Burlington, IA to Galesburg, IL

Today was somewhat uneventful, especially in comparison to yesterday. We set out from Burlington this morning after a rather good free hotel breakfast. We were not in our usual hurry to be on the road as early as possible, since it was going to be neither hot nor a particularly long day. We headed out from the hotel at about 7:30 and down into the actual downtown area of Burlington. An attraction we'd been told about was Snake Alley, the most winding street in the nation. It's a cobblestone road that connects the upper part of town to the lower, evidently designed by German settlers more than a century ago who remembered the pathways cut into the hillside vineyards back home. We would have pedaled to the top to experience the street and to give the ultimate test to our 10" rear disk brake, but alas, the road was closed to traffic for some reason. We contented ourselves with gazing up and marvelling.

Our mid-morning stop was in a town called Oquawka, IL where we were advised by the convenience store ladies to go into the middle of town to see "where the elephant died." That's all she said. Really. We chose to forego that treat, and regretted it later when Bob Googled it and got the story. Apparently about 40 years ago Norma Jean Elephant, as she was known, was chained to a tree in the center of town awaiting her chance to perform in the circus. A storm approached and her trainer could not get her unchained in time. When the lighting struck, he was blown across the square, but poor Norma was fried. Someone in town suggested that she be buried on the spot. (We suspect this may have been a financial as well as emotional decision - how do you get a dead elephant out of there?) There is a monument and plaque which commemorate Norma Jean's passing. We shall have to forever imagine how moving that experience would have been.

We had a lunch stop in Monmouth, an excellent Chinese buffet. The waitress and the whole family (a nine-year-old ran the register) were very curious about our trip. It was again that amazement that we would choose to do this, since in Asia only those who can't afford a car would ride a bike. Monmouth is a college town with the attendant big beautiful houses with wrap-around porches and shade trees.

About 20 miles later we arrived at Galesburg. Hats off again to the iPhone. We found a Best Western motel, whose rate on Expedia was $67. The desk rate was $98. The desk clerk had no way to give us that rate, so we sat on a comfortable couch in the lobby, made our reservation through Expedia and saved $30! At this point, we had been blown into town on a great tailwind. By the time we reached the motel, the sky had clouded over and we were actually chilly; imagine this after last week's heat. Thought the town boasts a historic district with several interesting restaurants (though overpriced; we Googled their menus) we opted for the hotel restaurant which served astoundingly good food at a reasonable price. Getting back on the bike for the ride back into town just got less and less appealing as the afternoon wore on.

We are in Cubs country; therefore, the Pirates game was on in the bar. We (I) were looking forward to a second glass of wine in the bar to watch the game. The Pirates were leading. The cable went out. Ah, well. The second glass of wine was packaged "to go," and we are ready to head back to the room to check on the cable connection there. Tomorrow's destination: Henry, IL after which we are officially back on the Adventure Cycling Northern Tier Route, and Bob the Navigator will have much less stress in his life. The last few days have been like old times - using a state map and creating our own route. I will testify that he hasn't lost his touch.