Calhoun County, Illinois

I discovered the Ozarks of Illinois!

Just across the Mississippi River from St. Charles County, Missouri, via the Golden Eagle Ferry, lies Calhoun County, Illinois. Unlike much of Illinois, this place is hilly and full of twisty roads.

I didn't crop the road surface out of the above photo so you can see what a rural Illinois road looks like. It's gravel and oil. The nicest ones are compressed with a roller. The cheap way is to just let the traffic compress it. The surface is as smooth as asphalt but tougher.

 Above is a museum piece that sits outside a tourist trap. It's a Cushman; the original motor scooter.

Here's a shot of the ferry ride back to Missouri. This was a much nicer ferry ride than the one at Grafton. And the roads were hilly and twisty and Harley free. The only other bike I saw was a sport bike that was getting off the ferry before I first got on. The roads from Golden Eagle to Brussels, IL are better suited to a Bonneville than to a sport bike. And don't even take your Gold Wing over there. You might fall down.

It was a beautiful day and a great ride. I'll be back when the leaves change.