Today I rolled from Quincy, Illinois to Galesburg, Illinois to visit the Galesburg Railroad Museum.  In addition to motorcycling, I have a strong interest in model railroading and railroads more broadly.   Model railroading is my main hobby, though it sometimes gets less attention than motorcycles and other aspects of life.   The limiting factor, as with most of us, is limited resources in time and money 😊 

After visiting the Galesburg Railroad Museum I rolled west on US Highway 34 across the Mississippi River into Iowa skirting south of Des Moines then angled northwest on numerous back roads (a couple of which were loose gravel unpaved roads) to Onawa, Iowa where I stopped for the day, arriving well after sunset.

When I reached Iowa, temperatures were in the upper 90s and briefly hit 100°F.   Travel progressed at a moderate pace, with several stops along the way for hydration.   I did not want to repeat some of the “brain fog” and issues I encountered the day before resulting in me forgetting to put my side stand down at a rest stop.

West of Des Moines, the gently rolling fields of corn and soy while the sun continually dipped lower in the sky led to very tranquil riding and was quite enjoyable.  Once the sun set, I dropped my speed down considerably riding two lane county and state roads in the pitch black.  I am not sure of the deer population in Iowa, but I kept imagining deer and other critters darting out into the road up from the roadside ditch or out of the numerous corn fields (which are quite tall in early September). 

Arriving at Onawa, Iowa on Iowa Highway 175 / Iowa Avenue, the entire street was closed off for construction work, which after riding 500 plus miles in the dark was a bit disorienting.  There was a pathway (normally for parking) that was open for bypassing the construction.   I arrived at my motel right off Interstate 29 and wrapped up Day 3.