Crossed the Ohio river into Illinois early in the day.

Ran into three ladies who had a flat tire - a daughter, mother and grandmother. Stopped and helped them change the tire.

Stopped for the night at the Dixon Springs Park Campground. While I was moving in (stayed in cabins along the river), the lady running the camp stopped by with a plate of pork and macaroni. Later she even brought some cookies. When I told Elaine, she said this was my reward for helping the ladies with their tire.

[6/6 Update] Marion is about 12 miles from the Ohio river. To cross the river you take a free ferry that is operated jointly by the States of Kentucky and Illinois. The town on the other side is "Cave In Rock" Illinois. Pirates used to hide in the caves just up river from the town. They would kill and rob and float the cargo down to New Orleans and sell it as their own. I asked the guy operating the ferry where the caves were. He pointed to them but said that the river was so high right now that the were covered up with water.

Cave in Rock was so quiet. Nothing seemed to be moving. Ditto for Elizabethtown, the next place down the road and still along the river. In Golconda there was a little more activity. There was a big levee on the river (that may be redundant - can you have a levee not on the river?) and I rode along it after eating lunch in a decent restaurant.

I lived in Urbana Illinois for one year back in the 1960's and the land was flat. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to go through hills but no. Southern Illinois is more like Kentucky than the corn producing flatlands around Urbana. And, amazingly enough, the people here in "Little Egypt" as this section of Illinois is called, spoke with southern accents. This did not seem like the Illinois I had once known.

But it was beautiful and had a more progressive feel to it. There were state run campgrounds everywhere. I camped in Dixon Springs State park, recommended to me by an acquaintance I made in Elizabethtown. Only problem was there were no showers. There were no other campers either, so I waited till dark and then did a little sponge bath using a washcloth and a water bottle.

The park is next to a prison "boot camp". Kids 18-21 years old with prison sentences of 8 years or less can get their sentences satisfied if they do 160 days in this boot camp without an incident report. Only 1 in 400 don't make it. I could hear them marching and counting cadence when I was going to sleep at night and upon getting up the next morning.

Another enjoyable ride in Illinois. Rode along the Mississippi River on a nice road (little traffic). Stayed at the Devis's Backbone Campground. Best night in my tent.

[6/6 Update] I had coffee with the campground host before setting out on Highway 146 to finish crossing Illinois. When I got to the Mississippi River, I took highway 3 north to Grand Tower. The city of Grand Tower had a park where you can camp right on the bank of the Mississippi. What a great experience. To me the Mississippi has mythic aspects to it Huckleberry Finn, Ton Sawyer, Mark Twain. I put my tent so that I could watch the river. Barges in gangs of 10 (double rows of 5) were being pushed down stream by Tug Boats but "tug" doesn't seem like the right word here. One barge can carry the contents of 4 railroad box cars. The guy running the park seemed resentful that the barge operators don't have to pay fuel tax to fuel their "tug boats". Also there is nothing equivalent to road use tax since the river does not wear out. Sometimes the barges go to New Orleans or they turn an go up the Ohio to Cincinatti or farther up. There had been a few incidents lately as the Ohio is running so much fuller and faster than the Mississippi. An unaware river pilot can get whipsawed at the confluence.

There is a silly looking island in the middle of the river called, with humuorous intent, the grand tower. A picture of this island is in the official seal of the city. Very tongue-in-cheek I suppose.

Anyway this was the best camping experience I have had. Sleeping next to the Mississippi