The "I" State Invasion

We are now in the midst of our highly anticipated tour through the states that begin with the letter I, although the anticipation was apparently ours alone because not many people here seem to know we were coming. We assumed that dense civilization would abound here on the eastern banks of the Mississippi, but Illinois is about as rural as America gets. We've made camp for the night on the outskirts of a town called Streator, in a Super 8, next to a particularly delicious Pizza Hut. Now before you jump to conclusions and accuse us of going soft, put yourself in the shoes of poor Don, who managed to develop a rather uncomfortable reaction to poison ivy in a few rather uncomfortable locations, and needed a shower and a comfortable venue to stage his counter attack. No complaints from the rest of us, who needed showers only slightly less than Don and clean laundry just as much. I'm sure Devin's grandpa Russ and his wife Elaine will appreciate the reduction of physical offensiveness we've achieved here at the Super 8 when we meet them for lunch tomorrow.


The weather lately has been a wily beast, freezing at night then pushing triple digits the next afternoon. Head winds have been the norm but the forecast predicts a welcome change for tomorrow. Yesterday we discovered a bike trail along a canal that spanned nearly 50 miles of the route, giving us a fantastic opportunity to zone out without concern for vehicle traffic. We accepted the trail as another offering from the divine lord of cyclists, who, when one considers the unexpected discovery of a bikes-only campground last week at a crucial moment, apparently likes our blog. We arrived in town with empty bellies and wound up at the only bar in town, nodding enthusiastically to the bartender's constant inquiry of "nuther beer?" and approving the level of crispiness of each of the 3 frozen pizzas he proudly presented to us. A half gallon of cookies n' cream later, we set out to find another rogue camp site to end another day in the good life.

Also, if you want to look cool this fall, don't forget to order your official Bike the US for MS t-shirt by emailing us at tshirt@biketheusforms.org.

And yes, chocolate milk really is better in Wisconsin. I hope to have a similar renaissance with apple butter when I get to New England.

-Mason