Day 38: Kewanee to Streator, Ill.

After a tough day in the heat yesterday, we tried for an earlier start, and were on the road shortly after 7, enjoying about an hour of slightly cooler weather before the full heat of the day set in. The morning saw us following quiet, pleasant farm roads heading east all the way to the Illinois River. There must be more options for paved, low-traffic roads in Illinois than there were in North Dakota or Montana, as we seem to have much less traffic when we stay on route.

Around mile 40, we got to the town of Henry and, although it was still before 11, wanted to stop for lunch since it looked to be our last big town of the day. There were quite a few restaurants in town but as we rolled around to check out different options, the reality slowly emerged that virtually every restaurant in Henry closes down on Monday. After fully circling the town 1.5 times, we finally stopped into the bar, “grandma’s” that a handyman had told us was open. It turned out to be the perfect option, as there was a chicken special that she served us quickly. We’ve learned that finding anything other than a hamburger is a blessing, so we enjoyed our lunch and quickly returned to the road.

We’d originally planned to stay in Wenona tonight, however, after consulting the map, it looked as though there wasn’t much in Wenona, so we decided to head off route slight to Streator. From Henry, that meant deciding whether to follow the route slightly south and add some miles to the day, follow the highway right into town, or forge our own route north of the highway. After a few miles on the highway, we decided to look for a good paved farm road that would take us into the north part of Streator. Between the gray lines on our route map, google maps, and Ed’s gps device, we pieced together 15 miles of quiet riding right into the north end of town where we’re staying. With less than a mile of dirt road, it was best-case-scenario for going off route. We arrived to our hotel, showered, and headed straight to DQ, looking forward to enjoying some A/C and eating ice cream. After walking there, however, we learned that it is a walk-up only DQ, so we sat on a shady picnic table to enjoy our third lunch.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to head east toward Gilman, however, we will be watching the forecast and making a decision in the morning depending on the weather. It’s hard to tell now where and when exactly the storms might go, but if it’s expected to rain heavily all day long, we may rethink our options, since we have a little bit of flexibility in our routing and timing now.

By the numbers:
Miles traveled: 73
Total climbing: 1493 ft.
Average pace: 13.8 mph
Ed’s average heart rate: 95 bpm
High temperature: 100F
Nights staying right next door to and Aldi: 2
Windmills Ed counted in Bradford (pop 750): 52

 Our brief stretch of gravel, just west of Kangley.

 Ed thought that we had enough photos of the fields from afar, so he opted to get some close ups of the crops. These are soybeans, I believe.

This is corn. There is a lot of this one.

More soy beans.

We also saw some hops, which reminded us of riding in the Yakima Valley. 

Ed in front of some windmills.