F U Iowa

Last night was great. I stayed at the Howell Station campground. I hit a bit of luck as all of the signs for the campground said they were full. But, I continued on and they had a few early departures. Then I got even luckier and scored some free firewood. By far it was the best night camping.
This morning I noticed the lake the campground is next to is man made.

And a shot of the bike. Envy is doing very well so far.

And some of the carnage Envy's inflicted on the bug population.

This morning was great too. Nice and sunny. I broke camp after a couple of cups of coffee and was on my way. I already summarized the downpour. Eventually it stopped and I took off for the I-80. That only lasted a few miles as the winds were so bad I could barely keep the bike upright. I pulled off and had to throw on a sweatshirt since I was now freezing from the evaporating water in my jacket. I also found that the 6 runs along the 80 for a while. So, I took a more backroads route which was nice. There were a couple of small towns the likes of which I've only seen in movies. I also got a bit lost in Amana which is a interesting little tourist town. Eventually I got back on the 80 in Iowa City. 

The big milestone for today was crossing the Mississippi. Almost as soon as I entered Illinois everything got better. Sunny. Warm but not too hot. Almost no wind. I was hoping to camp near Joliet. But, the skys were turning dark quickly. I stopped to check the weather and thunderstorms are expected tonight. So, I'm in Peru at a hotel for the night enjoying free WiFi and a dry bed.