Day 34 - ending near Westville, IL - Downstate Illinois

August 9, 2025

Day 34 - ending near Westville, IL

I was up at 5:28am this morning. It's hard to get up early, since the morning temperatures have been just right for sleeping. There were a few trains last night, but they only woke me up momentarily. I worked on picture selection first thing this morning, until 7:28am. Ready to leave at 8:50am, but I only went as far as the pavilion across from the camp office, so I could use the camp's WiFi to upload pictures. Lenny, the camp host, was nearby and came over to wish me well. He said they've had 3 cyclists stay here so far this year. I highly recommend Timbered Meadows for any touring bicyclist who's passing nearby and needs a place to camp.

My destination for today is Forest Glen Preserve near Danville. This is the place I stayed at on Day 3. When I get there, I'll have closed the loop that I've made around Illinois. I have it as 52 miles away. The south wind is still here. It feels good when you're just sitting, but makes going south a little more work. One thing I hadn't figured out was a place to eat this morning. That was an oversight in my at-home planning. Anyway, I had my pictures uploaded so was leaving the campground at 9:33am.

I rode through the very small town of Goodwine at 9:55am. I took a break here to figure out where the closest restaurant is on my way. There aren't any restaurants on the route I made. I'd have to divert east to Hoopeston. That meant most of today's route needed to be re-figured. My bicycle map came in handy for that. So at 10:40am I went off-route by continuing east on CR-300N. That brought me to IL-1. I went south on that for a mile, then headed east some more, so I could come into Hoopeston from the north. I'd decided to eat at Mr. B's Cafe, but found them closed when I got there. Just then my noon alarm sounded. After 15.4 miles, I was still looking for a place to eat breakfast!

My next option was Dairy Queen back west some on Main Street. It's an order-at-the-window place with only outdoor seating, so I ate in the shade of an umbrella at a picnic table. I went with their $7 Cheeseburger Meal Deal, which includes a small sundae. They also gave me a large cup of ice. Hoopeston also has two Dollar General stores, so I went to the one on the south side of town. I probably have more items than I need now to make it home.

My new route had me getting to Danville on roads that are east of IL-1. I left Dollar General at 1:25 pm, looking first to make it to Alvin. At 3:28pm I sat down in the shade of a tree across from Alvin's post office. 25 more miles to go according to Google Maps.

I continued south on Bowman Avenue, passing through Bismarck at 4:07pm. Bowman Avenue south of Bismarck is somewhat in need of repair. The small shoulder I was on is in better shape than the highway. The road greatly improved after I passed Newell Road. In fact, it was new road. Soon I was passing Vermilion Regional Airport. I noticed a picnic table sitting in the shade of a vintage jet on display, so I sat there for another break. That was at 4:55pm.

I was checking Google Maps now for ways to get through Danville. I noticed there is a Dairy Queen not too far off of the route I was going to take. I could eat another one of those $7 Meal Deals, no problem. At 5:50pm I was there ordering a Chili Dog Meal Deal this time.

The suggested Google Maps routing looked pretty simple after I cleared Danville's south side, and that would be after getting over interstate I-74. I did that at 6:33pm. I hadn't been able to use my GPS routing most of the day, but I checked it now and found I was back on track with my made-at-home route. That made getting the rest of the way to the campground simple. Most of this last section was on a curvy, in-the-woods road. Thanks to tree cover, sections of this road were dark enough that I turned on my flashers.

At 8:00pm I was at the shortcut entrance/exit for Forrest Glen Preserve that only works for bicyclists and backpackers. That's because the campground is on the other side of the pedestrian-only covered bridge. Being a weekend evening, the campground has a lot of campers. At first, I thought maybe all the sites would be full, and I would need to go to the tent-only camping area. But I was seeing some sites that were empty. I went and checked site #39, where I had camped last time. Campers were at sites on both sides, but #39 was empty. That made my job easier - I knew just where I wanted the tent to go. I got started on set-up at 8:10pm, and was done at 8:40pm without the use of a flashlight.

This may be my latest arrival at my evening destination for this trip. I sure am glad to be here. All that's left, besides getting pictures and text uploaded, is to get home. If everything keeps working out, that ought to be Tuesday evening.

Jeff