Battled 10-15 mph headwinds all day and endured steady rain and temps from 57-59! And yet it was another marvelous day!
My friends Jen Bellini and Scott Richardson and their children, Izzy and Alex, met me at the Palace Campground in Galena yesterday afternoon. We had a fantastic Italian dinner at Fried Green Tomatoes in downtown Galena last evening and met at 9:00 a.m. this morning at President / General Ulysses S. Grant's post-Civil War home in Galena for a tour of the house. Scott and I then rode together the 30 miles from Galena to Savanna, IL where Jen and the kids met us. We had an outstanding lunch buffet at the Sweet Life Bakery Cafe in downtown Savanna, IL where we met the proprietor, Shirley and her family. It was outstanding food and Shirley offered to let me use the dryer to dry my clothes while we ate lunch.
Shirley recently finished a stint as a cook for a crew of about 15 on a tow boat that powers commercial barges from Minneapolis to New Orleans. She told of 30 day shifts without touching land. This gig ended shortly after the tow boat on which she was working hit a submerged concrete structure (I believe she referred to it as a wind dam) and sunk. Crew and passengers were all rescued by a tug boat. Life on the Mississippi is full of surprises!
Forecast is for much improved weather this week in these parts, which will be a welcome relief from the cool, often wet and "headwindy" weather I encountered much of last week. Also the terrain finally seemed to flatten out over the last 30 miles and I believe I have more flat land ahead heading into the Quad Cities. So I am looking forward to a great week on the roads and the trails!
Big thank you today to Jen and Scott and their kids for the wonderful company and to Shirley and her family and staff at the Sweet Life Bakery Cafe for the great food and the service that was second to none!
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