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We spent 4 days and cycled 161 miles in Illinois.
Although we weren’t in Illinois for long we met several people and had a busy time.
We had to cross the Ohio River to get from Kentucky to Illinois so we hopped onto the ferry and arrived at Cave in the Rocks. Which has had a very checked past. Originally inhabited by Native Americans, it was taken over to provide a haven for Pirates and counterfeiters, but now its home to hundreds of house martins.
Here we had our first taste of pancakes, thank heaven we ordered 1 stack between us, we couldn't finish them all, so we took a walk round the cave, we didn't dare get on the bikes until the pancakes settled down.
We saw our first live snake, sunbathing on the road and gave it a wide berth. Our camp site for the night was a first, it was a camp site for horses, they don't make very good neighbours because they stomp about all night, and they are a bit whiffy in the morning.
It was in this area that we came cross the fire flies, they were magic, like little sparks flying all over the place.
We also came across a field of long horn cattle, fearsome looking creatures with attitude, one charged me while I was taking his picture, I guess he was camera shy, thank heavens for the sturdy fence.
In Carbondale we met Barry and Karen, keen bikers and they invited us to spend the night in their home, we were very keen for a comfortable bed so we accepted. They were having a family and friends outing to the pictures to see the Da Vinci Code so we joined them and finished the night with beer and pizza, wonderful.
Reluctantly we left Barry and Karen and rode alongside the Mississippi River to Popeye's home, Chester. We were camping in the park. Only been there a few minutes when Carrie turned up, nice to see her again. There were also two other young lads there, so we had quite a crowd that evening. Then Craig came along and introduced himself, he was a local guy who liked to meet the cyclists, we had a great evening swapping tales of life on the road. Next morning Craig turned up with bacon, eggs, toast, coffee, orange juice and gave us all breakfast before we hit the road again. The American people never ceased to surprise us, they are wonderful.
The weather man was warning us of severe storms, but the morning was lovely so we said goodbye to Craig and Popeye and rode across the Mississippi into Missouri.
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