Jo Daviess County, IL, didn’t get the memo…

…that this state is SUPPOSED to be flat:

(Yes, we biked from down there to up here today, and farther.)

We made it tonight to Galena, IL, our last stop in the great state of Illinois. Tomorrow we cross the Mississippi into Iowa. We got our first glimpse of the Mississippi today in Savanna:

(This was taken north of Savanna; that’s the bridge in that town). It’s kind of crazy finally seeing the Mississippi: Ever since we crossed the Eastern Continental Divide back in western Maryland, the Mississippi has been at the center of at least the hydrogeological universe we’ve been traveling through. Since the divide, we’ve been traveling slowly downhill, on average. Once we cross that river, we’ll be going on one long, 1,500-or-so-mile-long uphill slog until we get to the western continental divide in Montana or Idaho. Crossing the Mississippi will definitely be turning a new page.

Tonight we’re staying with Barbara and Don, friends of Brice’s parents from when they lived in Chicago around the time Brice was born. Barbara and Don haven’t seen Brice since he was 10 so I’m sure his bushy beard was a sight to see.