Lazy Day by the River

I'll soon turn west, and away from the Mississippi for good. I've become very fond of this river in the last week, I'll miss it. So, today I spent another day camped on the beach, strolling barefoot through the mud-and-sand woods and riverside, sitting by my little driftwood fire, reading and listening to the radio. Another couple is camped nearby tonight, and there are more boats on the water. The other campers have a friendly young cat who thoroughly inspected my camp and gear before dozing off on the picnic table. Now the cat has gone back to her owners, and there are fireworks across the river again.

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Appreciating the sound on feet on sand.

The explorations of the cat.

Goodnight.

Already Missing the Mississippi - 'cross the river from Hannibal, MO

Lost track of my milage, again. Trust me that it was short, and slow. Highway 61 crept past, until finally I got off at Palmyra. The traffic in Hannibal was horrible, and I had to walk through the worst of it on sidewalks, but I made it across the bridge eventually. Historical downtown Hannibal is located well away from the choatic strip, and looked lovely, but I'll get back to that tomorrow. For now I'm heading back into Illinois and the John Hay public use area.

Until I reached the spot, I wasn't sure if camping was actually allowed. I can't remember from what source I heard a positive, but the corps of engineers website makes no mention of camping. There -is- camping, though, and it appears to be free. There is a porta-potty and some picnic tables, but no potable water or permanent fire-rings/grills.

All that can be quickly forgiven, though. The camping area is right on the river, sandy and shaded, directly across the river from downtown Hannibal. Barges pass, dinnerboats parade up and down the river, faint music can be heard from the city, and at night there was a brief flurry of fireworks. The recent floods deposited ample driftwood on the beach - better burning then the downed wood back in the trees. The evening was passably cool, even. Comfortable enough for a cook-fire, so I ate better than usual. Shell pasta with hot & spicey flavored tuna, mmm.

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Quieter road past Palmyra.

Pokeweed is working its way into the common roadside plants.

Missouri, acknowledging that we exist.

Back to Illinois for the night.

The stately Mississippi.

Best meal I've made myself yet.

Fire light and city lights.

Fireworks in Hannibal.

Goodbye for now, Iowa - Nauvoo, IL

43.05mi
5.9avs

All the variables that make for slow cycling converged on me, today. Flat ground, a painful leg muscle, headwinds, and Burlington... The first order of business for the morning was to resupply. Burlington has a Aldi store. It also has a lot of hills and long trains. I waited 20 minutes for one to pass, before realizing the Aldi was actually in the other direction. Then it was the climb - a long series of hills that took at least an hour to haul up, and maybe 10 minutes to glide back down from. But hey, I came back down with gummy bears, hoagie buns, green peppers, apples, flavoured tuna packets and pop-tarts, all for damn cheap.

I stopped at the Iowa visitor center before crossing the bridge to Illinois, which I admit I was a bit skeptical about(Illinois? What is in Illinois, anyway, besides Chicago? Chicago is scary. What if I ran into roving bands of people from -Chicago- way out here?). I was promptly given an Iowa bicycle map(which I promptly lost. I think the raccoons took it....), coffee, and cookies. Yay, Iowa. Why do I want to go into Illinois, again? Well, the river road over there is closer to the river... The visitor center ladies confirmed that it is, indeed, a nicer ride in illinois, at least for a stretch.

Past the bridge, the Great River Road routes onto the dry, flat, dusty Carmen road. here is where the headwinds came into play. Fortunately, I had some relief when a fellow living on a colorful little plot of land near Lomax called me over for icewater and shade. Had a nice chat, exchanged email addresses, and was sent off with some apples for the road. Once I got past Lomax, the route improved vastly. It was still hot, but now there was some shade to be had, towns a bit closer together, and scenic and/or historic pulloffs. I rolled into the historic town of Nauvoo late in the evening, and ignored all its touristy temptations. A rest day was in order, I'd come back into town in the morning. I camped at Nauvoo state park, a pleasant place, if a bit on the ridiculously-freaking-buggy side. Dead insects actually filled the entire bowl of one water fountain.... for $10, though, and in a tourist-town, it wasn't all bad.

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The long train. As it was nearly passed, another train crossed in the opposite direction... I did not stick around long enough to see how long that one would be.

Hills of Burlington

The river bridge from Burlington.

Burlington riverfront from the bridge.

Dun dun dun....

My left glove has sure seen better days.

'The Chief', one of those awesome folks I keep running into.

Darting through Nauvoo. I'll be back later.