Made it to Springfield

Today was a significant day. I made it to Springfield, IL, capital of Illinois. I biked 16 miles yesterday, Tuesday, and 16 miles today. I think I drove over a big hank of Rob Blago's hair on the last leg into town. What a strange place Springfield is. The legacy of graft and corruption, for which Illinois is noted, is not surprising, once you see this place. It is somewhat dismal. How can this be the place from which Abe Lincoln rose to greatness? (Abe, who, by the way, was tortured by depression, got kicked in the head by a mule when he was a teenager, has no surviving heir, and stored stuff in his stovepipe hat.) And we can't forget that this is the seat of government for the state which produced our current pres., Barack, whose first year in office officially ends today. I may take tomorrow off from the road to check out Springfield. There has to be some magic here, not apparant to the naked eye. I certainly hope I don't run into our current governor, Quinn, who looks too damn much like Dick Cheney. Don't you agree?
I am pleased that my progress on Route 66 now shows up on a map of the U.S. The next major goal on my quest is St. Louis.