August 15 - We had to stop in the middle just to see if it was our arms or the bridge that was shaking. Turns out it was both! This sidewalk is hung outside the bridge proper and we could see water on both sides of us. It was a little nerve-wracking even with the chain link fence.
Our official welcome to Illinois - Land of Lincoln.
The Great River Road follows the length of the Mississippi. Maybe a future tour?
A scenic little rest area.
Looking back at Galena, a town filled with a lot of history. It would probably take a week to really give it a proper visit. We picked up our box here and the postal clerks were so impressed by our journey that they called the local paper. A reporter came down and took our picture for next week's edition.
Still smiling at 4 mph.
View from the top of the ridge.
We climbed up to this viewpoint to find that the tower was closed for reconstruction.
This was part of the view that we could see from ground level.
Our lunch stop in Elizabeth. (It was good despite the sign,) One of the postal clerks in Galena had recommended it. Three guys eating there told us we had 3 hills left before it flattened out. That took us the rest of the afternoon so we stopped in Stockton for the night.
August 16 - We had seen some flags on our way into town and this line of flags spaced 100 feet apart went for 3 1/2 miles east of town. Andy, a 23 year old Stockton native, had been killed in Iraq a few days earlier. The whole town of 2,000 was in mourning.
Random act of encouragement coming into Freeport.
Old and new.
All the churches we saw in Freeport where made of this white brick.
This historic house in on the grounds of a huge hospital complex. We went a little farther on to Belvidere for the night which gave us 63 miles for the day.
August 17 - Belvidere calls itself the "City of Murals". This one reminded Donna of the 1904 Oldsmobiles used in the Transcontinental Race.
We didn't see Ichabod Crane but then maybe it was a little too sunny.
We are approaching the outskirts of Chicago. There were really big houses and lots of them with more being built. At Starks we left 20 and took Rd. 72, a recommended bike route that will lead us more directly to Lake Michigan tomorrow.
We stopped for lunch in East Dundee right alongside the Fox River Bike Path. We saw more bikes in a half hour than we had seen in weeks. This little bike shop was right next to the path and let us pump up our tires with their floor pump.
This park had a very pleasant bike path that took us almost all the rest of the way to our destination for the day, Elk Grove Village. This is the end of week 7. 2,500 miles and its been a great day: Sunny, 70's, flat and a tailwind!
August 15 - We had to stop in the middle just to see if it was our arms or the bridge that was shaking. Turns out it was both! This sidewalk is hung outside the bridge proper and we could see water on both sides of us. It was a little nerve-wracking even with the chain link fence.
Our official welcome to Illinois - Land of Lincoln.
The Great River Road follows the length of the Mississippi. Maybe a future tour?
A scenic little rest area.
Looking back at Galena, a town filled with a lot of history. It would probably take a week to really give it a proper visit. We picked up our box here and the postal clerks were so impressed by our journey that they called the local paper. A reporter came down and took our picture for next week's edition.
Still smiling at 4 mph.
View from the top of the ridge.
We climbed up to this viewpoint to find that the tower was closed for reconstruction.
This was part of the view that we could see from ground level.
Our lunch stop in Elizabeth. (It was good despite the sign,) One of the postal clerks in Galena had recommended it. Three guys eating there told us we had 3 hills left before it flattened out. That took us the rest of the afternoon so we stopped in Stockton for the night.
August 16 - We had seen some flags on our way into town and this line of flags spaced 100 feet apart went for 3 1/2 miles east of town. Andy, a 23 year old Stockton native, had been killed in Iraq a few days earlier. The whole town of 2,000 was in mourning.
Random act of encouragement coming into Freeport.
Old and new.
All the churches we saw in Freeport where made of this white brick.
This historic house in on the grounds of a huge hospital complex. We went a little farther on to Belvidere for the night which gave us 63 miles for the day.
August 17 - Belvidere calls itself the "City of Murals". This one reminded Donna of the 1904 Oldsmobiles used in the Transcontinental Race.
We didn't see Ichabod Crane but then maybe it was a little too sunny.
We are approaching the outskirts of Chicago. There were really big houses and lots of them with more being built. At Starks we left 20 and took Rd. 72, a recommended bike route that will lead us more directly to Lake Michigan tomorrow.
We stopped for lunch in East Dundee right alongside the Fox River Bike Path. We saw more bikes in a half hour than we had seen in weeks. This little bike shop was right next to the path and let us pump up our tires with their floor pump.
This park had a very pleasant bike path that took us almost all the rest of the way to our destination for the day, Elk Grove Village. This is the end of week 7. 2,500 miles and its been a great day: Sunny, 70's, flat and a tailwind!
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