The Adventures of Fric and Frac: Adventure 274: Geneseo, ILL

Good Advice.

Another ride it hard and put it away wet day, but after 407 miles we're a day's drive from wedding central. Our day was joy filled, driving as we were in light traffic on good roads in fine weather. In keeping with our nowhere to go and all day to get there philosophy, we once again decided to eschew the interstate. For most of the day we drove the scenic route, following the Western Skies Scenic Byway (Hwy 44) across Iowa, which kept us rolling through farmlands until just past Grimes. The terrain reminded me of the Palouse back home with its twisting steep hills meandering like ribbons flowing from the back of a newlywed's dress. The hills are so steep, the farmers have created earthen terraces much like the tea fields in China. The farms, all well kept, have an eery anal quality. It's as if the farners don't have enough work to do, so each farm house has at least a half acre of perfectly manicured grass around it. In fact, it looks like a competition to see whose place looks best. The farms were similar to the neatness I saw when we traveled in Switzerland a few years back where every wood box was filled to the brim with perfectly split faggots of wood, each cut to an exact length. Our revery didn't last the whole day. We did have a couple hundred miles of "Big Dog" driving which kicked our speed up to near seventy, lest we be swept away in the wind wake of driver's commuting with more purpose. It made us long for the quieter, more bucolic scenery we had enjoyed earlier. The tension I feel when driving in heavy traffic reminds me of another good marriage word: CHERISH. Cherish every moment, which is easy enough when the skies are clear, the air is warm, the road is smooth, and the scenery is exquisite. Not quite as easily done, but equally important is to cherish the moments when things are more hectic, the roads more rough, and the scenery reduced to checking mirrors and distances. These are times when I so cherish my sidekick and navigator. She can read a map, a road sign, and she uses her I-phone like a google-wizard to reserve camp sites. Every pilot needs a competent co-pilot to maneuver safely through this complex world. Cherish the chance to trust each other. It makes life worth living. My co-pilot found us the best overnight spot yet. It's two hours outside Chicago, set in a wooded area in the midst of farmland. It's almost perfect. After setting up in this very pleasant RV park, we took a nice bike ride part way down the Hennepin Canal, which borders the campground. The canal is an 82 mile stretch of still water that was built in 1892. It has a series of locks and was used to move commerce until 1907. Today, the path provides a flat, easy bike/walking path for tourists like us. After it's commercial stint, the canal was free for recreational use until 1951 when the waterway was closed, and was named as part of the historical register. If not for the plethora of hungry midwestern insects and the liquid swampy air, this place would be perfect. Like I said, the hard part of life is to cherish equally the pleasant and the not so pleasant. But guess what the best part is? Who cares? A biting bug cannot compare to a cherished companion, and besides, we share this aluminum refuge, which keeps a whiney city boy like me free from the buzzing, biting, buggers, so life is good, especially today.