Illinois, wooo!

Thursday, 31 July: I high-tailed it out of the campground this morning, and had a hot sunny morning. As I was passing through Janestown, WI, some ominous clouds rolled up behind me, along with a refreshingly cool tailwind. I battoned down the hatches and kept riding. I'm glad I did, because it turned out to be another one of those pretend storms that was all cool breeze and a welcome respite from the sun, and it only dropped a little rain. I made decent time, and the hills got smaller and smaller. Toward the end of the day, I accidentally wandered off my intended route, but it wound up being better that way, because it took me through a more rural area, and it was easier to find a small town to camp in. I was still headed in generally the right direction, and I made it to Illinois-- just barely.

I went to a bar for a beer and a celebratory I'm-in-Illinois dinner, and inquired about camping in the park. The patrons seemed split on whether it was allowed or not, and then one of them called the park guy and cleared it with him. He sent someone down to unlock the bathroom for me! So nice. I came to the park and set up, then went into the wonderful clean bathroom that had all the modern amenities-- you know, soap, paper towels... So far I'm digging Illinois. Although I was warned away from their state park system. According to the bar patrons, their parks are about as nice as Wisconsin's. But I have no direct evidence of that.