My first stop today was about 50 miles south of my mom's house, at Beloit College, right on the Illinois border. I've been back to Beloit one other time since graduating in 1999; that time, I wandered around, talked to a couple of professors, etc. This time, my only interest was in photographing my bike with a couple of campus landmarks. It felt good, almost like I was tagging the place. Proving to myself that I'd moved on. While I was photographing the main campus sign, my old boss from the computer lab walked by, aiming for the science building. We'd had a bit of a falling out before my graduation, and I was was ... saddened, almost... to see that he still worked there. He didn't notice me, and I didn't say hello.

It made me very happy to find a perfect cornfield in central Illinois, complete with little red barn. I grew up with these cornfields and, to me, this is the Midwest.

Middle of nowhere, Route 26 between Dixon and Princeton, IL

I'd hoped to make it to St Louis, Missouri, but came across a thunderstorm on Hwy 24 just west of Coatsburg, Illinois.  It left me soaked and the weather ahead wasn't looking any better. I was another of those "comes out of nowhere" Midwestern storms; one minute it was cloudy but dry, the next, I couldn't see five feet in front of me. I pulled to the shoulder, along with 3 cars, once the hail started. There was no shelter, just farmland, so I left the bike on, hoping that any car coming up behind me would notice the tailight and avoid plowing into me. It must have poured a quarter inch in 10 minutes. I decided to call it a night in Hannibal instead of pushing on to St. Louis.

Wringing out my gear along US 24

The historical area of Hannibal is an odd mix of "real history" (Sam Clemens) and "fake history" (Tom Sawyer).  It's a little strange to see "historical markers" for Tom Sawyer's fence or Becky Thatcher's house.  It's a nice town to walk around, though, and I did quite a bit of that since I got in early. The weather was perfect; warm without being too humid, and I spent some time along the Mississippi riverfront. I had dinner at a decent enough BBQ place (I was hoping to eat at Bubba's, along the Mississippi River, but they're closed Mondays), and arrived at the ice cream parlor just in time to get a scoop of Peppermint Stick before they closed.

Riverfront in Hannibal.

Tom and Huck live on.

Sam Clemens' boyhood home (along with "Tom Sawyer's fence")

376 miles today; 3095 miles total.

Next Day --> June 14: Hannibal, MO - Mountain Home, AR