Tuesday, February 12, 2013

A Long Ride

Today was Abraham Lincoln's Birthday. The Courts were closed and I went for a long ride.

I was in Louisiana in the morning.

Louisiana, Missouri that is.

I was in Detroit by the early afternoon.

Detroit, Illinois that is.

Saw a strange sight/site in North Calhoun County.

My friend Maggie sent me a link about the place. Click here to read about it.

I discovered the bridge spanning the Illinois River at Hardin goes up to let barge traffic pass through. . .

And then it goes back down to let land traffic pass over.

It was a much cooler bridge than I expected.

I rode the full length of US Route 54 in Illinois. . .

All sixteen miles of it.

It was a nice long ride. My first over two hundred mile ride on Isabelle.

14 comments:

  1. Izzy did well! Lovely pictures!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She did!

      I'm still amazed to look down at the speedometer and see the needle setting at 70mph indicated. I can't quite figure out how that happens :)

      Delete
  2. Woohoo, glad you got out for a long ride - and in February no less. A great way to spend that extra day off. Our courts are close don Monday for President's day so that is my extra day.

    It is nice it wasn't raining or snowing on you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, I get next Monday off, too. February is a good month to work at the courts.

      It was a lovely day. I'd expected it to be a little warmer. It was in St. Louis, but I went north and it stayed just a little colder and more cloudy. I left St. Louis in sunshine with blue sky, but rode into overcast, but as you say, lucky for me it wasn't raining or snowing.

      Delete
  3. Love the story about the showboat. It is older than some cities in this part of the world. I hope it is possible to restore it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would be very nice, but I'm not hopeful. We don't honor our history very much. We tear down or just abandon and move on. We'll see. A friend of mine who works at one of the local television stations is going to see if there is anything new about the boat. If so, I'll post an update.

      Delete
  4. Louisiana to Detroit all in the same day. You do get around ;o

    That is a great story about the riverboat. Aren't the new ones all casinos these days?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, most of the casinos are buildings now. It started out they had to cruise the River. Then it was okay if they remained docked, but people at to get on and off just like it was cruising. Then some were moored in artificial lagoons and were called "boats in moats." Now all the pretense is gone. They are just big buildings on the shore of the River. The boats are pretty much gone.

      Delete
  5. An excellent ride on Isabelle - looked very dreary and overcast, but a great way to spend a bonus day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had sun for the first third of the ride and for a little while at the end. The temperature was in the mid to high 30'sF or somewhere between 2C to 4C. Not a bad temperature, but it was much nicer with the sun. Here even in the winter the sun radiates heat. I had the hardest time comprehending snow melting in January with the temperatures before freezing, but if the area is in the sun it will happen. It still amazes me but I'm no longer surprised.

      Delete
  6. Since you mentioned one particular US President.....

    After watching the recent Oscars ceremony, I sat on a long plane flight last week and tried to watch the acclaimed movie, 'Lincoln'. Has anyone seen it? I found it awful. Much shot in near darkness, so it was difficult to see properly. Terrible sound which was so bad I was left straining to hear the dialogue. I abandoned the movie after about 30 minutes. How on earth did this get nominated in the first place?

    Okay, off-topic, I know!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't seen the movie. I'm certainly glad I enjoyed my Lincoln's Birthday ride a lot more than you enjoyed Lincoln's movie.

      My daughter-in-law didn't like it much.

      Delete