. I say, so far, because it’s supposed to rain tonight. 

So, what is there to know about Illinois? All the Westies we’ve met have told us all about Kansas and Missouri, but no one has said anything about Illinois. Maybe it’s because we’re not here too long??? Well, here’s a couple of things…

One, the drivers are not quite as considerate as the Missouri drivers. They are definitely more inclined to honk. Now, that’s not to say there aren’t any considerate drivers…there are, just not quite as many as Missouri. 

Two, the terrain is still hilly, but not as hilly as Missouri. Over the course of 60 miles, we did 2465 feet of elevation. So, not Kansas flat, for sure, but not so hilly. 

One of the flatter spots. 

Three, there are dogs, but they are more friendly. 

These pups went along with us for awhile. A bit of barking, but mostly just to tell us their stories. Nothing vicious. 

Four, the routing is…interesting. Although not an Illinois trait, because Adventure Cycling made the route, it is more…convoluted. Also, the towns we’ve gone through, we seem to have gone more around the outskirts than through. That means we don’t necessarily go by a restaurant. We did have convenience store opportunities. In Murphysboro, we would have had to go somewhat off route to find a restaurant. We settled for the Casey’s for lunch. They make a pretty decent gas station pizza. 

We are “Biker trash”. I said to Doug, you know what would be good to have right now? A chair…oh wait…we do have chairs! But, clearly we were too lazy to pull them out. We’ll just sit on the curb with the ants, because…biker trash!

In Murphysboro, we changed to Map 10. This map takes us all the way to Berea, Kentucky. 

Tonight we are at Little Grassy Lake Campground in the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge. It’s a nice campground and lake. 

Woodsy, just the way I like it!

There’s a marina and store. 

Where one can get ice cream!

The swimming beach

Pano of the lake and beach. 

We crossed the Big Muddy River today. 

The turtles seem to like it. 

So I’ll end today’s post with this little fact wholly unrelated to the Trans Am…sort of. Did you know that manatees propel themselves by farting? I was telling Doug about this little fact. Now, as you might recall, Doug was “Sure Foot” on the AT. There was another name that was equally fitting…”Sure Fart”. So, when I told him about the manatees…well…it occurred to me that, perhaps that is how Doug propels himself on the bike! Now when he “propels” himself, I just call him “Manatee”.