Post 9- Davenport, IA to Chicago, IL

It was Friday, August 21 and I wanted a cup of joe, so Eric suggested that I go to Red Band Coffee. I took the beautiful bike path to downtown and walked into the small art deco building but there were no seats, only piles of large burlap sacks full of beans from all over the world. I ordered a black coffee and they ground my own serving on the spot, using a fresh paper filter. I watched the black gold drip through the filter into a large lab beaker. It was by far the best cup of coffee that I have ever tasted, but they didn't serve breakfast so I had to finish my cup there and look for a breakfast joint. I found a small diner in the center of town, ate and then walked across the "bridge to nowhere"- a multi million dollar pedestrian bridge that stretches over the road towards the mississippi.
I wandered around, found another casino paddleboat, drank free coffee, ate theur buffet and then Eric called so I met him down at the River Music Festival volunteers' booth. We helped load case after case of beer and soda into huge bins then filled them with ice and started drinking. Unfortunately, the sky turned dark and the rain started, which came down in torrents. The beer was free as long as we were volunteering, so we mingled with the other volunteers and drank, drank, drank.
The rain stopped shortly after 5pm and people started to line up to buy beer; I had met Jon and Margaret in the meanwhile. They were a very nice couple who decided that they were going to buy me breakfast in the morning, and I couldn't say no. My shift ended so I grabbed a few more beers and headed out to go see the opening bands. It was mostly country with a rock twist to it, so I just floated around with Eric, Jon and Margaret, enjoying the festival and people watching. Its' funny the crazy people that show up when something is free: zitty teenagers, mullet sporting couples, and lots of bikers.
The Blue Oyster Cult was the headlining act, so I pushed my way up to within four rows of people from the stage. They were very impressive, especially for their age. I danced like a maniac and eventually left my coveted spot to go find my new friends. We left the show with a couple of Eric's frat-looking friends and went to a bar where I met a couple of nice girls, talked to them for a while and left after consuming way too much alcohol. Oh well.
In the morning, I somehow woke up just before Jon called and he was very hung over. They took me to a place called the "Shed" and I ordered the Hungry Man's breakfast, which consisted of a huge slab of ham, a large sausage, bacon, two pancakes, three poached eggs, an english muffin and homefries. I actually couldn't finish the last couple of bites. We took a picture outside with a large corn sculpture and they dropped me back at Eric's. I packed my things and was on the road around 11 am.
I went across the river and started to head west on the bike path. It was a glorious day, and I stopped at a park which had a workout station. A few more miles down the road and I found a map of the area, it turns out that I had been riding in the wrong direction for about an hour; so I took the most direct route to get to the Hennepin canal trail, I-80. I would have to say that it saved me tons of time, but in hindsight, was very stupid and dangerous. It's not only illegal but very scary to have cars pass you at 70 miles per hour, even though there was a huge shoulder that I was able to stay on.
I finally found the Hennepin and as I entered, there was a sign that read, "trail closed". Trail closed! I wasn't impressed by this, so I just went on anyway. About a mile down the road the trial was completely washed out and I had to push Bella around a muddy, steep path the other hikers/bikers had carved out. It wasn't all that bad, and I continued on down the crushed limestone path. The day went by relatively smoothly after that, and I was very happy to have the solitude back that I enjoy so much. There ware osprey that would take off in front of me as I passed their perch; they are so graceful as they fly. I even saw one spear a small fish with its beak, these are the things that make me appreciate my country and also just being alive. I made it to a campsite at lock 17 and set up for the night. There was a small group next to me that I befriended and they offered up their beverages. People are so generous, especially the country folk that I meet.
The next day, I hopped onto route 6 because the bike path was a little slow and I was worried about destroying the tread on my road tires. I made it through several Illinois towns and eventually came to a more populated area along the Illinois River. I found a nice spot off the bike path but left for another site because of the large amount of glass and trash in the area; there were also four wheeler tracks everywhere and I just didn't want to be bothered by local drunks. Instead, I found a small clearing along the bike path and set up there. The trail at this point is called the I&M Canal and is a part of the reason why Illinois is the most populated state in the midwest. They used it to barge materials all the way from Chicago down to the Illinois river, and the Hennepin Canal extension was supposed to bring goods all the way to the Mississippi.
I rode the I&M to its' end, which links up with the Centennial Trail; this took me to within about 20 miles of downtown Chicago but it just ends. I found a road that took me to a suburb that had a library and I mapped out a route into downtown on Ogden street, then up towards Logan Square which was where my couch was waiting for me.