Saturday, June 15, 1996
Day 35
Morrison, Illinois
Today's Miles: 0
Cumulative Miles for the Tour: 2287
Degree of Difficulty: Rest Day
Terrain: Rest Day
Find of the Day: Beverly and Larry Bealer
This was one of the most relaxing days we've had so far. We were able to stay with the Bealer's, friends of David Blair.
After riding over the Mississippi River on Friday afternoon, we pedaled the 12 miles to Morrison, Illinois to the home of Beverly and Larry Bealer. We rode up the gravel driveway to be greeted with a picnic table full of fruit and vegetable platters, fresh lemonade and ice tea that were to hold us over until dinner. The Bealer's opened up their home to us, letting us spread out through the whole bottom level of the house. We had another big spread of spaghetti and salad a couple hours later before we settled in to watch the Sonics shock the Bulls by winning a second game in the NBA finals.
The Picnic Spread in the Bealer's Driveway
One of Larry Bealer's hobbies is to be on the chase crew for hot air balloon tours. He got up this morning at 4:30am to crew a chase that ended up being an engagement ceremony. As the balloon was crossing 1000 feet over the Mississippi River, a guy pulled out an engagement ring and asked his girlfriend to marry him. Now that's what I call unique. If she said no, SOMEBODY was leaving the balloon in a hurry...Saturday was a lazy day as we took our time getting up and having breakfast before deciding what to do for the day. Larry got back from his balloon chase just as we were finishing breakfast. We didn't get out of the house until after 2:00pm, driving over to Sterling to cruise the mall. It's been over a month since I've been able to get to a bookstore, so it was enjoyable to spend an hour going through the racks.When we got back to the house, Beverly, her son John and his wife Michelle had fired up the 'que and were grilling us steaks for dinner. Once again, we spent the evening pigging out and vegging in from of the tv. With only two weeks left in the tour and the hardest part yet to come, we were all determined to take advantage of our next to the last rest day.We're all excited about heading on to the east coast. This should be a relatively easy week as we cross Illinois, Indiana and part of Ohio on our way to the final week of the tour. The Appalachians are now the big question...how steep and how far?
Bike America Tours
dblair@wtp.net
1-800-738-7271