Day 33 - ending near Milford, IL - Downstate Illinois

August 8, 2025

Day 33 - ending near Milford, IL

I didn't do a very good job of getting up early this morning. Didn't wake up until 5:53am due to great sleeping weather, which was a surprise. It seemed to get less humid overnight. I packed up until 7:25am, when I took a break for breakfast. My lunch bag is now empty.

Today's destination is Timbered Meadows Campground near Milford - 50 miles away. I was on my way at 8:18am. I had a few more miles of riding on the Kankakee River Bike Trail first thing. After that some road riding, then bike paths along the Kankakee River. I would definitely have been lost if not for the GPS units. Still I made a few wrong turns. At one of them I had a conversation with a older fellow on a recumbent. He said he lives on his bike, since he rides it so much.

At 9:48am I crossed the Kankakee River on a trail bridge near Riverside Medical Center. The medical center has a gardens area on the west side of the river. I walked around there some, it is beautiful and peaceful.

A little more trail riding brought me to Bird Park Quarry. I don't know if it's still used. It looked empty to me.

A check of Google Maps showed there were restaurants in the area, so I picked Blue's Cafe as the place for lunch (second breakfast), arriving at 10:19am. They don't have WiFi for customer use, but I did get my phone charged and ice in my thermos, along with my meal. I stopped next at a nearby Shell gas station for Gatorade. Now I was ready to head out of town.

There was one more trail for me to use, Riverfront Trailways along the south and west sides of the river. Along here I passed by Kankakee Community College. They have art projects on their campus that I found interesting. Noon arrived when I was on this trail. 11.7 miles so far. Still, I took time for a break, sitting on a bench in the shade next to the river. My afternoon would be all road riding, mostly south into the wind. I started that at 12:25pm when I got on CR-2000E.

There was wind noise, but I turn my radio on anyway, and was able to listen to WVLI, 92.7 MHz out of Kankakee. They were playing "The Greatest Hits." Later I was far enough south that they faded away.

At 2:23pm I came to a small town, which I wasn't expecting: L'Erable. They are big enough to have a bar: Longbranch Restaurant. I stopped there for a root beer. That was a welcome break from pushing against the wind. The young farmers there we're talking about the 4-H show animals they bid on and purchased, since there were no other bidders and they didn't want the kids to feel bad.

I sort of knew where I was on my paper map today. At 2:50pm I crossed US-52, then across US-24 at 4:05pm. Later in the day there was some variation from heading straight south. I got to go east a few times. About six more miles south after my last segment east had me at the campground entrance at 6:07pm.

As I bicycled the gravel road to the campground office, I was getting concerned by the signs I was seeing about needing to be a member, or a guest of a member. Outside the office, worker Lenny quickly put my concerns to rest. The general public may camp here. My tent camping fee is $20. Lenny had me follow the golf cart he got in to the tent camping area. What a beautiful spot. And they have electricity and water at every site. It's even by a lake! Lenny's wife runs the camp store. I told Lenny after I get set up I'll head back that way to see about buying items for supper. So I did that. The food selection is more for campers that are going to cook, but I found a few items that worked for my supper. While Lenny was helping me get a root beer from the soda machine that wouldn't take my dollar, I found out they also have WiFi here. If I was going to take a day off at a campground, this would be the place to do it.

While I was eating, a family riding a golf cart stopped by to talk. I got invited to come over to their place for ham and beans, but by then I was full.

I was inside the tent a little after 8:00pm to work on picture selection and to write up today's report. At 9:08pm I "discovered" that I'm right next to railroad tracks, hidden behind the trees to the east! Maybe that'll be the only train for this evening.

I'm feeling good after making the 50 miles today. Tomorrow's weather is predicted to be very much the same as today's, so I should be able to do that also, if I get started early enough. I really do need to stop somewhere long enough to get items to restock my lunch bag.

Jeff

Today's ride: 51 miles (82 km)
Total: 1,310 miles (2,108 km)

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