September 6, 2023
Day 115 - ending near Morrison, IL
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I had three more riding days to go, so put on a set of clean clothes this morning. Where I planned to eat breakfast, City Limits Family Restaurant, was just across the highway. All packed up, I headed over there at 7:32am. I went with the first special listed on their board - steak and eggs. Left full at 8:51am.
My destination today is Illinois, my home state. The plan is to ride on highway IA-136 to Clinton, Iowa. Then cross the river on the 'North Bridge' to get to Fulton, Illinois. From there continue on to Morrison-Rockwood State Park northwest of Morrison, Illinois. I had it figured as 51 miles.
I left Maquoketa on a bike path on the east side of the highway US-61, next to the campground. At the top of the hill I turned left too soon, so rode through a Walmart parking lot to get to the county road that would take me to IA-136. It was a little misty this morning, but no moisture was condensing on my glasses. I checked for radio stations this morning and was able to pull in WLLR, 103.5 MHz, a station in Davenport playing country music. I don't normally listen to country music at home, but it's sometimes the only option when I'm bicycling. I miss hearing the old country music songs that I heard on stations last time I was "out west." But I've heard new songs this year, and will probably think of this trip when I hear them again.
I made my left turn onto IA-136 at 9:47am, and arrived in the town of Delmar at 10:00am. I stopped at the Casey's in town to buy Gatorade. Here also, they were insisting that I get three bottles due to the price deal. I also grabbed a chocolate milk for drinking there before I left.
Highway IA-136 wasn't too hilly. But it does have a gravel shoulder, so I'd pull off the pavement when cars were meeting where I was or when vehicles were coming up behind me in a no-passing zone. The wind was from the west, so I was being pushed right along. At 10:52am I called my wife, activated the phone's speaker feature, and secured the phone on my front bag. I rode through Charlotte (at 11:11am) while we talked. Lots of family news. We ended the call figuring next time we talk would be in-person.
At 11:45am I came to a pull-off for Goose Lake (the lake). I stopped there for an early noon cookie break. I couldn't see the lake from the parking area, but there is a channel through the weeds for boats to get there. There were some frogs hanging around. I tried to get a picture of one of them, but I was a little too slow with pressing the shoot button, and ended up with just a ripple in the water.
I recorded the noon mileage: 18.4 miles, then got back on the road. I passed through Goose Lake (the town) at 12:20pm. There's a high school and places to eat in this town. It seemed traffic increased quite a bit once I was east of town. I was pulling over a lot. Then at 1:05pm I got pulled over. I was on the side of the road, actually someone's driveway, already, letting two cars get by. The second car pulled up behind me. I thought it was wanting to pull into the driveway, so I started moving. When the car's flashing lights came on I realized it was a sheriff's car. He said my being on the road had caused one driver enough concern that they called the department. He saw that I was being careful and had a safety flag, so wasn't too concerned. He did caution me that the high school would be letting out at 1:10pm this afternoon for early dismissal, and the traffic would pick up even more. He called in a check on my driver's license, but then received a more urgent call. I proceeded on, not really noticing a further increase in traffic.
I reached the city limits of Clinton at 1:55pm. A few minutes later, following my waypoints, I turned south onto a bike path that parallels 19th Avenue NW. That path got me to the downtown of what used to be called Lyons. I did some sidewalk riding/walking when the path ended to get to the Highway 136 bridge over the Mississippi River. There's a walkway on the north side of the bridge, but it's not very wide. Fortunately I didn't meet anyone coming the other way as I crossed. At 2:43pm I arrived in Fulton, Illinois.
I did a little sightseeing in Fulton. I'd bicycled through Fulton before - in 2013, so there was no need to spend too much time there. After some pictures of downtown, I made my way to Sunrise Family Restaurant on the east side of town for lunch, which was the Early Bird Special and lemonade.
I forgot that part of today's riding would be on a bicycle trail. I finally figured out I was on the Great River Trail. Before I was very far along I passed a Shell gas station, and decided to get items for breakfast tomorrow. I'm almost addicted now to having canned coffee for breakfast when there's nothing around. It's a good thing I didn't discover this earlier in the trip!
I left the Great River Trail at 4:47pm to get on CR-5. CR-5 was hilly after I left the flat river bottom. There were several backroads to ride after I turned off CR-5: Fulfs Road, Creamery Road, Ward Road, Damen Road, and Crosby Road. They were mostly flat. I was able to listen to KCQQ, 106.5 MHz, "The Quad Cities' Classic Hits Station" some this evening as I made my way to the park.
I arrived at Morrison-Rockwood State Park entrance at 6:43pm. There was still a little ways to go to get to the campground. The campground has three side loops off the main road. I went down the first loop, but found no one at the camp host trailer. So on to the second loop. There were vehicles parked by this loop's host trailer, but no one answered my knock. It was going to get dark here pretty quick, so I decided I'd just set up and deal with paying later. I found a site I liked - site #82. It wasn't too long after I parked the bike there that I realized that where I had planned to put the tent was underneath a walnut tree which was dropping walnuts from time to time. There was another flat area on the other side of the electrical box far enough away from the tree that the tent probably wouldn't get hit. And I did accomplish my goal for today: arrive early enough that I could get the tent set up without using a flashlight. I was done at 7:50pm - almost too dark to see in this wooded area.
An official state park pickup truck was now parked at the campground host trailer, so I walked back over. The fellow answering my knock said that his wife would stop by in the morning to collect my camping fee.
All that was left to do for tonight was write and send out my evening report. But I fell asleep after lying down for a moment, and didn't wake up until 9:10pm. The temperature was perfect for sleeping and the wind was making a gentle sound in the treetops. I decided I'd write my "evening report" in the morning and headed to bed.
Jeff
Spent: $23.85 plus $5 (breakfast) + $9.31 (Gatorade, chocolate milk) + $12.90 plus $3 (supper) + $7.75 (next morning breakfast items) + $15 (campsite) = $76.81
Today's ride: 51 miles (82 km)
Total: 4,332 miles (6,972 km)
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7 months ago
7 months ago
I've been through Savanna (www.cycleblaze.com/journals/iowa/day-11-ending-near-hampton-il). I remember back in the '60s my grandmother stopping at a gas station (Cotton Bros. Shell) in Sabula where one of my great uncles worked. He figured out I liked maps, so let me have one of each of the state maps they had on their map rack.
Jeff
6 months ago
6 months ago