"Entry for Sunday, 24 August 1997

Crossing the Mississippi early in the morning at Clinton, Iowa.

Michelle Zarecor at Rock Falls, IL.

Charming lunch spot on IL 40 south of Rock Falls.

Last Modified on 9/24/97 at 5:05:20

Day's Narrative: After an early breakfast in the motel restaurant, I got off for Sheffield, IL about 6:45.

We know we are out of the frozen north now. In Dubuque, IA the motel had an outside swimming pool, instead of the usual inside swimming pool found in Minnesota. Also, I had my first fried catfish meal in Iowa. This morning the temperature was about 65 F (18 C) and I didn't have to wear a jacket for the first time in weeks. Its getting better.

The bridge crossing the Mississippi at Clinton, IA is one of those old two lane ones with no room for a bicycle to ride without being in traffic. It looked like it had been built in the 30s or 40s. There was a pedestrian walkway, but it was much too narrow to ride a bicycle on. The concrete railings were crumbling, and in some places they were almost gone. I'm glad it was early on Sunday morning and there was no traffic.

The bridge surface was concrete. Several years ago I bicycled across the Mississippi at Vicksburg, Mississippi (I think it was Vicksburg) and the surface of the bridge over the river was made of steel honeycomb with two inch (5 cm) squares. I suppose this is to make the bridge lighter. However, this made the pavement transparent so you could see the waves of water below you as you rode. This is a bit disconcerting to have the waves going one way while you are riding another. I was hoping this bridge had an opaque pavement surface.

There was hardly any traffic until I got to Morrison, IL, about 15 miles from Clinton. At Morrison I stopped and had a carton of milk, then went on to Rock Falls where I met Michelle Zarecor (see photo) at the convenience store where I stopped to have a Coke.

Michelle has three children, a girl 12 and two boys ages 10 and 14. Her husband, Ron, is a draftsman at Edison Automatic, a company dealing in hydraulic equipment. We had a nice conversation and she convinced me that it was probably wise to buy a sandwich for the 30 miles (50 km) down IL 88 to Sheffield.

I rode on through Rock Falls and couldn't find state road 88 to Sheffield. I asked two men standing nearby the intersection with IL 40, where IL 88 was. They told me the number had been changed to IL 40. My and Connie's maps still said IL 88. I said to myself, "Connie's not going to like this."

Halfway to Sheffield I stopped at a lovely spot beside the road to have my sandwich and a Power Bar (see photo). It was 11:00 and Connie had not caught up with me.

I rode on to the interstate intersection at Sheffield and found the Days Inn about noon. I checked in because I had beaten Connie there. About 1 pm I called Connie, and she had just found the right road. She drove up about 1:30 and I had been right -- she had not appreciated the change of the number on the highway.

Tomorrow we will go to either El Paso or Pontiac, about 70 miles (113 km), depending on the wind.
New approximate schedule. We are thinking about laying over an extra day in Vincennes, which puts us into Munfordville on September 2. The new schedule avoids riding on Labor Day.

Aug. 24, Sunday --Sheffield, Ill
Aug. 25, Monday --El Paso or Pontiac, Ill
Aug. 26, Tuesday --Rantoul, Ill
Aug. 27, Wednesday --layover
Aug. 28, Thursday --Charleston, Ill
Aug. 29, Friday --Vincennes, IN
Aug. 30, Saturday -- layover
Aug. 31, Sunday -- Owensboro, KY
Sep. 1, Labor Day Monday -- layover.
Sep. 2, Tuesday -- arrive Munfordville, KY.

[Connie] I overslept this morning and woke up at 9:50 for a beginning. I was too sleepy to take my shower last night, so straight into the shower after calling the front office to find out when checkout time was. (Fortunately it was noon, so there was time to shower and load up the truck)

I got on the road at 10:20, zooming out of Clinton and on the way to Sheffield. There was no problem. I even passed up the birthplace of Ronald Reagan--I forget where it was. I got to Rock Falls where Highway 88 was supposed to branch off south to Sheffield. Notice the words "supposed to." It did on the map, but there was no Highway 88 in sight, there was, however, an Interstate 88, entirely another proposal and it didn't go to Sheffield according to the map. In South Africa, we learned not to trust totally the maps in the book that made up the guide to the Johannesburg area. Sometimes a highway was there in reality, but not on the map; or, on the map, but not on the earth. Again I swear at highway designers and cartographers. I finally learn how to read the map and it's wrong! It was a 1996 map, but wrong anyhow.

I did my backing and forthing thing, east and west on Hwy 40 -- the only choice there was-- but no mention of Sheffield or any town on IL 88 on the map. I went way back on Hwy 30 where I came in to see if I missed a vital sign -- a very likely possibility with me. No sign that was missed. I was starving by this time and saw a Dairy Queen -- food and information. I ordered a Blizzard (something like a very, very thick milkshake that you eat with a spoon) and asked how to get to Sheffield. The first young woman who took the order didn't know where it was and went to get the other worker. She got a sort of funny look --like are you crazy? -- when I asked for directions to Sheffield.

She said go back to the intersection of roads US 30 and IL 40, go right on IL 40, go quite a ways and turn right again on Highway 6. OK, sounds like a plan, more than I had before. On to Highway 40, and drive a looong ways, passing through little towns that are on the map on 88, must be the right place. Quite a distance down the road, the phone rang. It was Ray asking where I was. I told him I was on 40/88 heading for Sheffield. He said he was at the Day's Inn and in room 111.

As I neared what seemed to be the promised intersection with Hwy 6, I saw a Day's Inn pretty literally in the middle of nowhere, almost in a corn field. On a hunch, I stopped and asked if Ray was here. It was the right place. The Innkeeper said Sheffield was about 4 miles down the road and the whole area was known as Sheffield. all I wanted was to come in and take a nap. Emotional and physical exhaustion caught up. Now I see why the Dairy Queen Lady thought I was crazy. This isn't exactly a hub of anything, nice enough, but probably not a place a stranger goes on purpose.

Return

© Ray & Connie Poore, 1997