Day 28 - ending near Bryant, IL - Getting Aligned

September 2, 2017

Day 28 - ending near Bryant, IL

Posted via email Sun Sep 3 08:19:02 2017 PDT

Woke up at 5:00am, before the 6:00am alarm. Just as well, I needed the extra time to write yesterday's report. I was glad I was in a motel room last night after hearing the temperature dropped to 46 degrees F. I'm geared for camping not much lower than 50 degrees F.

At 7:45am, I walked over to McDonald's for breakfast. Brought back half a cup of coffee to my room, which helped a lot to keep me going on the report. All done with that and packing by 10:29am. With best wishes from the motel owner, I was on my way east out of Macomb on US-136.

Tonight's destination is Fulton County Camping and Recreation Area near Bryant. One place I want to check out on the way is the town of Bernadotte, which is on the Spoon River. I've heard of the place, but have never been there.

I'm not fighting a northeast wind today. In fact, there seems to be almost no wind, or no wind bothering me, anyway. At some point, I'd be turning off US-136, but I'll let the GPS tell me when.

At 11:42am, I was at the intersection where US-136 makes a turn south. I noticed a beautiful sycamore tree nearby this corner, and couldn't resist taking a break in its shade. This is an absolutely beautiful day!

I was a little ways south when the noon alarm sounded for recording mileage: 8.8 miles. Ten minutes later I passed through Adair. US-136 curves southeast south of town, so I curved also. I came to the Fulton County Line at 12:41pm. That didn't seem right. I stopped here to check the GPS, and saw I'd missed my turn to Bernadotte! The best 'fix' for that was to go a mile north on McDonough Line Road, so that's what I did. At 1:02pm, I was at Holler Road, and back on track.

Once in a while my DeLorme PN-60 has a hard time keeping a satellite fix. That happened again today, so I got out my old PN-20 to replace it. That was sixteen minutes of messing around.

At 2:25pm, I passed Camp Ellis Lane. After a long downhill, I arrived in Bernadotte at 2:52pm. When I got there, I realized that I came into town on the wrong road, according to my at-home plan. It didn't matter. I was here and had a fun time on the road I'd taken. I checked out the park and dam, then went to see if the Bernadotte Cafe was open. It was, so at 3:00pm I ordered lunch: root beer float, catfish, American fries, and cottage cheese. Very good. I also enjoyed conversations I had with those there. I was close enough to home now that I could say, "I'm from Morton." rather than, "I'm from central Illinois." I left at 4:04pm, but checked out the old bridge before leaving town. One section of it is sitting on the ground near town.

There's a newer bridge near Bernadotte, and I took that north to get out of town. A right turn after the river put me on County Road 14. I had a back-roads route mapped out once I turned onto Christmas Tree Road at 5:04pm. Fulton County apparently uses names instead of numbers for its county roads. Morrison Road, Rabbit Run Road, Loveland Road, and Hoffman Road got me to IL-97 at 6:14pm. A route with valleys, hills, and views.

North a short ways on IL-97, then east on a flat gravel road (Epworth Springs Road) brought me to IL-100. Headed northeast on this flat highway, arriving at Bryant at 6:49pm. There's a building here in sad shape, which I think was a railroad depot at one time. I turned east on Main Street, and rode through town to Conservation Road. A short ride south put me at the entrance to Fulton County Camping and Recreation Area.

Lots of check-in information to read here, starting with putting five dollars in a machine to open the gate. An entrance fee, I figured. For my five dollars, I received no receipt, but got to see the gate arm go up and down! I walked the bike past the gate and found a map of the place. The office was nearby, but I'd just missed their open hours. I called the posted after-hours number, but before I was done leaving my message, the office door opened. Superintendent Stephanie let me in and registered me for one night non-electric tent camping. My five dollar gate fee was credited, so my total was just ten dollars. Stephanie asked if I needed anything, saying she had pork chops left over from supper. I told her about my lunch at the Bernadotte Cafe. Then she pointed out on the map my camping location options, and talked about getting me some firewood. It would be dark soon, and I didn't really have time for a fire, I figured.

I made my way to the first camping area. Very nice - level with trees and by a lake. I picked site 2 and had the tent up and loaded just when it was too dark to see. No wind, quiet, and with moonlight, when it showed from behind passing clouds. A perfect evening to end a perfect day.

Jeff

Spent: $9.44 (breakfast) + $0.35 (ice) + $14.60 plus $3 (lunch) + $10 (campsite) + $1.50 (Dr Pepper) = $38.89.

+ plus signs indicate pictures added after returning home from the trip +

Day 28 - Macomb, IL to Bryant, IL

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