Tour Guide Todd

Yup...we jump onto the I&M, ride for about 20 minutes, and up rides the first guy that actually looks like a biker (since we left Davenport, hadn't seen any 'real' cyclists). He said, "you gotta be Ryan..?..."

"You Todd"

"Yup"

"Let's ride!"

Todd was a great tour guide. Explained much of the history as we passed the I & M Canal Locks (Illinois and Michigan if you're wondering). Todd happens to be a Chauffeur in Vail during ski season. Small world! This was no Hennepin Canal trail, look at this incredible canapy of trees:

A fairly cool ride, what a nice change! Slower because of the looser surface, we sink into it from being so heavy. But, we cruised right along and made some stops along the way.

Frogs hopping across the trails.

Turtles moving up and off logs in the Canal.

Birds and crazed insects flying all around.

No fish though. We tried. Does Dylan look like Tom Sawyer or what?

I asked the Boys if they wanted to go on and into Chicago, or hit the hotel now. Duh??? !!! We found yet another hotel with a pool, what are the odds?

A call to a cab company, and we played at the Haunted Hills amusement park, with Go-Karts (Dylan went on his first high-speed SOLO Go Kart ride, he did so well). Riley was of course, a madman, and beat everyone on the track.

Now, the photo I really want to post, I didn't take. BUT, here we are at 6 or so in the evening and realizing that we hadn't eaten much at all. STARVING. So, back to hotel and next to it was a Cracker Barrel. You'd think after living 40 years I would've had a meal at a Cracker Barrel before, but no. This would be a first.

Let's start with the fact that I couldn't get a beer. OK, that's fine...and I realized why...if they did, the FDA would have to shut the entire chain of restaurants down for flagrant disregard for human caloric supply (FDFHCS).

The size of the patrons...best described by the couple next to us with 'his' and 'hers' matching pajama pants. These were worn intentionally to provide maximum stretch-age after muscling down Chicken Fried Chicken, Chicken Fried Steak, Chicken Fried Fries...and I'm pretty sure Chicken Fried Coca-Cola. By the way, these were NASCAR pajamas, his Dale Jarrett, her's Tony Stewart. The fact that I know this by the racing numbers, must make me a bit of a red-neck as well.

Perhaps we're done riding. The boys are torn, but a train takes us right to Wrigley with a day game tomorrow. Todd said he'd ride with us, but we'll see....we are a bit unsure about the safety of our bike ride into the heart of the city from here. The hotel said they'd hold our bike for us...everyone again, has been unbelievably nice!

Bee Hive Restaurant

Rolling up and down the hills of Starved Rock and working our way to Ottawa, wasn't exactly easy on the boys. They were hungry! So when we saw our first sign for Ottawa, smiled were popping up. After a few not-so-hot snack joints, we rolled into the Bee Hive Restaurant. A great 50's style breakfast/lunch counter spot with Flo and the girls working the room. I told R & D they could have whatever they wanted, while I went and picked up some food for lunch. Returning, I tossed a couple ice cream cones in the freezer without R & D knowing, looked to see Dylan eating a bagel and frosted flakes, with Mr. Riley choking down a French Dip and vegetable soup. Fine by me, fuel up! Our next stage was Morris, apparently another 30+ miles and spotty rain expected. Just before we blew out of Ottawa, Flo asked the entire restaurant for their opinion on our route, unanimously 'Morris Blacktop' won the vote, so we loaded up as she gave the boys their ice cream...Big smiles now!



Morris Blacktop was another beautiful farm road. We called Mommy to check in, as we took a quick respite from the rain under a tree, just as this guy pulls up with his tractor:



Now Dylan... Riley....this guy says he's lived here his whole life, the tractor is from when he was born (apparently 1949 or 50, he couldn't remember for sure). And he was sure happy to see us using his big tree in his front yard. He shut down the tractor so he wouldn't disturb the phone call to Mom, and was so pleasant to talk too. About 2 teeth I'd say...

Now getting closer to Morris, the boys are pretty tired of pedaling, and I'm seeing some fatigue come into the picture. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa were at a camp site in Morris. They met us in town and hauled us to their site. Shower, great food, hit the laundromat...and of course, a movie, Herbie the Love Bug playing in the RV.

I called a bike shop in Joliet to see what the best route would be. Seems Chicago is fairly limited to bike paths. "Todd" grabbed the phone and said, I'll meet you on the trial, go to the I & M canal and ride East, I'll find you.

Well, don't know you Todd...It's a 30+ mile trail....we'll see...

Up Up Up to Starved Rock

So, the story is that Native Indians were apparently marooned on top of this rock, until they starved and died. How wonderful, and fitting actually.

We left Princeton, had another straight shot East until Illinois' version of the diagonal, called Plant Road. This dropped us by a small airport (no planes sighted for days until Plank Rd), through Peru (must've ridden farther than we thought), by a funeral (Dylan, don't make a scene) and through LaSalle.

Fairly lost at this point, grabbed a walking mailman and told him that he looked like a mighty good La Salle Tour Guide. Lucky we asked him, the bridge and area we planned to use was evidently closed down and another plan came together. This involved a town called 'Jonesville,' doesn't sound right, does it? We kept on churning and found Staved Rock campground. Not the Oasis we had planned, but the folks were nice nonetheless.

Lot's of families had to come by and talk to Riley and Dylan about Blackjack. They were proud, and as they were sword fighting yet again, it gave me a chance to make a few business calls. Then, R came running to me with serious concern on his face. I look over and Dylan is holding his leg in big-time pain. (Note, no pictures to share here...my gift to you)

The sword fight apparently caused a skid by the tent stakes, which gave Dylan a monster gash on his left leg, about 7 inches. No need for stitches, but enough blood to keep everyone on edge for a bit. The medical kit was in high fashion for a while, took Dylan all of 1 minute to find his laugh again and feel manly about his new 'scar.' Mom would again, be so proud.

A quick freeze dried Meat Lasagna (that I thought was dandy), a dash over to the neighbors for some tasty s'mores (Ian, Austin and Emma were happy to talk with R & D all night), and we were ready to dine again the next morning with those yummy peaches from Wally-World we had saved up.

Tent camping...windows open, al fresco. It was a perfect perfect night.

Now, up and at 'em...Look towards Blackjack and trash everywhere...oh no! We've been robbed! A Raccoon, darn smart one...unzipped our packs! Yup, ate it all, Dylan's Oatmeal, ShotBloks, bananas, and my peaches...history! Darn it. Now, our job was to break camp, load up and get to Ottawa for a breakfast. Not a short ride, however our neighbors happened to be a couple that rode a tandem up from St Louis. They were nuts like us, and shot us some raisins and cranberries to get our blood sugar up a bit. Dylan wanted to know, 'When's breakfast?' Hang on D, we have about 12 miles to go!

Hennipin Canal Revisited

Just realizing that the Canal will live in memory without photos. Fairly hot, long and all our focus was on getting through the trail and back onto our much favored farm roads. Lots of turtles along the way to keep our eyeballs searching for another critter.

We hooked up with 1745 North Ave. This was a straight shot to the East that gave us a quick tailwind, that was nice. A few ups and downs, rollers ya' know. Popped up to Backbone Road, feeling groggy, but a darn good day, since we decided to split our travel en route to Starving Rock. Nothing like another pool party at the AmericInn, a jont to Walmart to pick up some tasty peaches and various snacks for our camping night in the hills. Now, Wally-World also supplied us with what two brothers desperately need on a trip like this, weapons! Nerf Swords are our new best friends...the AmericInn provided an excellent fighting ring.

As did 1800 N Ave....The middle of the road, shoes off, game on!

Now, the fun continued with a mighty big feast at Wise Guys Bar and Grille. You can see, the Mozzerella sticks were in season!

Everyone has been so incredibly thoughtful and helpful along this trip. Represent Mid-West...Nice!

We love shade!

Did I mention how hot it is? Well, never in my forty years, had I learned that you can sweat buckets...I always thought that was an expression, as it turns out, I do believe I had become Niagara. (speaking of water, a note about yesterday in the truck. Riding from Bernie's to Annawan, both boys were with me in the back, and I swore Riley was spitting on me in the wind...just as I was getting ready to let him have it, I noticed Bernie's black lab had his head out of the window, which provided me with a light mist during the trip. On any other day, that would've been fairly gross, but this dog provided a nice cool shower that felt great!)

Today's leg was set to be about 4 hours, half way to our camping destination of Starved Rock. A bit on the Canal, that was very slow going, and then we made our way to some lightly travelled farm roads. The pic above is the nicest spot on planet earth, Road #1745. Not a flashy name for the greatest place in the world, but this is a shady grassy front yard of some folks that let us chill-out a bit...again, did I mention the heat? Wow!

You can see D-man and I covered our eyes with a T-Shirt, stretched out after chowing down a most-delicious Ham & Cheese Sandwich from a Shell Gas Station, a true delicacy, all with a half-life of 10,000 years I'm sure.

Sliding up and down, across and back, working our way to the next town...is that the water tower up ahead? I bet it is...no, next town will be Princeton. Special help today, a serious tailwind. This brought our average speed up to 8.1mph from 7.3mph, look out, we're breaking all speed records now!

A few hills, brutal heat, and we were getting close, I mean close....psssssss, what's that. "Um Dad, We have a problem back here..." Yup, our first flat EVER on BlackJack. Trailer tire, how conveeeenient as Dana Carvey said back in the 80's. Hot, on Backbone Road, and I changed a flat in a half-delirious state of exhaustion in seconds flat. If the boys could've only appreciated how fast that flat was fixed, a personal record for certain.

"Hey Riley, look, there's Corn." For a few hours, that seemed to be a pretty funny joke...now I don't even get a chuckle. No sunscreen can save us out here, I think SPF 1,000 is no match for Illinois in August, we look like we've been in Tahiti for a year.

Now, you may be wondering, why are they self-supporting and packing all that camping gear, and end up in a motel. The pool! There is nothing more pleasant than a highway motel sign that says "Indoor Pool." It's kind of like the scene where Richard Dryfus keeps making the 'shape' of the mountian in Close Encounters...we felt the same way...we simply end up in the pool and have no way of explaining how we got there. Now, before I retire to the sub-zero A/C room of the AmericInn, the liquid tally for 2 days is unbelievable. Just on the road, we have gone through 4 Camelbacks of water, 1/2 gallon of Gatorade, 6 bottles of water, 2 Sprites, 2 Dr Peppers, a Starbucks biggee coffee (yes, my 8 year stint without caffeine is now officially over) and enough gas station food to feed an army. Rain expected tomorrow...Why do they call it Starved Rock? Not exactly inviting...?

Yo Ol' Miss....

The weather broke...and we nearly did as well. Game time (8:30 am) temp was around 75, had some threatening clouds behind us, but we outran them. As we left our campsite, the boys were fired up to see what adventures and challenges lay ahead. As we worked our way through town, we crossed the Mighty Mississippi over Centennial Bridge to an area called Rock Island. This was a Saturday morning, and was eerily, in fact spooky...there was noone there, at all. Riley was freaking out a bit. No cars, no shops open, no people walking around. Stephen King would've loved this. It was Children of the Corn (not a good reference...very scary actually), the City Version. As we worked our way through to Moline, we asked some folks how to get to the Heppenin Canal Trail. They had no clue..we were on our own. Then to East Moline, then to a Pizza Hut in Colona. Nicest guy, gave us the best news...we were 4 blocks from the 105 mile trailhead. The boys knocked down a medium pepperoni in no time and off we went to the Canal. This trail was crushed rock, not exactly the smoothest service for our 485 lb rig, but what made things more challenging, were all of the washouts that we had to push our machine up and around. Those 'Warning' Signs worked Dylan and Riley's pscyhe a bit.
Now, we were rolling along for miles, which is fine. The problem was the unbelievable heat and humidity. The guy at the Pizza Hut said this was the hottest day of the year...lucky us. Lot's of stops, I was WAY overheated and we were running out of liquids, so off the trail we went and worked our way to a town called Atkinson. Through corn field after corn field, all incredibly manicured and very well kept. A smattering of soy bean fields as well. A Red truck passed us with the dogs screaming at us to get over...we soon became friends with those dogs.
As we turned the final corner of our now, 9 1/2 hour ride (yes, I felt like 'SurvivorMan/Daddy style) we pulled up to the first restaurant we had seen in 4 hours, Gordo's Barn. Sitting at the bar were a group of unbelievably nice folks, smiling and wondering what on earth we were doing on a bike on a hot day like this. Our goal for the day was another 10 miles away, called Sheffield, the boys were cooked, so one of the guys there was Bernie. Bernie is our hero. I asked Bernie if he knew someone with a truck because the boys (and of course myself) were toast. The idea of another 10 miles was not pleasant one bit. After a wonderful round of Sprites and Mike's Hard Lemonade, Bernie said that he was picking up Pizzas for his family, and if we wanted, he'd give us a ride back to his house, eat with his posse and he'd run us to Sheffield. Yup, fine idea Bernie. His home...unbelievable, his family...perfect and exactly what you'd hope families in these parts would be. Tons of kids, great big beautiful yard and Riley and Dylan had new ears to listen to their tales. And yes, those dogs that were barking...Bernie's. Turns out, this was Bernie's home since he was married, some forty-plus years ago, and the pizza, apparently celebration for that very day, was their wedding anniversary.
Dylan in the back of the pickup, with Blackjack, said, "This is the greatest day of my life...I never rode in the back of a pickup before!" Mom may not have approved, but this was a Manly Man's trip, right?
A short night at our very favorite, Best Western (with an icy cold swimming pool, made my legs shake), and we were off again.

Rained OUT!!!!

The road trip out to Davenport was great, but long. Left the house at 4:15 a.m. and we were fired up. Stopped by at Ft. Kearney Archway Museum. The boys and I walked through time, very similar to the Oregon Trail Museum in Baker City, Oregon. Amazing how tame this buffalo was, he was decidedly big as you can see. This museum is located exactly equidistant between the Pacific and Atlantic shores of the U.S.

Friday, we were rarin' to go. Up and at it early, packed up and ka-boom! The rain came down hard. Our 'go' or 'no-go' decision was to stay put and wait it out. A bit of time at the Library, and we're off to explore the raging city life of Davenport. Perhaps tomorrow we'll be able to unleash the fury of Blackjack!

NEXT UP, IOWA!!!

Well, no doubt we've had one heckuva busy summer. Looked like work was going to keep us from our ride this year, but of course, the boys would hear nothing of it. Dylan and Riley have been very active this summer, lot's of exercise and they should be in tip top shape. Their Dad on the other hand, is now 40, and hasn't been gracing the gym as much as he should've. Oh well, that's why they make Advil, right?

The Plan! We're off to the Mississippi River and Davenport, Iowa. Nothing like the balmy August confines of the Midwest, but we'll figure out a way to get comfy. We'll go due East (with tailwinds we hope) and go to Sheffield, then Starved Rock State Park. Work our way up Morris, to the birthplace of Bob the Builder, aka Grandpa and possibly sneak in a movie in Joliet, finally cracking the urban roads of Chicago. The Cubs and their hot dogs should be ready for us.

OK...not picking up from Sun Valley to connect East. I decided that stretch is for us when the boys get a little older....stay tuned!