Rainy Days and Mondays Never Get Me Down

Rained all night again and well into daylight hours and then stopped. I checked the radar and there appeared to be a dry window of a few hours, so we met Patti and Dave at Moraine Hills State Park. Here we are by Ellen's new hybrid Prius with its hitch mount bike rack.



And here are Dave and Patti with their new RAV4 with hitch mount bike rack. Happy 41st anniversary to Dave and Patti!!!



Here come Ellen and Patti about 7 miles into the 13 mile ride roller coaster ride, still looking strong and raring to go 6 more miles of hilly terrain. So far so good -- only a couple of brief sprinkles of rain on the ride.



A brief rest stop at McHenry Dam to watch the high river level rushing over the dam at a feverish pace. Then as drizzle began we hopped back on the bikes for the final 3 miles and just made it before a heavy rain hit. A large great blue heron and several fisher herons watched us as we pedaled the levee part of the trail. All the recent rain has the island under water and the wetlands far wetter than usual.



We spotted two huge sand hill cranes along the trail. These guys were far larger than the guys I usually see on the Millennium Trail rides and they were flying at eye level when we first startled them. What a huge wingspan they had! Then a few hundred yards farther we came across two adult deer crossing the trail, but they wouldn't pose for us.



Our reward? Lunch at Culver's in Island Lake and more stimulating conversation as we said our goodbye's prior to our 5 week trip out west.