Humid, but thankfully overcast, when we left this morning.  We had to weave our way through some very interesting city streets, neighborhoods, jailhouses and over the Des Plaines River,  dodging construction and pot holes, but oddly, not a lot of traffic.  It took us six miles to reach our trail where we were instantly surrounded by trees.  This trail is extremely similar to the C & O canal trail we take out of Washington D.C; weaving through the back yards of neighborhoods of all kinds.  While we missed most of the homes, we avoided all of the traffic; rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels was as busy as our trail was.  We did pass through one town that had capitalized on the trail usage; businesses lined the path surrounded by parks....capital idea (pun intended).

Sadly, our trail only lasted 20 miles and we were back on the roads through Chicago Heights and Sauk Village.  As we crossed the state line into Indiana, we rejoined the very busy Route 30; thankfully with few tractor trailers.  A few miles of the heavy traffic and we needed a break; after 40 miles it was time to get some cold liquid, anyway.  The stop provided time to rest and find a different road.  This narrow stretch of our course wound through neighborhoods, heavily trafficked, but with a slow speed limit and polite drivers.  Shortly after noon, the sun came out and the temperature shot out of the comfortable 80° we’d enjoyed all morning; it was now hot and steamy.  Though the sun didn’t stay, the 90° temps, did.  Ten miles from our stop we once again joined the busy highway, but this time with a very generous shoulder, so we could snap a couple pictures.  Also now out in the open, we sailed with the tailwind that we’d previously only heard in the trees.  It was the push we needed as the high humidity had drained us.  After passing a couple interesting characters, we made it to our stop for the night by two o’clock.  Limited dinner choices within walking distance, but we walked away happy and restocked after our 65 mile day.  Holding off on that cholesterol test once we get back, though!