Date: 9/1/2019
Miles: 315
Today was a long day. We started off in wet and misty conditions that lasted the first half of the morning. We left Rochelle, Illinois and began making our way towards Mount Rushmore. We followed 64 West for a while.
We came into Mount Morris, Illinois and I noticed something tied to a telephone pole. I thought it was a makeshift Sasquatch of some sort but couldn’t really tell. My visor lense was coated in mist so it was difficult to see. A little further down the road I thought I saw a bull made of hay. I didn’t say anything but kept thinking I wanted to turn around and get a photo of it. So, after contemplating about turning around for a couple miles, I finally called Gabe and said “let’s go back.” I knew I would regret not turning around. We turned around and went back into town where there was a giant bull and a saxophone made of hay. We stopped and took pictures of the hay sculptures.
Then I said “I believe there’s a Sasquatch one too!” Christian and Gabe were like, “how much further is it?” I mean we made it about 3-4 miles outside of town before I said to turn around haha. So we went a little further back to see it. The best part was that there were three things in the same area and Christian nor Gabe spotted the Sasquatch. Christian was looking at some old tractors and trucks. Gabe was checking out an artillary canon. And of course, I saw the Sasquatch.
After getting some pictures we continued on, still heading west. We reached Savanna, Illinois which is right on the Mississippi River. There were tons of Harley motorcycles in the area. We were told by a local that was drinking a Steel Reserve beer at 10:00am that there is a cool bar called Poopy’s Pub. Supposedly the bar has a lot of biker paraphernalia but we didn’t stop to check it out. We stopped just to get a quick snack and a local suggested we go there.
We didn’t stay long and continued northwest on state route 84 north. We passed a scenic overlook and stopped for some pictures. It was Long Hollow Scenic Overlook in Elizabeth, Illinois. There was a good view. Just before that, however, Christian radioed in to Gabe. A bird must had poo’d and it landed smack dab in the middle of Christian’s windshield. It must have been a fairly big bird! Haha. It splattered and let’s just say, good thing his visor was down! Hahaha
After grabbing some photos at the overlook we continued until we reached Galena, Illinois where we stopped at a Casey’s which is a gas station market. Christian also had to clean his visor and windshield with all that…crap. And, while there stocking up on drinks and snacks, we helped an elderly woman fill up her tire. It was low on air. It was our good deed of the day.
From there, we kept making our way northwest and crossed over the Mississippi River into Iowa on the Julien Dubuque Bridge. From Dubuque, we headed on the Iowa Scenic Bypass and followed that to Gutenberg, Iowa. While we were in Dubuque, the weather cleared up. So, as we headed on the scenic route, I tried to take a bunch of pictures. The scenery was gorgeous!! By this point, the flat straight roads full of corn and soy turned into beautiful rolling hills and a lot more trees.
We stopped at another scenic overlook on the way in Balltown, Iowa. The views were incredible. We did touristy photo things, because why not?! Haha The weather was perfect and there was such amazing contrast between the blue sky and the green landscape (mostly corn).
After being touristy for a little while we kept riding until we reached Guttenburg, Iowa where we stopped for food and drinks. We stopped at The Dam Bar which is right on the Mississippi River and on the other side is Wisconsin. We sat outside and there was a massive barge being pushed by a big tug boat. That was interesting to watch. We also discussed how and where we want to ride to continue making progress towards Mount Rushmore.
After leaving The Dam Bar we trucked along for three hours. Our goal was to reach Forest City, Iowa to reduce the time left to reach Mount Rushmore. It was a success. We got to Forest City, Iowa and checked into another Super 8 motel. Christian joked about us having rewards points here because we’ve stayed at one every night so far except one. Gabe nor myself have rewards or are paid for this advertisement.
Adventures of Matty Q 