Day 2 - Lewistown to Brimfield - Central Illinois Holiday Weekends

September 5, 2021

Day 2 - Lewistown to Brimfield

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I was up at 6:10am this morning - in time to get a pre-sunrise picture.

The mowed grass in the tent area, which was in rows like cut hay, made for comfortable sleeping, but I was tracking a lot of damp grass into the tent.

I walked the bike past where Josh's family had set up. We chatted some about today's expected mileage to Jubilee College State Park. I didn't know for sure, but thought it wouldn't be as many miles as yesterday. With goodbyes, I was at the exit sign. Its message is directed more toward RV campers, but it made me smile.

I was looking forward to breakfast in Lewistown at the Country Side Family Diner, a place recommended by our daughter-in-law. So back on US-24 to Dickson Mounds Road, then west into town on Avenue L.

I parked the bike near the entrance of the cafe at 9:21am. They were crowded inside, but there was an open stool at the counter, and the stools were spaced out.

9:43am - steak and eggs breakfast plus tomato juice and coffee

At 10:28am I was on my way to see Lewistown sites: Edgar Lee Masters childhood home and Oak Hill Cemetery. I also happened across a blacksmith shop and the courthouse.

Until I researched some for this tour, the only thing I knew about Masters was that he had a stamp.

10:32am - Edgar Lee Masters boyhood home (1883) at southeast corner of Main Street and Avenue D

A little farther going north on Main Street is Rasmussen Blacksmith Shop. The business was founded in 1893, and stayed operating until 1969. The inside has remained about the same since then, thanks to its acquisition by the Lewistown Society for Historical Preservation.

Next was the courthouse, where there is more historic information posted. There were lots of connections between Lewistown and Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln gave a speech at this site in 1858, when an earlier courthouse building stood.

10:51am - Fulton County's fourth courthouse building - a sister building to the courthouse in Eureka, Illinois

There was lots more information at the southeast entrance to Oak Hill Cemetery, both about Masters and Lincoln. My photos of the information boards aren't very readable, maybe you can make out what this one below says.

10:59am - Spoon River Anthology written by Edgar Lee Masters is about persons buried in Oak Hill Cemetery

Apparently, the book was not a hometown favorite. It was banned in Lewistown until 1974!

How the Once-Banned Spoon River Anthology Made a Comeback in Lewistown

I recently re-watched the 1940 movie Our Town, and wondered which poet the narrator was referring to when he said, "It's like what one of those Midwestern poets said, 'You've gotta love life to have life, and you've gotta have life to love life.'" Well, the poet was Masters, whose character Lucinda Matlock says, "It takes life to love Life."

I rode through the cemetery then continued north on Main Street out of town. At the IL-97/IL-100 junction I turned east for my county road route to Bryant.

11:20am - looking east at Grain Bin Road

At 11:45am, I passed a cemetery. I needed a break in the shade, and there was some at the back of this cemetery.

It was noon before I got back on the bike. Noon mileage report: 8.9miles.

One of the reasons I was using back roads to get to Bryant was I wanted to pass by the farm where our younger daughter-in-law grew up. I wasn't exactly sure where it was, and had missed seeing it on a previous trip (hadn't even been on the right road). When I was where I thought the farm was, I took a picture and texted our younger son, "Is this the farm?" One minute later I received, "Yeah come on in if you want". They were there visiting! What a warm welcome I received from our daughter-in-law's family. They were in the middle of their after-church Sunday dinner, and offered me roast beef, potatoes, and all that goes with that. But I was too full from breakfast. I did accept a Coke. Sitting there was so relaxing. I needed to leave before I started a Sunday afternoon nap! I did finally leave, with many good wishes, and made it to Bryant.

The next town was Saint David, and I'd planned a stop at the Casey's there for Gatorade and ice. Also bought some Clif Bars and a chocolate milk - the milk for drinking now.

Saint David has a water tower that's different, so I detoured a block to get a picture.

From Saint David, I used Taylor Road to get to the south side of Canton. I then made a two-block diversion for ice cream at Hannam's Dairy Dream. Since my water supply was getting low, I asked for some water and received two large cups with ice!

2:49pm - cherry sundae plus free ice water at Hannam's Dairy Dream

Considering the time, I may have packed more sightseeing into today than I should have. In Canton I wanted to see where the International Harvester plant had been. The plant closed in 1983, then in 1997, the buildings all burnt down in an arson fire. There are some improved streets around the site now, and some rebuilding, but the biggest block is still an empty lot.

3:21pm - looking northwest from Third Avenue at the location of the now-gone International Harvester plant

3:25pm - looking east from Second Avenue (at a former entrance?)

Next I headed west on Walnut Street to a bike trail I'd noticed on the map while planning this trip.

3:45pm - on the Wallace to Lakeland Trail

This 2.2 mile trail ended at Lakeland Park Drive. After that I made my way to Norris, avoiding riding on IL-78 as much as possible.

From Norris, five and a half miles north on back roads would get me to the west side of Farmington, where I planned to eat supper.

5:42pm - almost to IL-116, just have to make it up this hill . . .

B's Drive-Inn was where I wanted to eat. I'd driven past B's many times on trips to visit my Uncle Gene in Middletown, Iowa. Return trips were always later at night. Here was my opportunity to stop and eat. I was impressed with the drive-in's efforts to keep everyone safe from COVID-19. They had a touchless (for the customers) walkie-talkie system at the walk-up windows to minimize up-close interactions. And everyone was keeping their distance.

6:08pm - small root beer float and a hot dog served the way my sister Linda likes them

6:22pm - everyone keeping their distance

I still had miles to go on north and east through Elmwood and Brimfield before I'd get to the state park, and the shadows were getting long.

6:35pm - just into Knox County on CR-2300E

7:00pm - it's still light on the hilltops

I stopped at 7:16pm along IL-78 near its junction with IL-8 to wait the few minutes for the sun to set. A few minutes later a motorcyclist came by and stopped. He wanted to know if I was OK. He'd been at home up the road and thought maybe I was a crashed motorcyclist, having seen my bike's flashing lights, then not seen them. I told him why I was stopped and thanked him for checking on me. He turned around for his short ride back home after telling me to be safe.

I arrived in Elmwood at 7:34pm - still light enough to see, but not the best for pictures. The movie theater was lit up which helped with this photo.

I headed north and east out of town, and decided it really was dark half an hour later. Another story: I leave the backlights for my GPS displays turned off to save battery charge. So instead, I use my pocket flashlight to check the displays when it's dark. Doing this always reminds me of Jimmy Stewart in the 1957 movie The Spirit of St. Louis, where he's checking the fuel gauge on the mail plane he's flying from Peoria to Chicago. Anyway, I was using my flashlight a lot this evening. I'd made a last minute at-home change to the end of this day's routing, and couldn't remember which GPS held the updated route.

I made it to Claybaugh Road from a turn off of Brimfield Road. I stopped after half a mile on this road, at 8:38pm, for a Clif Bar break and to enjoy the stars. I was thinking I'd passed the road I needed to get over I-74, but a half mile further east put me on the correct road (Maher Road) heading north. The intersection with I-74 was well-lit, and just after that was US-150 - the shoulderless highway I'd have to use for three miles to get to Jubilee. With my flashers on I was well seen, and at this time of night, traffic was light. I made it to the park entrance safely at 9:35pm.

I was hoping to camp in the less expensive "Tent Area", but I didn't know where that was. The sign at the camp host site read, "Closed. Select a Site and Set-up. Register after 8:00am". So I started a ride around the first loop, stopping at available site A4 at 9:57pm. All set up (with electricity!) by 10:37pm, with bedtime shortly after.

Total today 56 miles. Moving average 7.5mph. Top speed 27.0mph.
Spent: $14.84 plus $5.16 (breakfast) + $15.66 (Clif Bars, ice, Gatorade, chocolate milk) + $3.05 plus $5 (cherry sundae) + $4.67 plus $5 (supper) + $20 (campsite fee) = $73.38.

Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 340 miles (547 km)

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