Nancy got up early to hike some trails before the rising temperature. Moe and I stayed behind and enjoyed breakfast. I ate eggs and then Moe enjoyed the egg plate.
Watching the sun over the lake. A moth comes for a visit.
Walking the beach and watching the waves. It is an awesome sight to see, feel and hear the power of these waves. Lake Michigan is roughly four times the size of Massachusetts.
Our last night here, tomorrow we head north along the lake.
July 21, 2025
I put last night to rest with a fire. This campground does not sell fire wood but allows people to collect dead wood for fires.
I carry while touring an eight inch saw to cut wood for fires and to clear, if needed, downed trees off the trail while riding.
This morning we drove to the Nature Center in this park to hike some of the many trails. When we closed up the car and walked to the trail we saw a sign posting No Bicycles, No Pets on the trails. Before leaving our site I was speaking to the Camp Host for places to hike. He knows we hike with Moe and suggested that we hike the Nature Center. So out on to the trails we go. Throwing caution to the wind and breaking the rules added excitement to our adventure. Moe enjoyed the outing without worry.
On our return from the hike, hungry and thirsty, I see two pieces of firewood left behind by a fire ring. Stop, I shout. Nancy brakes to a sudden stop asking “What’s the matter?” When I pointed to the two pieces of wood she was far less enthusiastic about the find than I was and reluctantly backed the car closer to the site.
Around 4:30 this afternoon I heard police and emergency vehicles over toward the beach. Then a few minutes later a half a dozen helicopters began hovering above.
The sky was filled with TV station cameras. The news is reporting that a fifteen year old boy fell into the lake in the beach area. They have been searching for over an hour. The beach has been closed since the search began.
Now at 8:45 Nancy Moe and I are in the screen tent enjoying a fire.
July 19, 2025
Waking up early and looking at the weather app we decided to head out hiking without breakfast. Heavy rain with lightning is predicted for 11:00 AM.
Illinois Canyon
Saint Louis Canyon
Saint Louis Canyon has a dark history, the Starved Rock murders. In 1960 three women, nurses, were brutally murdered while out for an afternoon hike. The bodies were found in a cave days later. A suspect was arrested and found guilty.
While finishing up in the canyon we heard thunder so off we hurried back to the car about two miles away. Large rain drops hit the parking lot pavement as we open the doors and jump into the car.
Back at the campsite we sit in our ten by ten foot pop up tent. With rain flooding the ground, we went into the camper.
An hour later the rain let up so we packed the tent and chair and got ready to drive to Ottawa to meet Alan and his friend Mimi for dinner at Bash Burger and Sushi. After a great meal and visit we go back to camp to relax for the night. Tomorrow we will leave for our next campground.
July 20, 2025
This morning we ate before cleaning up and loading my bike and gear into the camper. We hitch up in the damp muggy air and drive off to the next campground on Lake Michigan. This will be a four hour drive.
We arrive happy to be done driving and out of the car. Setting up was quick and easy. Here on the lake we enjoy the cool dry air with a nice steady breeze. Our site is on the lakeside and has a path to the beach a hundred feet walk away. We hear the waves while eating dinner.
We take Moe for a walk on the beach, he does not like water but enjoys running on the sand. The sun is beginning to set as we walk the pedestrian/bicycle path between the lake and campsites.
When we got to camp I strung a line to dry the sheets and damp clothes. For the past month the high heat with ninety plus percent humidity kept everything damp, us included.
Our windows opened wide as we fell asleep comfortably for the first night in a month.
July 15, 2025
We wake up, have breakfast, and pack up to head to Starved Rock Campground in Oglesby, Illinois. This will be about a four hour drive.
I don’t know where this truck is headed but I’m not going there for coffee.
5:00 PM
Our route brings us into the town of Wenona, Illinois. I rode into this town on my double trans continental tour in 2022. While in the City Park getting ready to set up for the night two people drove through in a golf cart and stopped to visit. Alan invited me to follow him to his home two blocks away and spend the night. I graciously accepted his invitation. This began a friendship. Now three years later I find myself in the center of his town. I ask Nancy to pull over and park while I open my phone and call Alan. After the phone rings I hear “Hi, Russ”. After a short chat I say that I am in Wenona. Alan says I’ll be there in two minutes. Nancy and I watch as he turns the corner and drives to us. We visit and make plans to meet up at our campsite in a few days.
July 17, 2025
At the campground.
Hiking along the Illinois River.
After hiking we head back to the campground. Alan will be coming to meet up with us soon. After we shower we visit and Alan takes us for a tour of Utica, Buffalo Rock, then to Ottawa for pizza at Bianchi’s Word Famous Pizza. This place lives up to its name! Than we tour the city and more sites along the way to our campsite. The visit continues until dark.
Tomorrow is another day.
The moon last night over the lake.
After breakfast we decided to spend the morning hiking some of the park trails. The weather prediction was for heavy rain with lightning strikes this afternoon. It is now about 10:00, breakfast is done and I am finishing the last sips of coffee. Nancy is anxious to start so I begin a hasty exit from my chair.
Moe, with his eager excitement, leaps into his comfy spot and off we drive to the trail head. We choose a trail that goes out to an old graveyard.
We begin the hike in the direction of the lake. We pass many interesting sights before we find ourselves at a small sandy beach at the edge of a small cove
Nancy and Moe wander into the water to cool off. I stay behind dry on the shore and capture the scene.
Everyone is now on dry land so off we go to finish the hike. I didn’t mention yet that Moe has been hiking with us off leash. Against the rules but he so much enjoys the freedom of racing ahead to turn and race back to see why we are not keeping up with him.
As we walk along the trail we head toward a bluff where the trail takes a sharp bend to the right. Moe had stopped to sniff and runs full speed to pass and get ahead again. In his playful sprint he didn’t turn with the trail. He ran full speed over the edge! We rush to the edge, the drop looks about sixty feet to the water below. We don’t see Moe. Panic begins with frantic calls to Moe. We look over the edge to see a frightened Moe on a narrow ridge. Brush had stopped his fall. He was maybe eight feet below us shaken but not hurt. We keep talking to him. We can’t get to him from the edge. We look around to the side to see if there is a less steep way down to him. As we make our way to him he is making his way to us. Nancy grabs him and lifts Moe to the top.
Back to the car we go. This is just another episode of the life of Moe. Back at the campsite we have lunch listening to the thunder booming toward us. We pack everything away and head into the camper as rain splatters on the roof. Moe, he is exhausted and sleeping on the bed. We are wondering what kind of surprises Moe is dreaming up while looking so calm and peaceful.
July 12, 2025
9:26 AM
Waking up to a breakfast of eggs, toast, bacon, and espresso was a wonderful treat. Richard and Talulah, the Warmshowers Host, offered to host me at last minute notice. I was heading into Saint Charles without a place to sleep. Fed and rested, but most enjoyably, I was wearing clean clothes. Saying goodbyes and thanking the gracious hosts I am heading back to the trail two miles away.
10:20 AM
Downtown Saint Charles.
11:29 AM
I made it to Machens, the eastern end of the Katy Trail.
12:07 PM
Back at Black Walnut Trailhead waiting for Nancy to pick me up.
12:30 PM
Portage Des Sioux
1:57 PM
Old Bakery Beer Company in Alton, Illinois was a treat beyond expectations. Excellent beer and great food for lunch and Moe was welcomed inside to join us while we dined. Moe was served a large bowl of cold water, he was very thirsty as were we. Moe enjoyed tasty dog treats made by the brewery while we enjoyed our meal.
3:41 PM
Cahokia mounds, built by the Osage 1100 AD. Twenty thousand people lived in this village.
7:00 PM
We finally arrive at Nancy’s campsite in Eldon Hazlet State Park in Carlyle, Illinois.
July 11, 2025
5:52 AM
Moon in the morning.
8:14 AM
I’m leaving Marthasville after a nice stay under the park pavilion. Matt and his two daughters, the family I met yesterday, stayed in the same campground with me last night. We all planned to camp at the KY Caboose campsite behind the restaurant. It was closed so I went to the City Park a mile away. I thought maybe they would be coming here also.
9:14 AM
My breakfast plan, ride to the next town, Dutzow, and have a real sit down meal. Matt and his family had finished breakfast and on their bikes to ride up the trail. It was nice seeing them, they also stayed in Marthasville at the Bike Hostel.
My breakfast was an omelet with OJ and coffee. Now I’m leaving the Dutzow Deli and Restaurant hoping to see the Dooley family again.
When I came upon them on the Trail we visited and exchanged contact info.
2:14 PM
Greens Bottom Depot, the last stop before downtown St. Charles, I stopped to find a place to sleep and Matt came by alone without the loaded trailer. He stopped when he saw me and we had our last visit on this tour. His wife picked up the girls and he was riding to their hotel.
Every hotel in St. Charles was booked, the Kayak Race brought a thousand people into the city. The Race finish is being held at the Lewis and Clark Museum Landing. I had hoped to go to the festivity. However, my luck turned, a Warmshowers host accepted my request, I have a place to sleep tonight. I am too far to get the the party.
3:35 PM
I got to my Warmshowers at 2:30. I am showered and rehydrated. My pile of slimy clothes will be washed and dried. Tomorrow I will start the last twenty-two miles to Machens fresh and clean.
July 9, 2025
9:31 PM
I packed up the tent wet with dew. I was not in a hurry because Marthasville is thirty-eight miles away. Before leaving I got to visit with the crew of two race teams as the crew attempted getting some rest. See this was close to home from my ultra racing days.
12:29 PM
When the Missouri River was close to the trail I saw kayaks closing in on the finish at the Lewis and Clark Museum Landing in St Charles.
Trees or branches were down across the trail in three different places along the trail.
2:30 PM
It was a hot push to get to Marthasville. Many of the miles were out in the open so no shade. I had hoped to camp at the KY Caboose, a small train car diner, right on the trail as you enter the town. It is Thursday, the day they are closed.
I continued to the Depot where the City Ball Park has accommodations for cyclists on the Katy Trail to camp. Now under the pavilion out of the sun enjoying the breeze blowing through. The shower and bathrooms are open twenty-four hours a day. Tonight at the ball fields are two play-off tournaments tonight so the concession is open with food and drink. It will be noisy until 8:30 tonight.
July 9, 2025
The sunset last night from my campsite.
6:02 AM
The leader of the kayak racers just pulled in for some supplies. Salli O’Donnell leads the race. Fifteen minutes after she left the second can through, I don’t remember his name.
9:09 AM
A breakfast burrito from the camp store while visiting and watching the race and I’m ready to go.
11:41 AM
I can see the dome in Jefferson City up ahead on the right.
11:58 AM
North Jefferson City.
3:10 PM
The second tree down across the road
3:32 PM
The third tree down
4:00 PM
I’ve decided to stay in Portland at the Riverside Campground. The Dooly family is also staying here for the night. A father and two young daughters are riding the Trail to St George. This campground is small, shaded, and has a clean bathroom with a shower. The only other thing in town is a small bar/cafe. The food is good and right next to the campground.
8:12 PM
I am now ready for bed.
July 8, 2025
11:53 AM
I started a few minutes ago in Boonville. Nancy dropped me off on the Katy Trail at the Missouri River.
1:22 PM
Coming into Rocheport
Hindman Junction
4:28 PM
I’m at Cooper’s Landing. It’s a nice little campground. There is nothing for another twenty mikes. This place is great, I am sleeping in a glamper tent right on the Missouri River. It is Taco Tuesday and the food is yummy. It rained about an hour, light and cool with thunder in the distance. The rain ended before arriving and it’s a bit cooler than when I was riding. I have wifi, catching up on the blog.
