Day 51

45 miles passing into Illinois and visiting Popeye’s home town. 

A nice days ride from Farmington. We left  the town very happy after a restful day off  at the wonderful bike hostel. 

Today was once again hot, humid and hilly but slightly less so than previous days. 

Today had two highlights. First of all crossing the state line into Illinois our 7th state. Second, crossing the incredible Mississippi River. This is a real workhorse of a river. We watched a boat go past pushing 21 containers. It took about 5 minutes from end to end to pass under the bridge. 

Arriving in Chester we were immediately struck by the omnipresent Popeye. This is the home of E C Segar the creator of the character. Popeye is literally everywhere even pizza joints. 

I am a bit nervous about tomorrow’s 80 mile ride to Dix. Not the distance, the fact that we are off the nice American Adventure Cycling Association maps with all their route detail, information about what’s available in towns and elevation information . Anyway, it is what it is and we will manage (find out tomorrow if this is true).