Day 2, July 5: Red Bud, IL to Murphysboro, IL (Murphysboro Lake State Park) N 37.46 XW 89.22

We awoke this morning and enjoyed the continental breakfast provided by the Country Inn of Rosebud. The news that morning told of lots of rain and thunderstorms overnight, with unofficial reports of up to eight inches. However, upon going outside, we found very little rain near the hotel. Road signs told us we had 24 miles to get to Chester. As we progressed, we noticed more indicators that places south of us had received significantly more rain than we did. We stopped for a bite to eat in the small town of Ellis Grove, where the rumors were confirmed of the eight inches of rain received in some areas. Upon inspection of the Adventure Cycling maps that we were now part of, but technically not on the route, it looked like there was a road that paralleled the busy and rough route 3. The road was mainly used to get to Fort Kaskaskia State Park. We entered the park and followed the roads that were near the campground in which we were going to camp at last night had we not gotten so tired. It was clear that Fort Kaskaskia had received a lot more rain than we did in Red Bud. There were trees down and washouts that had probably flooded the road during the storm. For the most part, there were no longer any parts of the road covered by water. We came to the conclusion that it was a good thing we stopped in Red Bud last night, because the heavy storms and strong winds could have been a hazard to us. Continuing further, we saw a large bridge spanning the Mississippi river. The road went into Chester and was part of the Adventure Cycling route. Soon we got on the route and stopped at a McDonalds where we got some food to eat and drinks to cool off. Outside of Chester, the route split into a main route and an option that took us along the river. The Adventure Cycling maps informed us that the river option was not a good idea if the river was high. The roads are sometimes closed due to high water. Judging by the recent storm, we thought it was obvious that we should take the main route, which was described by the Adventure Cycling maps as “slightly hillier”. Hmmm, “slightly” was one of the great understatements. The first 15 miles had some of the steepest we could recall during the previous 3100 miles of the Lewis and Clark trail. Keep this a secret…but I (Clarkwheel) had to walk and push my bike and trailer on one particularly steep section. From there on, the road leveled out somewhat and made going a bit easier. Then…we encountered something we had never encountered in the past 3 years. RAIN! We have been waiting 3 years for this! We both were perspiring profusely and the cool, refreshing rain was welcomed addition to the trip. We stopped at the town of Ava for lunch at Bruzeks, a delicious meal I might add, and continued the remaining 13 miles or so to Murphysboro Lake State Park, making a total mileage of 66.74 miles, a pretty decent total for the second day out. We had several wildlife sightings today. We spotted deer on two occasions, a turkey…not sure whether it was wild or tame, a fairly large blacksnake…dead, and two turtles…a box turtle and a musk turtle, and were visited by an owl at dusk. Spokewrench calculated the next week’s worth of travel and, if all goes well, we should be in the state of Mississippi.

Question of the day: We often hear mockingbirds singing in the evening and sometimes into the night. We don’t have many mockingbirds in northern Indiana but we do have another mimic. It is the catbird. The mockingbird and catbird have similar sounds, mimicking other birds, but there is a basic difference that allows one to tell them apart. What is the difference between the mockingbird’s song and catbird’s song?