Day 29 - ending at Morton, IL - Getting Aligned

September 3, 2017

Day 29 - ending at Morton, IL

rode on Pekin Park Bike Trail

Posted via email Mon Sep 4 16:13:02 2017 PDT

Woke up at about 5:45am on this final day for this trip. Started with my usual morning routine - working on the report. A nice quiet morning in a beautiful camping area. A few leaves were falling on the tent last night, and more this morning. It's surprising how loud it sounds when they hit.

With the report done (except for sending in - not enough signal here) I started packing. When it was time to put my lunchbox in the bike's basket, I decided to eat the rest of the ginger snaps first. My plan today, besides getting home, was to eat breakfast in nearby Canton.

I left my campsite at 9:29am, then stopped at the showerhouse to put on sunscreen. All set at 9:42am. I was at IL-100 at 9:55am, and in St. David at 10:08am. Sent in report here, and also purchased a cup of ice from Casey's - fifteen cents!

Back on the road at 10:29am. Connected with IL-78 at 10:42am, and was at the south end of Canton at 11:03am. I was using Google Maps to find a place to eat, but then happened upon a place - American Grille - at 11:12am. Went with country-fried steak breakfast this time.

It was noon when I was ready to leave. Here's the final 'noon report': 8.1 miles.

North a ways, then a turn east onto what is CR-27 outside of town. I passed the Shake Shack on my way, and decided I wanted dessert. Butterscotch syrup was cascading over the edge of the sundae I was served. Very good and very sticky!

Back at it at 12:33pm. Better get some miles in, or I'll be getting home after dark. At 12:44pm I passed Canton Lake. I left CR-27 for Big Barn Road at 1:27pm. There was a gentle northwest breeze helping me along on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. Big Barn Road changed to paved CR-D60 as I entered Peoria County (at 2:02pm).

A slight change in my at-home route allowed me to see Glasford. I discovered they have a Casey's and a nice park. I enjoyed a chocolate milk at their pavilion, then tried to get a good selfie. Thought about taking a quick picnic-table nap, but figured I needed to keep moving, since it was already 3:04pm.

Continued on east, then south to the downhill to US-24/IL-9 at Kingston Mines. I couldn't quite make the stop at the bottom of the hill, so turned east on the frontage road before I was on the highway. Decided to continue on this road for a while, which was just to the next intersection.

The main divided double-lane highway has a wide, some-what debris-filled shoulder, and I was on that at 3:43pm. Passed Mapleton at 3:57pm. A little later I had my first accident for this trip. There was a railroad track to my right and I was hearing grinding noise behind the trees hiding the track. Trying to see what that was kept me from seeing the huge crack in the asphalt shoulder. Just missed it! That was close! The crack was several feet long, eight-inches wide, and two-feet deep. I parked the bike and walked back to investigate the grinding noise. It was from a "Railavator", a rotating cylinder that grinds/rips the limbs off trees. After several attempts to get a good picture, I backed up as I turned toward the bike, and my left leg dropped into the asphalt crack the bike tires had somehow missed. Fortunately, all I received from that was three scratches that quit bleeding after a while on their own.

I counted my blessings as I moved on toward the junction ahead that would take me into Pekin on IL-9. Made that turn at 4:31pm. After many on-the-bridge pictures, I arrived in Pekin at 4:55pm. I took a right off the bridge to loop around to the Pekin Park Bike Trail. This trail would get me through Pekin. At one spot along the way, I was standing where trains used to rumble the gym floor of the high school I'd attended. No trains now, and no high school building either.

The trail ended at Allentown Road, and I was there at 5:55pm. East on this road would get me to Springfield Road. Fun riding during this pleasant evening. I was at Springfield Road at 6:40pm, where I had to stop and feed both DeLorme GPS units batteries. Only the Magellan MAP330 is going to give me a reliable miles-ridden number tonight.

I started a two-mile ride north at 6:53pm, grabbing some near-sunset pictures along the way, before arriving in Groveland at 7:12pm. Turned east on Queenwood Road for the final leg into Morton.

I arrived at Morton's city limit at 7:30pm. Getting a picture here with the bike, the sign, and the moon took some patience, due to bunches of cars driving by. After I was over I-155, I turned on my headlights, and followed my routing to home, arriving as our church's carillon chimed eight o'clock.

I made it! My wife let me in, and we caught up on news as I drank a cold V8. Unlike the return from other trips, I wasn't really tired. But that was before I started on picture-selection after a shower.

Into bed at 10:45pm, thankful for all I got to see and experience, for the support I received from friends and family, and for the kind people I met along the way.

Jeff

Spent: $0.15 (ice) + $13.17 plus $3 (breakfast) + $2.94 (sundae) + $1.71 (chocolate milk) = $20.97.

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

Day 29 - Bryant, IL to Morton, IL

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