Rock Falls, IL

Howdy from Rock Falls, at least I'm pretty sure that's where I am, as they all seem to run together and I get confused easily. :>) I'm tired, but had a pretty good sleep last night. Woke up several times and listened to the coyotes singing back and forth, but I was safe in my tent...along with my food. They would die a horrible death if they tried to get that! Of course I could have lured them in and then cooked them!

I'm at a Super 8 tonight as I needed a shower as even the mosquitoes wouldn't bite me! So after a shower I'm here at the library and then to the laundromat to wash the bike clothes. I have to wash them periodically or the caustic sweat would eat them off me (the PH's will understand ;>) ). A sunny day with more hills and more valleys mixed in. A pretty ride and tomorrow I get back on the ACA route and the schedule resumes. At least then I'll know where the campgrounds and camping parks are so that will help. But it's really been a great detour and am glad that it happened. Last year Ann and I drove the portion that I had to skip on this trip so I really didn't miss a lot, except some significant hills.

Todd, you were asking me when my Ohio ETA is. It looks like I'll be in Monroeville, Indiana, on the Ohio border, on Sept. 5 or 6 and then will travel south in Indiana until I'm west of somewhere between Springfield and Dayton, Ohio and then cut east to the Little Miami bike trail and when I hit that turn south and burn the pavement home to my woman! So I should be home the 8th or 9th, and then Ann heads to Cleveland for a week! Can I time it or what?! I may call her boss and tell him that she can't make it as I'll be holding her hostage.

With the Labor Day weekend here the campgrounds are all full so I should have some luck with the city parks as they seem to allow camping in them, but they are limited to what services they provide,like showers so I'll be hitting a few motels in between. Oh well, who's going to complain? Dick Cocks is going to come over and ride across Indiana with me so he'll be the only one to suffer. So that's the scoop from here.

If I get home on the 9th then it will have taken me exactly 2 months on this journey as I left July 10. It sure doesn't seem that long ago that I left, unless I start thinking about Ann and then it seems that long. I think I went over 3000 miles today! Will check that out when I fill out my journal tonight. I've been writing in it every day so that will be fun to go back and read later. I figure that is the only way I will remember a lot of it. A guy on the flight out told me I should write a book, as he was a publisher. But I doubt that will happen. So it's time to hit the Laundromat so later as I'm hungry too. Peace Paul