Day 55

Anthill
It turns out it wasn't an anthill- just a random lump. Somehow I manged to find the one comfortable position and slept fine. I cleaned out my basket- trial mix has a tendency to spill. After biking for a ways, I made it to a town. I filled up my water and got some chocolate donuts and nutter butters that instantly melted. There were a lot of uphills and downhills all day. Google kept trying to make me go on a dirt path, so I pretty much had to make my own route. Eventually I made it to the last city in Wisconsin, so I mailed the postcard I got before. Soon after, I was in IllINOIS. I dunno something about this name just seems weird, doesn't it? Maybe it's just that silent S. Anyways, there was a small town. I checked two gas stations and two small grocery stores- no post cards. Oh well, there are lots more cities I need to go through. I got on stagecoach trail- I was worried it wouldn't be paved, but it was. It had a share the road sign, like all the ones for bicycles that I see, but it had a picture of a horse and carriage. I thought that was pretty awesome. I started to realize how magical this part of the country feels. I saw probably 500 birds fly by in several huge flocks. Some were really close- they landed on the crops near the road. The lightning bugs started to come out after the sunset. Earlier today, I saw a huge butterfly on the side of the road. I would have checked it out, but there was a gaurd rail, so I couldn't get very far out of the road. But all these things made me feel pretty lucky to experience them all. I'm sure many people never get the opportunity. I found a place to camp in the woods near the road. I'm actually very close to the road, but totally hidden. Unfortunately I keep hearing a dog barking- I'm not sure which is better- the dog barking at me or at something else.