Madison, Wisconsin to Pecatonica, Illinois

July 16, 2016

Bill left about 8:00 this morning to try out the bike path. Since our little hotspot works here, I got busy updating the blog, sending out emails, and posting pictures to Facebook. I finished up around 11:30 and packed up the camper and headed to the truck. When I started up, noticed the gas gauge was almost on E! We were so tired last night, we hadn't noticed! There was a gas station only about a mile away, so I made my way there to fuel up. I pulled in behind an unoccupied car figuring the owner would be out momentarily. Well, the moments added up and I decided to write in my journal for awhile. Who knew I was behind the slowest man on the planet….He ambled slowly out, put up his hood, fished around in the trunk, went back to look at the engine, closed everything then started pumping gas! Then it was on to cleaning the windshield, cleaning the back window, then cleaning the windshield again. I was imagining Bill lying dead in a ditch when he finished and slowly got into his car. As I was ready to start up and move into position at the pumps, saw him start fixing his hair in the mirror. So to just give him a little reminder that I was still there, I inched the truck closer and closer and he finally moved! Hallelujah!  Finished at last and hit the road. We did things a little differently today; Bill is following a bike path while I am on the road. The bike path was built on the base of an old railroad line so went a long ways. The path was great as long as it was paved, but quite a few miles before the Illinois border,

it turned to hard packed gravel and was slow going. After 30 to 40 miles, he decided to go back to road riding. I drove until about 2:30 before I caught up to him on Route 69. He had made a quick change of direction while he was riding and took a fall. He either cracked a rib or bruised it badly. Since he had over 60 miles in, we called it a day and drove just a few more miles to Seward Bluffs State Park. Nice, quiet place and I got a senior discount! :) Since we were here a little early, we went and did laundry at the local Laundromat,

had a quick burger and then picked up a few groceries. He told me about the 1200 foot Stewart Tunnel that Gordon mentioned

and wouldn’t you know, we had forgotten about the flashlight! There's a large curve in the middle so you are in total blackness So here are pictures of the tunnel that he had to literally walk through feeling along the wall.

Also a beautiful little bridge along the path too.

Then it was back to the little beach house on wheels, unload everything, ice Bill’s rib and soak his feet. We were fried by the time we hit the sheets. But you know what? This Sunday morning, we awoke to pouring rain and we already had all those errands done. So since our hotspot works here, we are updating Garmin rides, the blog, and getting more pictures ready for you. Thank-you for following and for reading.