To Yellowstone!

Yesterday we awoke in Dubois and were sent off with well wishes from our neighbor campers who were driving cross country, Marisa and Evan. They were so sweet and gave us fruit bars and their info in case of emergency.
We rode 60-some miles from Dubois to Colter bay Campground in Grand Teton National Park.
THE RIDE WAS PHENOMENAL. The climb was fine, the downhill was the fastest I've gone in a while due to recent inhibiting winds, and the TETONS ARE STUNNING. The most beautiful mountains I've seen. They look like where the grinch lives above Whoville to me, and then I started wanting Christmas.
But we camped and ate ramen; roughed it, ya know. We've spoiled ourselves mostly this trip by eating out primarily. But the parks are just too expensive.
We met Susan, she started in Colorado and had Yellowstone as her destination, but she might keep going.
We took our time this morning because we didn't want to start in the freezing cold, so we weren't on the road til around 1030. And we stopped a lot on our ride. To take in the views and check out the sites and beautiful vistas the park provides. It was a beautiful day, and for all the complaints about traffic and bad drivers in the park, Thomas and I both found the ride pleasant, and the motorists friendly. (though many don't respond to my wave)
We were gonna do 73 miles to Madison, but since we were initially gonna take a rest day in Yellowstone, we decided not to rush it, so here we are, at Grand village, camping only 40 miles from where we started this morning.
No grizzlies yet:(! Hopefully tomorrow I can hitch a ride on one's back or something.
Can't believe I'm in Yellowstone. In Wyoming. And almost to Montana. Ah!

Early Risers

Bhomas and I decided to take a rest day in the lovely town of Lander yesterday after our tiring Monday. It was perfect. We rocked that town. They'll never forget us.

Then. We woke at 4:30 this morn to beat the wind, which did help. We got 40 miles under our belts without too much interference, but the last 35 were pretty windy. We're now in Dubois (DOO-boys). I bought bear spray today, as suggested by the game warden we talked to, and I intend to use it. Bring it on grizzlies!
Boo for early mornings, but yay for yogi-ing nice pregnant couples burgers.

WyBlowming

Today we rode 91 miles, from Lamont to Lander. And the vast majority of those miles were fighting a ferocious headwind. I'm talking, this headwind was threatening to stop me going down a 6% grade.
Nevertheless, I've decided Wyoming is a very under-appreciated state and it deserves some more good attention. Beautiful scenery, cool people and towns, and good riding, aside from the gale-force winds.
One of my favorite people met on the trip thus far resides in Jeffrey City, our lunch stop. He's the bartender/waiter/whatever, and also a potter who lets cyclists camp in a trailer he has. Super cool and funny slash seems real young but rocks the gray hair and beard. Only leaves his home in Jeffrey city, that has a population of around 50, to go to town like once a month when he needs groceries or something.
Anyways, my third day in Wyoming was long and tiresome, however I learned some cool facts. For instance, their state motto is actually just a wave. An unspoken/unwritten motto; this is why on the first day I waved at every car that passed and though I meant to keep it up for the whole state, I failed and let it fade. Also, the state tree is a rock, and the state flower is a wildflower that Thomas and I have seen a lot along the shoulders we've been riding on; it's called Shattered Brown Glass, of the Genus Beer Bottle.

Tomorrow we climb.

This is why, this is why, this is Wyoming

It's hot and it's flat,
But i'm on my little ring?
This is why this is why this is Wyoming.

That's a jingle Thomas and I co-wrote this morning.
Anyways, yesterday we rode 68 miles from Walden to Saratoga and we seriously killed the last 18 miles, with a tailwind for the first ten, and then I was just pumped so I charged the last 8 even with a crosswind. Our campground was disgustingly buggy but luckily we had a chance to take a dip in the pool and shower and do laundry and eat really yummy pizza before we went there.
We got an early start this morning and again crushed twenty miles like they were nothing, and then 22 more to Rawlins where we went to St Joseph's for mass at 1130. 33 miles later and we have found ourselves in teepees in Lamont, Wyoming with free juice and ice cream. What. A. Hit.

As tradition sets it, I shall look back on the last state, now that a new one has commenced.
Top ten things I loved about Colorado:
1. The mountains
2. The wildlife
3. The views
4. Guffey
5. Seeing Zach and Ash in Denver
6. Eating bison for the first time
7. Guffey
8. The views
9. The bike path we got to ride on
10. The active people

And now for the current news:
While I ride, I think, and usually about ridiculous things. But today, it was not so; today was a day to cast aside all foolish ponderings and focus upon the existential truths, on what really matters, to think deeper and explore the meaningful reality that is materialized all around me.
What do these mind workings consist of, you ask? This is what I mean to share with you. I was riding and thinking about the fact that I was riding on the TransAmerica trail with a certain Thomas Hash. Thomas and Abi, riding the TransAm, I thought. T&A riding the TA. It was meant to be. But I continued spinning these consequential initials around in my head. Thomas and Abi, Abi and Thomas, A&T. A&T. AT. The Appalachian trail---ABI AND THOMAS HIKE THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL! A&T on the AT. HOW PERFECT. (We've already discussed our mutual desire to take on this epic hike). BUT THIS ISN'T ALL! As my mind was being blown by destiny spelling itself out. I pushed it even further as I threw the letters at each other. A&T, T&A. Initials meant for grand adventures; we were meant to be--The Adventurers! Awesome Travelers! Actual Turtles! Team Amazing!
It all laid itself out in front of me. How had I not seen this written in the stars from the beginning? All that was hidden, has been made clear, all that was darkness, has been revealed. Thomas and Abi. On the TransAm.. Boom.

Also, Wyoming is beautiful so far, too, though the shoulders have been treacherous and a few potholes almost brought me to my end.

Colorado Rocks

And there are a lot of rocks. We climbed some of those rocks today.
78 mile day from Kremmling to Walden, the moose viewing capital of Colorado. We didn't decide where we were going until breakfast at the coffee shop; that's how we roll.
It was a beeeeautiful ride though. Colorado and Virginia have got to be my favorite states for riding so far. There are just awesome views in every direction in the rockies. The climbs are gradual, and the descents are fun.
So we arrived in Walden to the last night of the Bike Tour of Colorado camping in the same place we were planning to camp. Meaning Thomas and I had to search through the city park for a patch of free grass among the thousand tents. It's pretty funny; we used their "mobile showers" and when we step away from our bikes we are just like all the rest of them, but when we arrived we got some good reactions. One guy was seriously blown away about us going cross country self-supported. Probably our most impressed reaction thus far. And he was a shaved-leg cyclist. So thats saying something....

Butttt tomorrow---we get into Wyoming! Crazy.

My biggest regret of the trip: that I didn't pick up the "oversize load" sign from the side of the road way back in Kansas.

Also. NO ICE CREAM AGAIN TODAY.

Hoosier Daddy

So today we awoke in Fairplay and began our ride at about 9. The climb to Hoosier pass, the highest point on the transamerica trail at around 11,500 feet, was gradual and not too bad, but my sea level lungs were struggling a little bit. The descent rocked though. For about 10 straight miles we cruised down switchbacks and mountain roads.
We then took a lunch break in the nice ski resort town of Breckenridge. From there we got to take a bike path, which was cool except its a lot more vague than specific streets. That being said, we took a sweet detour, four miles uphill, probably gaining about 1,000 unnecessary feet, BUT on this detour we saw a mountain goat, and a bunch of guys longboarding down the hill, some luging at mach 5 and others just crouching but still flying. When we realized we missed our turn it was four miles back down the hill, so all things considered, i would say the detour was worth it.
We had more trouble with the bike path in Frisco, due to poor directions on the map and numerous bike paths to follow. We finally made it to Silverthorne where we got chipotle and ended our bike path time. We got onto 9 and rode 40 miles in under 3 hours, even with a headwind and a few short stops, bringing us to our stopping point at Kremmling.

No ice cream today:(

Rocky loves Emily! Rocky loves Emily!

Three ninjas anyone?
That title is completely irrelevant except that we are climbing mountains by the name of Rocky.
So three days in one:
Met Thomas in Pueblo after out rest day and we got a late start after he finished getting ready and we wandered around the bike store for a little bit. We rode 50 some miles from Pueblo to Canon city and camped at an RV park.
Yesterday we started in Canon city with intent to make it to Hartsel, but after a 3000 ft gain in elevation we stopped for lunch in Guffey and we were convinced by many factors to stay there having only ridden about 33 miles. It was maybe the best decision of the trip though, and definitely the best place we've stayed.
To try to put the wonderful town of Guffey into words: rough and tumble, time-warped, antique-y, hospitable, small, greasy, full of dead things, and well kept to seem unkempt. All of those in the best way possible.
Our little room was a log cabin with drop down bunks. The STARS WERE AWESOME. And we hung out with the GGG (Guffey Garage Gang) for a while. A bunch of old greasy long-haired men who spend their days working on old engines, makin hot rods, and watching swamp people on the little tv in their garage, drinking milwaukee's best out of tin can coozies. It rocked. Thomas was initiated into the gang, and Bill, the leader, gave me two free post cards and a great hug and shoulder kiss when he said goodbye;)
We were gonna wake up early and get a good start, but we are who we are, so we slept in and got breakfast at the restaurant in town. Third meal there.
We rode almost 50 miles to Fairplay, because we decided it would be better to have Breckenridge as a nice long lunch stop rather than a tired, useless night. Also the head wind was killer and we decided we would rather not climb Hoosier pass while it was berating us so.
The Roadkill count has itself become roadkill. I was beginning to resent keeping count of all the dead things I saw. The second half of this trip will be focused on LIFE!

And oh yeah, I'm in Colorado, climbing the Rockies. NBD.

Killed another map

Yesterday Thomas and I rode 90 something miles to pueblo, co, where we finished the last map we would share together and it was a great ride. Tailwinds keeping us at high speeds, averaging over 22 mph for one 20 mile stretch. My brother and sister in law met us in pueblo, as we arrived right as a storm was breaking. We got rained on for a bit, but it cleared up and we ate at Bingo Burger and then chilled with Thomas for a while as he was still waiting for his friend from colorado springs. Then I was off to Denver for a rest day with Zach and ash, maybe never to see Thomas again. At least not on the trip.
Today we went to mass, ate a nice pancake breakfast and then took a fun, short hike up Chief Mountain for some great views. We stopped in Golden, Colorado for ice cream after and ended up walking around the town when zach and I decided we had to float down the river in our clothes. Everyone else was in tubes but we had a great time with just our bodies, sliding down the little natural slides. Then we came home for a jumbalaya dinner and I cleaned ol' USS.
Tomorrow Ashley will bring me back to pueblo in the morning so that I can continue my journey. Into the deserts alone. And friendless. Exceeeeept----not really.
Everyone's arguments, and logic, and the fact that Thomas is just too good of a riding partner to part with got to me, and I was coerced. I shall be going northwest for the full TransAm trail. Here it goes.

Ad Astra Per Aspera

That Latin phrase is Kansas' state motto, and I will speak more on this shortly. First, recap of yesterday:
It was our monthiversary on the road. We rode 80 miles from Ness City to Leoti, and once we arrived in Leoti we got hooked up with the laundromat and washed our clothes for the first time in forever. We didnt leave the laudromat and get to dinner til 830 and it was looking like it was about to storm like crazy on us. I had the best gorditas ever though, at Charlie's Mexican Restaurant. We left to go find the park and set up our tents in the dark and blustery wind. We got to thw park and in the field next to it their had to be like 4 combines still going at it, harvesting late into the night. setting up the tents was a doozy, but i slept well. Honestly last night has to be top three best nights of the trip. So funny, so cool.
And today: we crossed into Colorado from Kansas. Kansas was nice, and it was good to us, but definitely not my favorite of the states we've come through. The state motto means, "through hardships to the stars" and it seems quite fitting for our Kansan experiences.
Hardships:
1) headwinds/sidewinds
2) some of the longest gaps yet between towns with services to snack slash fill up water and the like
3) my bike literally crumbling under my butt, but not literally.
4) Thomas and I's first fight (gasp!) (and it was of the fist variety, obviously I won)
5) Thomas having to reconcile with his hate for flat land
And all of these bring us to the stars, aka Colorado, aka almost 12,000 feet up in the sky.

So tonight we're in Haswell, population 84, (and no service so actually i wont be able to post this til tomorrow morning) about 70 miles past the Colorado border, because did I mention, oh yeah, today I did the first century of my life. Rounding in at like 103 miles.
There's a wicked storm/sunset happening a couple miles away, we'll see if it gets to us.
Bye Kansas, thank you for the mist as I rode past the irrigation systems in a 20mph side wind, and thank you for some great cloud shadows, and thanks for the best pie of my life, and thanks for the most uninitiated waves by passing motorists, and for introducing me to gorditas.
Roadkill count: 557

The British are Coming

Again. Yesterday the Brits caught up to us again due to us not starting til 1 o'clock and them having a nice tailwind, allowing them to crank out a century. Thomas and I rode about 70 miles from Hutchinson to Larned (lar-nid) and when we got there we were happily surprised to see our friends tents already set up, but also kind of stunned because they just keep poppin up.
The slight delay was well worth it; my bike is feeling great and riding smooth and silently. The bottom bracket was replaced and I also got a new chain and sprocket in the back. They were super worn, because I push high gears, but I'm trying to work on keeping a higher cadence now, even though I don't like it.
Today we awoke and rode from Larned to Ness City. I was shooting to at least get to Dighton, 32 miles further, but the crosswind was a beast so, we called it a day at 60-some miles. We had a tailwind for 19 of the early miles though and I cranked it out in under an hour. It was greeat. But. Then, we turned. And the southerly wind was threatening to blow us off da road. In Alexander, there was a rest area, and not much else, so I sat to eat some snacks, and this turned into an hour and a half nap-on-picnic-tables break. Which was fine with me. I saw it as a moment of celebration/mourning of the beginning of the last map Thomas and I will share together(or is it? More on this later); it picks up in Alexander and goes to Pueblo, the Western Express connection.......
Then, 8 miles later we stopped again to eat real food in Bazine. My grilled chicken sandwich, sweet potato wedges, and strawberry ice cream were all delicious. The last twelve miles to Ness city were more of the same. And now we are again camping at a city park, and I finally bought more shampoo and conditioner so my hair is feeling okay again.

Windy day again tomorrow. Joy.

Roadkill count: 520 (less kills out here on the vast plains, because there are less animalssssssssss, there's barely even peopleeeee)

Bottom Bracket Bummin

We took a short day today and are in Hutchinson for the night; it's off the route, but the bike shop in Newton wasn't so much of a bike shop, so hutchinson was the closest option, unless I wanted to wait until Pueblo.
We took our lunch stop in Buhler and met an eastbound cyclist. Cool German guy. When we got to Hutchinson we walked around downtown a lot. Played in a little water park thing with fountains for kids to play in. Watched a snapping turtle. Ate at a bar/deli. Got blizzards. The usual.

Soooo now the bike shop has my widdle bikey and will be replacing my bottom bracket; it'll be done sometime tomorrow morning. We're at a bike hostel in a Lutheran church. It's pretty nice and we get to watch a movie!

Roadkill count: 502 (we broke 500. Half a grand. Can I get a woop woop for the amount of dead things I have seen?!....)

Sir Isaac, Fig, Olivia _____ John

Yes, tonight we have found ourself in the town which takes its name from all of the above: Newton, Kansas.
We rode around 75 miles today, a majority of the way with a 20-25 mph sidewind threatening to blow me off the road, but for 17 miles we got to ride it as a tailwind and that was ballin.
When we really pedaled, we flew; but most of the time I was just having fun, playing around. If you thought I was a goofball, put me on a bike in a 25 mph tailwind and you really get to see me become a child again. I played the "let's see how long you can go without pedaling" game, I rode about half the time with no hands, pretending I was a bird or lassoing something, and it was all great.
We are staying in a hotel tonight, so that's groovy, because there was possibly gonna be severe thunderstorms tonight, so Thomas' dad graciously sponsored us--thanks, Mr. Hash!

Today was also the end to our fourth week on the road; tomorrow begins five. Crazy. I'm gonna get my bottom bracket, which decided to start creaking,replaced at the bike shop here in town.
To anyone coming through Newton: go to braum's, the restaurant right off route when you get into town; the ice cream was supa fab (I would know, I'm pretty much a connoisseur)

Annnnd the roadkill count: 486 (I jinxed myself thinking we'd have less than ten, because there were only like four all day until a couple miles out of newton. Slash all except one were birds or snakes, so basically they don't count but oh well)

A-HA? By George? Great Scott?

Eureka! Kansas. We rode around 95 miles today from somewhere outside of Walnut to Eureka today. We had the most intense wind as of yet; most of the time it was just a crazy sidewind but when we got to turn and ride the tailwind it was like flying, slash when we turned into it it was ridiculous. The flag picture gives an image of what we were working with. But at least it was keeping us a little cooler on this hot day.

We made a stop in Chanute after about 30 miles and went to the Safari Museum, which was pretty cool, and a necessary stop since Thomas has been a safari man all trip in his safari shirt. We took another stop in Toronto, about 20 miles out from Eureka, and had the best turkey sandwich to date on this trip, plus the guy who worked the deli/general store was the cutest Kansanian/kansanite I've met yet. So nice; and lamenting the difficulty in finding produce in the Midwest he was happy to be able to put lettuce, tomato, and onion on our sammies.

We're camping again tonight. And we got showers at the pool, but unfortunately there is a private party going on in the pool so we can't swim.

I like Kansas so far.

Roadkill count: 474, and OH YEAH! I made my first turtle save for the trip! Thomas was ahead today and I guess the turtle hadn't come out yet when he passed, so the baby was all mine to protect. This brings our total turtle save count to ten!

It's IMPASSABALE that we could already be in Kansas

The fifth state. And it's great so far; my VB legs can dig this flat land.
The farms are getting HUGE! And so is the farming equipment.
We rode about 60 miles to a church right outside of Walnut, Immanuel Lutheran Church, so we're staying inside for the first time in a while, which will be nice.
I sat out on the front porch for almost an hour and six cars passed. I don't know if there is any road in Virginia Beach that you could watch for an hour and have only six cars pass in the late afternoon.
I replaced my tire in Pittsburg after a quick stop at the bike shop there. So that's good, because da fibers were beginnings ta show. Thomas is my guiding light in these respects.

Pray for tailwinds.

Roadkill count: 452 (I'm doing this for the people, they love it, they eat it right up; it's for the people, the people)

One Short Day in the Golden City

One short day, full of much pie to eat.
What a way to be seeing the country,
Where so many drive to,
Thomas and I will ride to,
And then just like that we can sayyyy
We're just two friends, two good friends, two BEST friends,
Sharing one wonderful bikeacrossthe U-S-A!
(for all my friends who aren't Wicked fans, that was a reference to a wicked song "one short day"(in the emerald city) you should look it up and then just listen to the whole musical, because it rocks.)

Anyways, from Marshfield, we rode t about 80 miles to Golden City, with a nice lunch stop in Ash Grove where we dined with Miles, one of the Brits, they were gonna stay in Ash Grove for the night.
The last 33.5 miles were awesome and we flew through them, and after today we say goodbye to Missouri and hello to the flat land of Kansas.
I really liked Missouri; as I've already mentioned, it's just super beautiful with great rolling hills and awesome farm land, and the Ozarks are my favorite mountain range so far; so much kinder than the Appalachians.
A few key points about Missouri: it is the land of multi-colored pavements-I think we've rode on black, grey, white, red, purple-ish, and orangey. They have a fine of $1000 dollars for littering, which puts them at double kentucky's concern, and $950 more than Illinois, what a clean-thinkin' state! And they have armadillos! Though I've only seen them dead on the side of the road.
Goodbye, Missouri. And thanks for a great end to it, Golden City (two pieces of pie (dutch blueberry and coconut cream) and a great dinner, plus a shower at the park).

Another something I ponder from the road: why do hills look so steep from a distance, like they're literally walls I will splat into, until a few yards out and then they flatten like crazy? Answers?

Roadkill count: 432

Show Me!

I was right, Missouri is the "Show Me state", and unless that is a reference to the truck drivers and other motorists showing me my life flash before my eyes, then I don't know what it is in reference to. But seriously, Missouri has had the craziest motorists by far. They don't give us any room. But whatever.

Other than that, I really dig Missouri. It's super pretty and the riding is supa. Today we rode from Houston to Marshfield, a 63(ish) mile day. We're camping at another city park, but thank goodness I got a shower at the park's pool, even if the flighty curtain and cold water were a little sketch.

Tomorrow will be our last full day in Missouri, and then it's on to Kansas. Crazy.
Highlights of today: the butter pecan ice cream slash lunch buffet in Hartville where I ate too much fried chicken and mashed potatoes and might have vomited it up if we had any steeper of climbs, but I kept the deliciousness down; the place we ate for dinner tonight--an Italian place in this castle looking building that we learned used to be the morgue and is haunted, and the owner is super cyclist-excited (she's from Oregon); and the time when I was flying downhill and a car passed me, and I totally could have caught up, but chose not to so I wouldn't freak em out.

Thoughts from the road (if you have answers, please comment): do caterpillars grow up knowing they will become butterflies? Which caterpillars become butterflies, and which are the unlucky moths? Do Illinoisans pronounce the "s" in the title they have chosen for themselves, or do they keep it silent as in the state name?

Roadkill count: 404

Cankles

But I shaved em down, don't worry. But actually my map just flew out of my handlebar bag as I was flying down a steep descent and to catch it I stupidly put my leg to my back tire to sandwich the map to my bike and this resulted in my skin being shredded off. It stung. But it's good. Anyways, we did 69 miles today, through the hardest part of the Ozarks apparently, but honestly the Ozarks are nice mountains and the majority of the ride was really fun, except for like 20 minutes when I felt like I was going so slow and might just die. But we all have our moments of weakness. Mine just aren't as often as most people's ;) We're now in Houston, Texas (county), Missouri. We're camping again at another city park. We watched some girls play volleyball with a soccer ball for a bit, and now some girls are plying tennis but keep talking about how they don't know how. Highlights: I think I went faster today than I have et, down one of the steep descents coming down to Current river.i had the best chicken sandwich of the trip (maybe the only one, but that is irrelevant). Aaaand, the sky in Missouri is some serious sort of beautiful. Yesterday was probably significant in some way, but this is what happens when I wait to blog: we rode with the Brits from Farmington to Ellington, camped at a city park, ate way too much ice cream(no such thing)(miles had two milkshakes and a sundae--props). Roadkill count: 378 (why am I still doing this?)

Turtles meet Tigers

Yesterday started off by crossing the Mississippi River into Missouri with the Adventure Cycling group and a police escort to protect us from coal trucks. It was a pleasantly hilly ride, with a few steep climbs but honestly after eastern kentucky's jagged deathly mountains everything seems tame. Thomas and I were only behind one person in the ACA group, but we couldn't pass up stopping at a Tiger sanctuary to take a tour for a small fee of ten dollars. It was pretty groovy. And after an hour we were back on the road, only until a half hour later we came by a brewery which we decided to stop in at. A bunch of the others stopped there too. So after another long hour break and a delicious sandwich we were back on the road to finish up the last 13 miles to Farmington, Missouri. Our Australian pal Alisdair saved us a bunk room in the hostel so the ACA group wouldn't hog em all, so that was awesome, and the ACA group invited us to share dinner with them, which was awesome too. They cooked pasta with sauce and served ice cream cake for dessert--bomb. The hostel is super nice and Thomas and I decided that since it would be three weeks without any rest days, today would be a good one to take one. So we slept in, then went to mass, then I did some laundry and we went to the grocery store, and now we're back to chill for a while until we go out for dinner somewhere. The three Brits we met a few days ago as well as Ed, the guy riding supported by his wife following in a car, are here tonight as well. It'll be a good night, and we'll be on the road again tomorrow. Roadkill count: 342 (started off yesterday perfectly with a dead armadillo right after the Missouri state line; the first one I've ever seen!)

Flat?

Today we rode from our camping spot at Devils Kitchen to the last stop in Illinois, Chester, right on the Mississippi. We got a late start. Not fully waking up til about 9, and then yogi-ing some food from the family camping near us. They hooked us up with cereal, mountain dew, cheese, and grapes and sent us tuna to go. We didn't hit the road til 1030. But the high for the day was 70 if that, so there was no heat to beat. I think we beat all the heat outta the air for a while this past weekend. I actually rode in my sweatshirt all day. We took the Mississippi levee alternate route which put us on flat land for most of the day, but the headwinds/side winds were intense. It was cool though, I felt kinda like I was back in Vb riding at sea level along the Atlantic ocean (I miss you Atlantic). We got to Chester and at the Fraternal order of the Eagles where we planned to stay there is actually a fair going on this weekend. So we get live music and carnival food complete with funnel cake! Also, the adventure cycling organized TransAm tour is here for the night too, so we've met some of them and we're gonna ride with them tomorrow. Cool beans. Now, to mention a few observances I've made of Illinois in our short two and a half day visit. 1)their school zone speed limits are 20, rather than 25-- tells me: they care 5mph more about their children here than we do in Ol' Virginny. 2)the fine listed for the offense of littering is $50; whereas in Kentucky it was $500--this tells me one of three things: a) they care $450 less per person about the environment, b) Illinoisans are cheaper and therefore $50 is enough of an incentive not to litter, or c) they are more conscious and less likely to litter so they need less of an incentive. 3) the bike route signs have made appearances again but not at every turn or in any organized way--tells me: they care, at least sporadically, about cyclists. 4)the roads are the worst we've ridden on yet--one of two things: a)they're rugged and don't care or b) the corrupt govt of Illinois has priorities in other places than the rural southern part of the state. 5) it is not a very creative state, as witnessed by names such as "Cave in Rock" cave, "Little Grassy" camping area, "No Name road", and "Big Muddy river". Roadkill count: 324