Galesburg to Henry to Stelle to Rensselaer

We left Galesburg with a lunch stop in Wyoming, IL. It actually had the look of a far west town, minus the cranky women. As we stood staring back and forth trying to choose between the two cafes in town, a woman driving by yelled from her car, "That one's better!" She points across the street and backed up her opinion by pulling in and entering. We followed and she recommended the local specialty, homemade tenderloin. Apparently the rage in central Illinois, it's a pork tenderloin slice, pounded thin, breaded and fried. Bob ordered one and it was delicious.

The woman was joined by a granddaughter who had just finished 8th grade. Her present from her evidently rich grandmother was a week-long trip to NY! You can imagine the turn the conversation took from there, as we took over recommending eateries, shows and other things to do. We were hoping to be adopted as honorary grandkids, since a recent high school graduate in the family was treated to an Alaskan cruise.

Our ride through the countryside that afternoon was reminiscent of Holland but with a modern spin: about a thousand wind generators joined us in taking advantage of the brisk west wind. About halfway to Henry we met a westbound man on a recumbent suffering from the dreaded rear-rim breakdown. Headed for Nebraska, he would be held up a few days in the next town awaiting shipment of a new rear wheel.

Our arrival in Henry on Wednesday coincided with the carnival that was in town for a few days. We settled into our motel on the river and adjacent to a marina, got cleaned up and headed just up the hill to Nan's for dinner. We dined lightly, considering that carnival food awaited us for dessert. Bob downed a funnel cake the size of a small Illinois county and I enjoyed a gooey caramel apple. Too late we realizedwe could have ordered an elephant ear in honor of Norma Jean.

Breakfast the next morning was at Nan's again, proximity being a factor. We chatted with a pair of ladies at the next table and then spent the meal poring over our route for the day. When we got up to pay, Nan told us that one of the women had already taken care if our "ticket" as they are known here. Another to add to our list of "Road Angels."

a looong ride Thursday included a lunch stop at a Casey's (convenience store) where we had a long discussion with a farmer/truck driver about the vagaries of farming and a drink stop at a bookstore which houses the biggest collection of paranormal and conspiracy theory books we'd ever seen. A few miles down the road was our stop for the night, the Green House B & B run by Mark and Guia Hoffman. They were members of Stelle, a nearby "Intentional Community" they had once belonged to, but which had dissolved. Mark consults for Westinghouse and is therefore in Pittsburgh several times each year, so we gave him our email address so that we could get together and make sure he sees something besides Monroeville.

Guia, originally from the Philippines, is an excellent cook and hostess. We had a great time talking and being pampered. The next morning came too soon and we headed off to Rensselaer, IN fortified by a delicious breakfast and with a care package of fresh fruit supplied by Guia. Our ride here was longer than we thought it would be and we are now comfortably resting in a little motel next door to a great Mexican restaurant. We are celebrating the 4th by taking our first rest day of the trip. It's well-timed, since it's also the first day of rain. We've mapped the next two days and are catching our breath and giving our butts a much- needed break from the saddles!

For today, the toughest thing we'll do is try to figure out what time it is. Indiana does this crazy thing where two blocks of counties stay in Central time with the rest of the state in Eastern time. We're on the very edge of this and it's really confusing. Fortunately we have no appts. Today!