Day 85-Clinton to Rock Falls, IL (30 Miles)

I set an alarm to hit the road early in order to meet up with Kristi, Shale, Zari and Anika at the Days Inn in Rock Falls 30 miles down the road at a decent time. They were driving down from Milwaukee to see me for the weekend. After a breakfast at McDonalds I walked back to the Highway 136 crossing of the Mississippi River into the state of Illinois. I extended the walk through the river town of Fulton before starting the run towards Highway 30-letting my imagination run wild about what the shoulder was gonna be like.

I arrived to 30 and had a "meh" reaction to the shoulder. The pavement was just wide enough to fit my cart-which was on its last day-without a rumble strip. Not as good as Wyoming and Nebraska but infinteley better than most of my running on Highway 20 in Iowa. From the 136-30 junction I ran into the town of Morrison where the main street was blocked off for the annual "Paint the Town" festival where people paint store windows and small squares on the road on Main street. Me with my stroller was quite the attraction at the festival as several people had claimed to see me on TV last night. Here were some more rumors of another trans-continent traveler walking a stroller on Highway 30 who is just a few miles ahead of me doing it in support of veteran's healthcare.

After a lunch at Casey's I turned off onto a country road that locals told me would take me right into Sterling. A few miles in the skies suddenly darkened and torrents of rain came down. Rain during 81 degree weather was somewhat refreshing until the cracks of lightning at my back. I decided to ask for shelter at the nearest porch of a farm house. I knocked on Mary's door and she let me into her home as staying on the porch would result in me catching a cold.

About a half hour later and after her son came to visit, I continued to finish the run into Sterling. The last few miles were on busier state highways, but I eventually made it into town and walked to Rock Springs on the bridge over the Rock River. The small "towns" as I go east are getting quite large as the combined population of the area was about 25,000.

Arriving at the Days Inn, with a milkshake from Burger King in hand, I saw my aunt Kristi and cousin Zari at the front door. After big hugs, my uncle Shale and other cousin Anika came out to greet me as well. They had brought down a new stroller from a bike shop in Milwaukee after a state-wide search by Kristi and mom after learning of my cart woes. It is great having this type of support when my current cart was hanging by a thread and ready to strand me on the side of the road at any moment.

We had dinner at Culver's to give me a little taste of Wisconsin and made a trip to Wal-Mart for a supply run. I didn't need much, especially in the interest of cutting some weight, but invested in a little radio for the road. It ended up not being able to pick up a station and put in the "to be returned" pile. After the spending the evening visiting I spent until well after midnight following the Beavers game as they beat San Diego State. Still undefeated!

Sun rising over the Mississippi