GALENA IL TO MONROE, WI

June 1, Monday
58 miles of Wisconsin Hills!!
We followed the route given us by Deb at Fever River Outfitters in town with a promise that there was only "one really big hill". We've become leary of info that comes from people in cars and cute, young, lean, athletic bicycle riders of which Deb is one. We got briefly lost but were rescued when on her way to work Deb discovered us on the wrong road and asked a local cyclist named Kent ,who runs a pottery shop in his garage, to escort us through construction and mucky roads and get us back on route. The day's ride was gorgeous showing us a different side to Illinois than we had been riding through. However by three hours into the ride we had only ridden 18 miles of a 50 mile day! The ratio of hills to miles was gruelling. Hard riding! Probably the hardest day of the entire ride! We stopped for lunch at 1:00 in Apple River, one mile south of the Wisconsin border and had only ridden 24 miles!
We crossed over the Wisconsin state line with no brass band to welcome us BUT we were greeted at the top of one of those hills by Chuck and Sharon Hawley from Tempe AZ who had flown out to welcome us to Wisconsin! A very special gift. We hugged and chatted and they left us to finish the last six miles on our own but with renewed energy looking forward to spending time with our friends.
They treated us to a delicious dinner, a great market where we finally found some "hearty, healthy, heavy bicycle rider" bread, a quick tour of Monroe Town Square, some fun visiting, and a great bed! (They had especially chosen a place that had waffles for breakfast!) It was a rejuvenating boost to our touring souls to be able to enjoy their friendship, support and enthusiasm for our undertaking. Fun to chat and chat staying up longer than these two bicycle travelers usually do but so well worth it!!

Side note: We think we earned a T-shirt today that should say: "WE SURVIVED GALENA TO MONROE WI" to go with one we should have from last year's ride WE SURVIVED VANDERPOOL TO LEAKEY, TX" . Ahhhhh, rides to remember!