Loving the Land of Lincoln

Day 21 - Mascoutah ,IL to Cisne, IL (78 miles and 1100 feet of climbing)

With the forecast only predicting a high of 89 degrees (the lowest of the whole trip) we decided to sleep in and start a little later today. We were still on the road by 8, but it was nice to not wake up to an alarm. I started out by riding first for 40 miles into Centralia, IL where the McDonalds was unfortunately closed due to power outages from the storm.

There was a big storm last night with gusts of wind up to 80 mph. We were able to wait it out in Huddle House restaurant (think Denny’s) where we were planning on getting dinner anyway. Unfortunately, they only had one cook and everyone else had the same idea as us so after an hour with no food we gave up and went to Subway. There was a very vibrant rainbow at the end of the storm though.

The riding today was a nice mix of small towns and various crop fields. It feels good to not feel so far outside of civilization and gives you more to look at. The 40 miles went fast, despite the slight head wind and we even saw what we thought was a lighthouse in the middle of the country. Turns out it was a bell house, whatever that is.

Mom took over and her and Dad biked another 20 miles through more corn fields to meet Maude and I at an old church for a rest stop. Then another 17 miles to end at a gas station in Cisne. There were less small towns and more cornfields on the second half of the ride. We’re staying about 15 miles off course because we couldn’t find any other hotels so we all packed up and drove to our hotel. Mom and Dad didn’t feel like biking the 15 miles into a true head wind.

We’re well out of St. Louis and the suburbs and in a real small town so I think Walmart is our only option for dinner. I never really shopped at Walmart before but it is growing on me.