We've noticed we have a better day when we get on the road by 8 a.m., so we made sure we got going today. I hoped to cross the Mississippi River by noon, since it was 45 miles away. We made good time all morning and soon found ourselves in Muscatine, Iowa, where we found the only bridge in the area that we could pedal across the river.

We stopped for lunch in a nice park along the river and got ready to head across the river and into Illinois. Jeff had set out our cooler on a picnic table and had lunch ready for us.

In a pavilion, I chatted with an old guy sitting at a picnic table, with what looked like all his belongings. “How fast does that bike go?” he asked. I told him 30, not knowing what else to say. He asked if I was in a race and I told him we were riding from San Francisco to New Jersey. “How far is that?” 3,000 miles. Then the serious question: “Are you going to get there today?”

So off we rode hoping to cover 1,000 miles this afternoon to not disappoint my new friend. We rode along the Mississippi River on the Illinois side for about 15 miles when we saw Jeff in a park. Nicole was done for the day, so we took a short break and Dan and I headed out again.

The afternoon went fast and we got to Geneso by 4:30 and we had gone 95 miles. Dan and I wanted to make it 100 for the day so we rode past our motel and through town to gather another five miles.

On the way back to the motel, I decided to again try to get a hair cut, so I tried to find downtown. I saw a couple of kids sitting in a yard with a lemonade stand. As I rode up, I noticed the kids were older than your normal kids selling lemonade. Their sign said were selling lemon shake-ups for $1.25 and they don't have change. Another sign said they need money. So I asked them what they needed money for. “Buy stuff.” What kind of stuff, I asked. “Uh, I dunno.” One of them decided the money would be good for a car. So I asked them how old they are. “He'll be 15 in August.” At least they have plenty of time to sell enough lemonade to get the car.

They told me how to get downtown and I soon found a hair salon. They could get me in at 4:30 the next day. So she pointed me to the other salon. I rode the couple of blocks and it was closed. Some day I will get my trim.

Jeff serves Dan and Nicole along the Mississippi River.

The bridge we took across the river to Illinois.

My favorite bird, a Great Blue Heron, along the Mississippi River.