Another thing that might have contributed to a good night's sleep was that a township supervisor came by the park a little after 9 p.m. to cut off the lights at the baseball field. We talked several minutes about bicycling touring and my trip. He stated it would be okay for me to camp under the pavilion. As I've said earlier, it's always easier to sleep in a place where you have permission.
It was very pleasant temperature wise this morning. Almost cool enough for a light jacket.
Ticks seem to be bad this year everywhere. I've had more than my share of them in Chattanooga. The last few days, I have knocked off about 3 crawling on my legs. This morning, I found one of the little suckers attached behind my knee. :(
My campsite in New Douglas below.
Litchfield, IL (pic below) is the end of Phase 2 of my trip. I usually divide my trips in days when developing a route, but since this is such a long route, I divided the trip in Phases. Each phase varies in miles and was governed by how many times Google Maps would let me change the route without shutting me down. I guess the system operates under the assumption that no sane person would make that many turns to get there. So basically, completing Phase 2 of my trip means absolutely nothing, except that I am now about 12 pieces of paper lighter than I was when I started. :)
Historic Route 66 runs through so naturally I had to get a few kicks on Route 66 before continuing on my journey.
The Sky View below is the oldest remaining drive-in along Route 66 in Illinois.
The small Town Hall in Brushy Mound. This is the only building in town.
Below is the Heron hanging around the old Macoupin County jail in Carlinville.
Photo of Macoupin County Courthouse.
The temps today remained in the 70s. It was a perfect day for cycling. Most of the day the sky looked like this.
Tonight I will be camping at Waverly Lake. The camping is free, and it is very serene until the train comes by right next to the camping area. Hopefully, not many trains will run tonight. Pic of campsite below.
Did I mention gnats? They will drive you nuts around here. As soon as I stop, they swarm around my head. I put on bug spray and I think that attracted more.
Total miles today: 74.5
Mississippi has been swarmed by buffalo gnats this year. They are not affected by anything but the smell of vanilla. Strange as it sounds it works like a charm. You will smell like a candle, but at least they won't be driving you crazy. You just get some pure vanilla extract, dilute it with water and apply/spray to skin.
ReplyDeleteThanks Deanna. That's funny you told me all that. The farmer I'm staying with tonight told me the same thing this evening. I didn't even know they ad a name, Buffalo gnat.
DeleteThe pictures are great and show some neat highlights as well as the topography. This area looks suited for me. FLAT. May the tailwinds find you every day, all day.
ReplyDelete~Ron Boston~
Hey Ron. My tailwind luck ran out today :(
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