Quad Cities Bike Ride

 We enjoy getting together with various family members at locations where we can explore the area by bicycle on bike trails.

This trip was to the Quad Cities along the Mississippi River. We RV camped at the Fisherman's Corner campground which was a very nice location along the river bike trail in Hampton, Illinois.

Paved roads, shade, a view of the river and a nice bathhouse made this a great place to camp

Betsy and family once again rented an RV with a slide out for the trip and had it delivered and set up at the campground

Phillip and Wendy purchased a pop top camper and enjoyed it on their first outing in the unit

Our Airstream continues to provide good service. Not bad for a 27 year old RV.

                                     

The bike trail takes you to the dam for Lock #14 on the Mississippi. You can ride out to the water control gates and see the action 

We enjoyed watching the barges and tow boats lock thru

Playgrounds are found all along the bike trail

Much of the bike trail travels across the top of a levee offering great views

Shade can be found along the way

There is a water taxi that will take you on tours of the river and various sites of interest

 

One of the especially memorable parts of the ride is to travel onto the Rock Island Arsenal Island

The bike trail leads to a bridge over the river. This is quite the bridge and includes a swing portion to allow barges and tow boats to clear when locking thru Lock and Dam #15

The bike trail in Moline, Illinois takes you past the John Deere Pavilion with machines on display

The Pavilion  area looks like a full scale model railroad

Quite the mural

                                     

The upper part of the Mississippi is too shallow to support navigation without the use of locks to keep the navigation channel at a minimum depth of nine feet

Pere Marquette Get Together

We had a family get together in Pere Marquette State Park along the Illinois River near Alton Illinois.

On the way there we stopped at the railroad lift bridge in Boonville Missouri to check out the progress in making it a part of the KATY bicycle trail. The approach on the west end is complete and turned out well. Much more work is still required to allow use by bicyclists.

We arrived at the Lodge at Pere Marquette. This is the work of the Civilian Conservation Corp and is a spectacular bit of construction.

The main area of the Lodge is timber construction with sweeping panoramas of roof

Cabins are found around the grounds for those not staying in the Lodge.

We took off on a bike ride along the bike trails along the Illinois river. Lots of history in that area.

My cousin Phillip and Brother in Law John

The Village of Elsa is full of historic homes worth seeing

Julie and sister Carol

A strenuous ride on the roads above the lodge provides views of the river and Indian burial mounds 

Julie enjoying the day

The Lodge has a museum highlighting the wildlife in the area. It includes a simulated  bald eagle nest for the kids to explore

Nearby Alton Illinois has a tribute to Miles Davis. This was his birthplace.

This was a nice place to visit. Lots of things to see and do along the river.