September 11, 2026 - Savanna, Illinois to Muscatine, Iowa

Tobey was on the trail around 8:00am today - his final riding day of his Mississippi River Trail journey. He took off from the trailhead we stopped at on our ride yesterday and enjoyed paved trails for a long way on his journey south.

We met at Fulton Windmill Park about 12 miles down the road and I rode with him for about five miles. The De Immigrant Windmill is a fully operational, authentic Dutch windmill that actually works. To celebrate its strong Dutch heritage, the City of Fulton dedicated a parcel of land on a flood-control dike along the Mississippi for the new construction of an authentic Dutch smock windmill. It was built in the Netherlands by native millwrights and shipped to Fulton for assembly. Because this windmill was built more for show than for milling, there is only one "run-of-stone" in this mill even though it does grind a variety of grain. The windmill operates almost every day, largely with the help of volunteer millers. Stone-ground buckwheat, corn, rye, and wheat flours are actually for sale in the gift shop at the Windmill Cultural Center. Unfortunately for me, the Windmill and Cultural Center weren't open yet so I only got to see the outside.

The bike trail goes right by the windmill and along the River, so we took off.
We were immediately given the chance to see two bald eagles - one flying and one resting on the ground.


This was our trail for about five miles. Tobey said it reminded him of his cross country ride when he was riding along the levees in Louisiana!

We did have a spot where we went on a small road that went to a boat launch area. I guess you really need to be cautious about that there might be a large body of water when the turn-off sign says boat launch!

At about five miles, the off-road trail stopped and went onto the highway - with no shoulder. I said my goodbyes to Tobey and headed back to the RV. I told him this was his adventure and mine didn't include riding on that kind of road! Further down the road, his route went back and forth between roads and trails.

He went by another area that had burial mounds, but again, it was difficult to identify them.

I headed back to the RV to load the bike and head off to our next meeting spot. It was an easy ride back but I was surprised when I was loading the bike. A car pulled up behind me and Officer Bennett got out and came over to talk to me. I parked horizontally in 2 head-in spaces on the street so I could be level and someone called the station to report me. He had given me a warning sticker on the RV. I hadn't seen it because it was on the front window. ANYWAY, after getting my information and verifying that I wasn't a vagrant (which they have a problem with), he took the sticker off and told me I was good to go. He figured the owner of the vehicle was on a bicycle somewhere because of the bike rack. The funny thing is, there was only one other car parked on the ENTIRE BLOCK, BOTH SIDES! I could understand the complaint if there was heavy traffic, but really ... Oh well, thank you Officer Bennett - your are the nicest officer on the force. Once the bike was loaded I made a speedy exit out of town - well, not too speedy. I stayed under every speed limit! I did stop to take a picture of this building mural.

As Tobey biked along he went through Cordova and saw this cool artwork on the street.


In Port Byron he also saw this cool art.

This is Will B. Rolling. While it's not traditional street art or a mural, the town's famous 30-foot-tall fiberglass sculpture of a Victorian man on a penny-farthing bicycle stands along the Mississippi River riverfront as a major local landmark.

We met near Hampton, Illinois at the Fisherman's Corner recreation area for his lunch/rest break. After his break I walked over to see the dam.
Up river the water has lots of plants growing in it.

Down river there were herons. I got to see this one catch something in the water.

Tobey was back on the trail for quite a while with trees and shade.

These are some of his sights coming into Moline, Illinois.

He was back on the road, but the trail was on the side and was two-way. He said it was a pretty nice section to ride.

This was the bike bridge across the river!

We did a quick stop in Moline, Illinois and he decided to keep going. He had ridden about 59 miles at this point and was feeling pretty good. He said, what the heck, it's only 20 more miles, let's keep going. Part of the time he was on highways that had a shoulder that was useless because the rumble strips covered the entire riding area so he had to ride out in the car section. Other times he was on nice dedicated trails.

And he arrived at his final destination at Pearl City Station in Muscatine, Iowa just after 6:00pm!

He was still smiling after 79.6 miles of riding today.

After a shower and dinner we took a short walk to see the world's largest watermelon sculpture.

Muscatine is home to the "unofficial" World's Largest Watermelon Slice which was installed in Fall of 2023. The sculpture measures at a whopping 40 feet long, 16 feet tall, and weighs 16,000 pounds! It's located on Muscatine's riverfront, a short walk from the Pearl City Station. Muscatine is famous for growing sweet-tasting watermelons and cantaloupes. Commercial melon growing started here in the mid-19th century and peaked by the early 1900s. I remember looking forward to getting watermelons from Muscatine when I was a kid growing up in Iowa!

Day 15 of riding completed his over 820 mile journey along the Mississippi River Trail. 

We are camping in Tipton, Iowa tonight and will head to Marshalltown (where I grew up and where we met!) tomorrow.

September 10, 2026 - Dubuque, Iowa to Savanna, Illinois

Last night we took another walk along the Mississippi Riverwalk before calling it a night. We had beautiful views over the river and a nice sunset.

This giant paddle wheel is outside the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa. It was from the historic steamboat William M. Black, and is now permanently moored at the museum. The vessel was built in 1934 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and used 1930s steam technology to help maintain navigable waterways. 

Could one of these be Tobey's next destination??

This morning Tobey was ready to ride by 8:00am – and yes – he has his mirror!

His route had lots of elevation gain and we weren’t sure about the road conditions so we planned stops about every 10 miles. Our first stop was at a road intersection and he was doing great and the road and trail conditions were much better today!

He saw some interesting sights along the way – and this was probably my favorite! You have to love people with a sense of humor.

His trail was off the main road and on trails or very small road so he was able to stop and take pictures as he went.



Another 6 miles down the road in Saint Donatus he stopped for a snack. It is known as a “Luxembourgish village” in America. It was settled in the 1840s by immigrants from Luxembourg and many of the current residents (120 according to the 2020 census!) are descendants of those early pioneers. We stopped in the huge parking lot of the Historic Gehlen Stone Barn which has the European stone-style of construction. It’s now a brewery and event venue.

We decided to meet at the Pleasant Creek Recreation area for lunch. These are some of his views along his route for most of the way.
He also spotted this old truck.

We both went by this park on the way into Bellevue and I hoped he would stop to take a picture. "Why?" you ask. We had a very good friend named John Henry. He holds a very special place in Tobey’s heart and we miss him since he passed away.

On the way I stopped in Bellevue, Iowa to check out the Lock and Dam No. 12 but also walked around their Veteran’s plaza first. It was impressive!

The Lock and Dam had lots of information and an elevated viewing platform so you could actually see the lock and dam! Downstream from the dam there were lots of pelicans in the water and quite a few fishermen.

After Bellevue the shoulder was gone once again, but there wasn’t much traffic so he just rode in the road. At Pleasant Creek we had a nice break for lunch and he rested a while before going on. We originally had planned to camp here, but it was only 12:30 and he felt good so we opted to keep going.

A little ways down the road his route took him onto this gravel road for a couple miles. Unlucky for him, just before he got to the railroad tracks, the arm came down and he had to wait for the train.
Here are some other shots from his ride.


I went on to Savanna, Illinois with a short stop at Driscoll’s Island. There wasn’t much to see, but there were some egrets.

As Tobey came into Savanna, he took some more pictures.

I'm not sure how I missed this on my way into town, but he didn't even offer to go back and get some!

This was here in Savanna.

Facemakers, Inc., is a Savanna, Illinois based costume manufacturer founded in 1972 that designs and builds custom mascots for schools, corporate brands, and sports teams worldwide. They are well known as the official licensed maker of the U.S. Forest Service’s Smokey the Bear costume! It's crazy that a company this large operates in a town with a population of less than 3000 people!

After Tobey got here he was still feeling good so after a short break we both took off on our bikes for a 20-mile round trip ride on the trail from the Savanna Marina/Great River Trailhead to the Thomson Causeway Recreation Area. It was mostly paved and runs along the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.

Much of it was heavily shaded and mostly flat. One section said it wasn’t paved. Well, it’s not gravel, either. It is a long, wooden bridge and it was quite jarring!

We did go by wetlands and saw herons, egrets, and lots of unusual plants.
Later we were on a small road with very little traffic and a HUGE field of pumpkins. We even went by a house giving away free tomatoes. They weren’t big – shaped more like a Roma tomato, but very tasty.

Back to the RV and it was time to fix dinner since I had an online book club meeting tonight. After book club, Tobey went for a short walk and then we both went out to see the stars. It was beautiful and we both wished our RV had a hot tub here to go out and relax in!

It was a good day. Tobey rode 75.6 miles (three-quarters of a century) and I rode just over 20. Tomorrow we will drive to the trailhead we stopped at and Tobey will begin his ride there.