Day 4, July 7: Ferne Clyffe State Park (Goreville, IL) to Cave in Rock State Park (Cave in Rock, IL) N 37.26 X W 88.10

63.34 hilly miles today.

We managed to get going a little earlier than yesterday. We biked back up to Delaneys, about 1.5 miles out of our way for breakfast. I ate the best Western Omelet I’ve had in a long time…literally loaded with ham. Then off for the day and into some huge hills right from the get-go. I personally felt better about the hills today and handled them better than the previous two days, at least in the morning. We biked on state highways most of the way to Eddyville. This means that the hills are a just a little gentler and a whole lot smoother. Smoothness seems to make a big difference for me in hill-climbing. I was pretty well shot by the time we reached Eddyville. We had a late lunch there and that revived me somewhat. The waitress at Eddyville recommended a boathouse restaurant in Elizabethville, our destination tonight. We biked on the Elizabethville under about the same conditions. We looked up the restaurant on the Ohio River. It was packed but we waited and had a great Ohio River all-you-can-eat catfish meal. We headed on about 8 miles to the Cave in the Rocks State Park. This last 8 miles were the most difficult of the day…steep hills, rough road, and tiredness…even when we got to the campground, the road to the sites seemed straight up. A long day!

Question of the day: As I mentioned, we ate actually on the Ohio River. What states does the Ohio River touch on the way to the Mississippi River?