August 27, 2024. Chenoa, Illinois.

       We had known for several days that the heat that we had been experiencing was supposed to be at its worst today. There had been weather alerts, and now an excessive heat warning starting at noon today. It was supposed to be very hot with a high of 98 and the heat index up to 110 to 115. And this morning there would be no cloud cover like yesterday morning. After getting up at our usual time, and reviewing and discussing the weather yet another time while eating breakfast, we decided that it was prudent to stay put for a day, even though we were eager to go as it would have been the last day of our trip. So we booked another night at the hotel, then took a walk around the town right away while it was still early and before it got any hotter. We ended up walking for six and a half miles on the town streets, viewing houses and church buildings and the community. We passed the elementary school as kids were arriving, then turned the corner and connected to it was an old multi-story high school building with an old cinder track around a football field next to it, but neither looked very active. Later on we found out that a consolidation of school districts had taken place years before and the high school was now in a neighboring town. As a result, they were part of the second-largest rural school district in Illinois which included 280 square miles, about 30 miles east to west and 10 miles north to south, all spread out along US 24. Before returning to the hotel, we walked along part of an old section of Route 66 from 1921 to 1944, which was paved in 1926. The old slabs of concrete were broken and somewhat uneven with plants growing in the cracks.

.                        Old Route 66

       Where we started there was an old classic car parked by a big information sign telling about the road and how nice it was to drive on versus the muddy, unpaved roads of the time. Even though it was before 9 in the morning, it was amazing how hot it was and how much you sweat even though we had some shade on the residential streets. (unlike bicycling, there is little self-made breeze when walking!) 

       Jim was eager to ride at least 10 miles in the heat just to say we had done it, but by riding around town at a relaxed pace with bikes mostly unloaded. As part of this we rode on that old section of Route 66, this time going as far south as we could go on it until it ended and we had to cut over to the paved road that was now designated Route 66. We then took the side path along that back into town. This newer section of Route 66, instead of going right through the middle of town like the earlier one did, went around the west edge of town. Now I-55 curves a small amount around Chenoa and defines the west edge of town.

     We then headed to the library to work on our blog and spend time in a more spacious area than our hotel room.Towards the end of our time there, a librarian asked if we would like a cup of tea. We took her up on it and headed into the community room with her, where she made the tea, gave us honey to put in it and gave us some almonds to eat with it. As we sipped our tea, we talked together about various books we had read, and made book recommendations to each other. We also found out that she had retired as a university librarian, and now is semi-retired with this job at a small-town library. She was waiting for her husband to pick her up and when he arrived, we invited the two of them out to dinner--with the stipulation that either it be walking distance from our hotel or they would have to drive. So we got to ride in their Tesla to Kemp's Upper Tap Restaurant in a nearby town. We tried the Blue Burger on their recommendation--sloppy but good! We learned that the husband had been a mechanic for Gulfstream jets. He would go along on flights all over the world to be available to repair the plane wherever it was if it broke down or had a mechanical problem, from motors to broken windows to you-name-it. We had a fun time chatting about everything from solar panels to Teslas to Dave Ramsey money management.

     On the way back we were treated to a display of continuous flashes of lightning in clouds along the western and northern horizon, while stars shone overhead. After they dropped us back at the hotel, we went out and watched it for a bit—couldn't hear any thunder, but the show in the sky was spectacular!   

     Lightning Display with the Big Dipper Visible