ILLINOIS AND KENTUCKY

Hello everyone,

The Katy Trail ended in St. Charles, so farewell to Missouri and hello to Illinois. I crossed the Mississippi on the Grafton Ferry. The ferry captain asked me what I was doing, and when I explained I was riding across the country to raise money for the fight against cancer, he gave me back the $3.00 he had charged me to cross the ferry.

My brother, David, met me in Alton and we had a very nice dinner at Tony's restaurant. It has been a long time since we have spent any one-on-one time together and we had a very good time.

Illinois is very dry, the winter wheat looks good, but the soybeans and corn are burning up. I'm sure the humidity and heat are here to stay the rest of the trip.

On to Carlyle, where my nephew, Tim O'Reilly, and two friends Steve Pitliangas and Jim Rives met me for dinner. Again, it was another enjoyable evening. Tim proceeded to ride with me for two days through Carbondale and Golconda. We spent the night in Anna at Dick and Midge Bigler's house (Brooke O'Reilly's parents). I really appreciated their hospitality.

About one mile before entering Carbondale, the road was concrete and the shoulder was asphalt with the shoulder lower than the road. When Tim went to get back on the road from the shoulder, his front wheel caught the edge and down he went. I knew he had to be hurting, and so did the people in the cars that saw him go down, as a couple of people stopped to check on him. He said he was okay and continued to ride with me the next day. Tim left me in Golconda, so once again I am back on my own.

I had a rest day in Elizabethtown. I stayed in a cool bed & breakfast owned by the state of Illinois called the Rose Hotel, which was built in 1812. It overlooked the Ohio River and this was the first time I had seen the Ohio River. The town also had a very good bar with very cold beer. I had some great fried catfish for dinner.

I now have made it through Illinois and am now in Kentucky. The state of Kentucky reminds me very much of Missouri. Very few shoulders on the road and very small towns along the route.

I stayed at the First Baptist Church Hostel in Sebree as there were no hotels in Webster County. The pastor of the church, Bob Hardison, and his wife, Violet, are two very special people. They have set up the youth center of the church as a hostel for cyclists. It had separate rooms for sleeping, mattresses, sofas, shower, a full kitchen, and snacks. Bob and Violet's home is next to the church/hostel and they invited me and the other six cyclists that were staying at the hostel to their home for dinner. Violet fixed the most amazing dinner of ham, green beans, corn, sliced homegrown tomatoes, cantaloupe, and corn bread. For dessert there were cookies and three kinds of homemade ice cream. What a delicious feast! She also did every one's laundry for them. They enjoy meeting the cyclists that visit their hostel. They truly do make you feel right at home.

I rode to Cave In Rock and took a ferry across the Ohio River as there is no bridge.

All is well in mind, body, and bike.

Talk next week,

Larry