Day 33 - ending at Oglesby, IL - Metamora, USA

September 5, 2022

Day 33 - ending at Oglesby, IL

Day 33 - Channahon, IL to Oglesby, IL

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Up today at 4:35am to work on report. Charging the phone using the bike's accessories battery is working well now. The hub dynamo connections needed cleaning, which I did a few days ago, so the battery is getting a better charge while riding during the day. Ate breakfast at 7:35am. Later, a campground worker stopped by to collect my $6 camping fee.

Riding today would be mostly on the I&M Canal Trail, heading west, with evening destination Cozy Corner Campground near Oglesby.

I left this campsite at 9:55am, but didn't get far. Just after the lock and lock tender's house, the bridge over the DuPage River was closed. Goggle Maps showed an easy way around, going through Channahon. At 10:16am, I was back on the trail. Good riding with the canal on my right and the Des Plains/Kankakee/Illinois River on my left, and a few people to say "Good Morning" to along the way.

At noon I stopped to eat some peanuts so I could take my morning pills, which I should have taken at breakfast. Went 10.8 miles so far. I detoured off the trail at Morris at 12:35pm to get to the nearby CITO gas station for lunch items. Not a big selection to choose from, so an apple pie was the main course, with cookies for dessert, which I ate back near the trail.

The trail is closed on the west side of Morris, but there is a well-marked detour through town. I was back on-trail at 1:32pm.

Around 2:30pm, I called Cozy Corner Campground, to make sure camping would work there. They're not set up for tent camping, but the owner had several suggestions. One was a bar in Utica that allows camping behind their bar. That might work . . . I was hoping to be a bit farther on by the end of the day, so tomorrow's ride home wouldn't be too many miles. I ended up making a reservation with the Days Inn in Oglesby. There, that's settled.

I arrived in Seneca at 3:15pm. Their grain elevator is a little more weather-worn since I last saw it in 2006 with Linda and Laurie. At 3:52pm I was in Marseilles. Crossed over the Fox River just before arriving in Ottawa at 4:49pm. The sun was out now. Ottawa has the only remaining toll collector's house, and also a replica canal boat - Rail Splitter - sitting on dry land.

Passed Buffalo Rock at 5:44pm, arriving in Utica at 6:37pm. Utica was having an outdoor dining event, but it was getting late, and I needed to be off the trail before dusk. Sunset would be at 7:22pm. At 7:25pm, I left the trail in LaSalle, which also has a replica canal boat - The Volunteer, and it's sitting in canal water.

It was dark enough now to use my lights. Onto A Street, then IL-351 over the Illinois River and under I-39. Then on IL-71 and residential streets to get to the Days Inn motel in Oglesby. Of course, it was uphill to get out of the river valley. Shortly after arriving at the motel at 8:04pm, I walked across the street to Subway for a carryout supper. After that, a shower. Then I made a decaf coffee with the room's unit. That didn't keep me awake long enough to get the report done. To bed at 11:05pm.

Jeff

Spent: $8.60 (lunch) + $111.39 plus $5 (motel room) + $12.50 plus $5 (supper) = $142.49.