Day 21 - Lincoln, IL to Peoria, IL - Two Far 2020 - NTF (Not Two Far)

June 20, 2020

Day 21 - Lincoln, IL to Peoria, IL

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Keith A. SpanglerLooks like a nice ending of a day....drop off
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4 years ago

The forecast for today was 40% chance of thunderstorms with possible strong gusty winds by 2PM. We got up early and were on the road at7:45AM - almost a record for us! We had a good ride. The morning heat receded as the clouds moved in. The temperature as recorded on our Garmins went from low 90's at 9AM to low 80's by 10AM. Most of today's route was on small roads adjacent to 1-155.

This section had a nice buffer from the interstate.

We pedaled along with only two stops for snacks and drinks and arrived at the hotel in Peoria a little before 1PM. We could have slept in - the storms have just now arrived at 6PM, but they are bringing heavy rain and wind. It was better to not take a chance.

Here are a few images from today.

We've talked for a couple of days about the lack of livestock on the farms. Most of them have no sign of farm animals. This farm was the exception.

Finally, a barn for livestock. This actually looked like a family farm, rather than the large industrial farms we've grown accustomed to seeing recently. - K

Cow critters - an uncommon sight in this part of IL. - K

And this is the view of the creek from the other side of the bridge.

Because we were near the highway, we passed more businesses and some big elevators.

Industrial scale farming. Interesting tidbit... When you hear of gov't aid to farmers, it's actually operations like this that get most of the money. The small family farm is almost a thing of the past in this area. - K

Farming on this scale is hard to imagine. How many acres of grain are stored here?? - K

These sprayers were parked next to a Co-ops elevators.

Not a dealers lot - just another large farm. This gives an impression of just how big the farm operations are in central IL. - K

I thought this looked like a giant farm spider.

I always thought of proving grounds as automotive or military, but this is a crop yield proving ground used by the 360 Yield Center.

I have a story to share today that's not as heart warming as yesterday's. It's actually a little snide and snarky, but I have to tell it. At our first stop, I watched a woman walk up to the counter in her prudent and health conscious face mask. She had a disinfectant wipe in her hand, which seemed a little past prudent, especially when I saw that she was using it to wipe off the PACK OF CIGARETTES she was buying!

Kerry here...

We came to Peoria specifically to tour the Caterpillar Visitor Center. When we changed WTF to NTF earlier this spring, we knew the visitors center was closed, but figured that it would surely be open by mid-June. Well, we figured wrong! It is still closed, with no indication of when it will re-open. I did walk over to peek in the windows. It looked interesting enough that we will probably come here again on next years trip. (We will be in Moline in a couple of days where I'm sure the same fate awaits us at the John Deere Visitor Center.)

Even if all the museums and other tourist sites are closed, all is not lost as we are riding roads that we have never ridden, and something new awaits us around each bend.

Today's ride: 50 miles (80 km)
Total: 344 miles (554 km)

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Rich McKayI can't believe that you're objecting to the woman wiping down the pack of cigarettes! If she were to contract COVID-19 she might not live long enough to enjoy a slow death from lung cancer!
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4 years ago

Jeanna & Kerry SmithTo Rich McKayPeople can be so hard to understand. What was she really thinking?
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4 years ago

Keith A. SpanglerStay the course which I’m sure you both will.....I’m still jealous.
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4 years ago