Burlington, IA to Keokuk, IA
Via Illinois

Saturday, September 20, 2003
Distance Cycled: 50 miles
Total elevation gain: 760 feet
Our Total Flat Tires on trip to date: 1

The weather forecast when we woke up this morning said 44 degrees and heavy fog in places. We ate breakfast, loaded our bicycles and started riding. Everything was very clear and sunny until we crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois where we encounter the fog. This bridge is a cable-stayed bridge very similar to the one between Pasco and Kennewick, WA.

This was the last fog we would see all day. We again rode through the Illinois Mississippi River flood plain. The land was very flat most of the day. We stopped several times to rest and eat snacks. At one stop, a fish market we saw a sigh that advertised gator meat and frog legs.

We continued to Nauvoo, IL. This is the town that the Mormon's settled in after being forced to leave New York and Missouri. In this town, Joseph Smith and his brother were murdered and the rest of the Mormon's were told to get out of town. Brigham Young, the new head of the Mormon's then led them to Utah. The Mormon's have erected a temple on the site where they originally planned to build a temple. We stopped at the old town site where some of the original buildings still exist alongside new buildings that are private residents built to look like old buildings.

We arrived in Keokuk at 2:30 PM and stopped at a Holliday Inn Express that was just east of the bridge. After cleaning up, we went to the waterfront and went through the Keokuk River Museum, which is an old steam driven paddleboat that was built in 1927 and now sits on dry land next to the Mississippi River.

We then ate supper at a Mexican restaurant and headed back to our motel for the evening.