Wittenberg to Illinois State Park and Amlings Cycle

After the Midwest Recumbent Rally in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, we decided to head for Wittenberg to Nueske's before moving on to Niles on the outskirts of Chicago. We know Nueske's from visiting Wittenberg for my folk's sixtieth wedding anniversary.

We picked up cheese, bacon, and their signature corn beef hash. The campsite is going to smell good!

Outside Nueske's is this truck. Hey Kim and Nicki -- should we get an RV like this? 😍

Then we drove to Niles, outside of Chicago to see Amlings Cycle. Our HP Velotechnik contact, Stefan, suggested that this shop could troubleshoot the electrical issue I'm having with my trike. Unfortunately, the part hasn't arrived yet. We checked out their amazing shop and made a plan to contact them when the part arrives. They have a great selection of 'bents, both three and two-wheeled, along with a cool selection of historical bikes hanging from their ceiling gallery. Amlings does well in the accessory department as well, with a wide selection of shoes, bike bags, lighting systems, and tools. They too are interested in trying to set up a rally, so we offered to ride the routes they are considering.

Next it was off to our campsite at the Illinois Beach State Park. As the name suggests, the campground is on Lake Michigan, and it was a surprising bit of woodland refuge less than 45 miles from downtown Chicago. It featured lush vegetation and easy access to the beach and lake shoreling. Beyond that, we are sad to say that this was our first public park campground that did not measure up. It is not well loved, having deferred maintenance on the facilities. Plus the mosquitoes were all too prevalent. Makes me wonder if the state of Illinois has similar finance issues to California. We tried to bicycle from here, but unlike the locals who were riding through the park at 7am, we trusted the weather forecast and waited until mid-day to ride. Of course, it being summer in the midwest, it rained on us, so we cut it short.