July 23, 1981
Fairfield, Iowa to Roseville, Illinois
The Pilgrim
Our planned starting time for this morning was 7:00 AM but it was delayed due to rain when we awoke. By the time it had stopped and we had begun riding, it was 8:30 AM. We've had several damp mornings, since having reached Eastern Nebraska, where the arid climate had given way to this more moist variety. We had seen these wet mornings on the West Coast but at least they were not now accompanied by the cold and extreme wind.
A headwind stayed with us until we reached Albia. Once there, the it calmed and we really started churning out the miles. We passed through Danville, Middletown, West Burlington, and into the city of Burlington. An important task there was to replenish my funds, which I did at a bank, located in a beautiful mall along the Mississippi River.
In Burlington, we felt like we had entered the Eastern United States. There are a lot of people moving about town, including businessmen in their suits and very professionally dressed women. At one point, it looked like a scene from downtown Boston or Philadelphia. I was excited to be here but already missing the West a bit.
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We met a fellow who was working in the Burlington Tourist Information Booth along the river. He was an encyclopedia of the city, its history, its past, present, and future. He was so interesting that we probably spoke to him longer than we had planned but it was worth the time spent.
The Mississippi is 2400 feet wide where we needed to cross it... nearly a half mile of moving water... flowing at 3 miles per hour, according to our "friend" at the tourist booth. There has been a lot of history made on the Mississippi. We paused on the bridge to ponder it all and then crossed over into Illinois.
Once in "The Land of Lincoln," we left US-34 in favor of country roads again. They led us to an immersion into vast corn and soy fields, which we enjoyed all the way to Roseville. There, we decided to stay in the town park and perhaps attend a softball game that would be happening a bit later on. While beginning to prepare some food, a fellow walked up and began conversing with us. He introduced himself as The Pilgrim. Despite that quirkiness, he was an interesting fellow who was well read and had a few good stories of his own to tell. He also took a keen interest in our stories from this trip. After talking for a while and enjoying each other's company, he invited us back to his place, a historic home on 7 acres that was built around 1860. It all sounded intriguing, so we accepted the invitation and rode back there.
Upon having arrived, we found the place to be a bit of a disappointment because "The Pilgrim (TP)" was not much of a housekeeper. He was a nice guy but the place was a mess and needed quite a bit of work. It had potential, but TP has a big restoration project on his hands, to be sure. He gave us space to bed down in one of the rooms on the first floor, which was not too bad, considering that we were not outside in the elements.
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We talked some more and he showed us around the place. At one point, we went up into the attic, where I could hear a low humming sound. On one wall was a gigantic beehive. It was at least 3 feet across, there were thousands of bees, and honey dripping down the wall. A bee flew over and landed on me. I was a statue for what seemed an eternity until it flew away. We got out of the attic very quickly after that.
He also showed us a giant coal stove in the cellar that had an automatic feeder. TP also informed us the house was haunted... no surprise by this time. We all stayed up until 2:00 AM, talking and listening to The Doors, one of my favorite all time rock bands. We liked TP, even though he was a little different from most people you might meet. We had a good but short night and... I didn't hear any strange noises or see any ghosts.
Today's ride: 80 miles (129 km)
Total: 3,807 miles (6,127 km)
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