Starved Rock Run - Take 2

[Rustyknight]

Cajun, you mean the place just east of Utica on Rt6?

I took the Ranger, Boosky is still in the shop with no interior, the good news is Cantu the guy who does my custom interior work, has some of the seat panels done (Black with Blue that matches the Midnight Blue), and he is saying it will be done and heading back to the Body shop for a full detail by the first of May.

If anyone wants to try a pre-run May 3rd and try the Cajun place I'm up for it.

And if you guys took Sky's on 1101, then you really were offroading it.........

[ihawk95]

Originally Posted by SkyBaby

Rusty and IHawk... let me know about any... scouting... I am game... and usually have NOTHING to do... SkyBaby

I may scout tomorrow night. Kinda on the fly sorta thing though. Taking the car in for the recall and then I have a Quack Doc appt at 6:30 in Oglesby. I figure since I'll be right there I might as well head over and see what's what.

[ihawk95]

Originally Posted by Rustyknight

Cajun, you mean the place just east of Utica on Rt6?

I took the Ranger, Boosky is still in the shop with no interior, the good news is Cantu the guy who does my custom interior work, has some of the seat panels done (Black with Blue that matches the Midnight Blue), and he is saying it will be done and heading back to the Body shop for a full detail by the first of May.

If anyone wants to try a pre-run May 3rd and try the Cajun place I'm up for it.

And if you guys took Sky's on 1101, then you really were offroading it.........

That is the place!

Can't do May 3rd...T2TR III is that day. Could do some evening after work though. I believe the Cajun Connection is closed on Mondays if I remember correctly though, so a Monday may be out.

Pretty sure that was the road. Lots of bumps and pot hills. We went real slow!!

I'll do a little map scanning, but the only thing that looked OK that I know of and have taken is Deer Path. Dee Bennett worked last year as well. Not bad...some nice sweeping curves and the scenery is pretty.

[ihawk95]

Just checked with our company owner and he said bring on the Cookie Tour.

He also wanted me to make sure everyone gets cookies!!! So we are a go for the Cookie Tour!!!

[Rustyknight]

O.K.

I took another sample run this morning, initial proposal for route:

Rally Point in Morris @ 10-11 AM June 7th or 14th ?
take the old stage coach road from Morris to Senica
take county 2553 from Senica to Illini State Park
detour into Illini State Park via county 2450 (Take Round Trip Army Corp of Engineers Driveway)
exit Illini State park on county 2350
run to Ottawa via county 2653
Rt 71 from Ottawa to Eagle Rock or Starved Rock via Deer Path rd.

Selected notes:
This is pretty much the same run that was made last year, except for the detour into Illini State Park. The Army corp Driveway is about 5-6 miles of blacktop that runs from inside Illini State Park to the Marseilles Locks, there is nothing there and since it doesn't really lead anywhere (except the parking lot of the Army base) there is hardly any traffic, it is twisty and runs right next to the river, with a few private campground entrances.

[ihawk95]

Originally Posted by Rustyknight

O.K.

I took another sample run this morning, initial proposal for route:

Rally Point in Morris @ 10-11 AM June 7th or 14th ?
take the old stage coach road from Morris to Senica
take county 2553 from Senica to Illini State Park
detour into Illini State Park via county 2450 (Take Round Trip Army Corp of Engineers Driveway)
exit Illini State park on county 2350
run to Ottawa via county 2653
Rt 71 from Ottawa to Eagle Rock or Starved Rock via Deer Path rd.

Selected notes:
This is pretty much the same run that was made last year, except for the detour into Illini State Park. The Army corp Driveway is about 5-6 miles of blacktop that runs from inside Illini State Park to the Marseilles Locks, there is nothing there and since it doesn't really lead anywhere (except the parking lot of the Army base) there is hardly any traffic, it is twisty and runs right next to the river, with a few private campground entrances.

Oh the little detour into Illini State Park sounds pretty sweet!! Finially...something kinda fun to run!!!

OK, I gotta look that action up and map it out. That sounds like a decent idea. You think Deer Path may be better than Dee Bennet? The difference is Dee Bennet is along the river (we'd have to go through Ottawa again to get to it) and Deer Path is more out in farm country. Not quite as scenic.

I'm sticking with June 7th I think. I talked to the Pontiac dealer in Peru and they may be willing to host a BBQ for us that day. I'm thinking about it. The timing may not work out.

Thanks for the scouting report Rustyknight!! Had it not looked like rain Thursday night, I would have tried a few things after I picked up my car.

[SkyBaby]

Originally Posted by ihawk95

Just checked with our company owner and he said bring on the Cookie Tour.

He also wanted me to make sure everyone gets cookies!!! So we are a go for the Cookie Tour!!!

GOOD..... I WUV COOKIES..... SkyBaby oh yea.. and the great company on the tour!!! SkyBaby

[ihawk95]

Time to kick this thread in the tail!

I believe I will pre-run this (probably in my GP) on May 18th. I can also do a night after work starting next week. Probably won't go all the way to Morris afterwork and it will probably be a backwards run. We'll see.

Any night except Monday is good.

RustyKnight...I got to thinking about this. Is there any place to run north of I-80 in the area? What if we made more of a run out of this. Meet in Morris, take the route you suggested, maybe hop back up on the north side around the Fox River??? We could start a little earlier if we can find some roads to run.

[ihawk95]

Here is the rough game plan right now:

Meet in Morris at "R" Place off of I-80 and Rt 47. Northwest corner. Big truck stop...you can't miss it.
Time: 11:00 am ish. Maybe 10:00 if I find more running.

Run a similar route as last year to Starved Rock. (Old Stage Road, switch down south in Seneca, run to Ottawa, then to Starved Rock...maybe head north for some more running if we can find it).

We will have lunch at one of these locations:
Starved Rock Marina (last year's lunch spot)
Starved Rock Lodge
Ron's Cajun Connection

We'll run into Starved Rock and hike around for an hour or so for those interested. Maybe longer.

We'll take the back roads to Tonica and then down Rt. 251 to The Cookie Tour.

I'll dig up the route and post all the roads.

For the Cookie Tour...
No sandals, open toed shoes, or high heels.
No jewelry except for a plain wedding band. If you can't get your ring off, we'll tape over it.
No watches. (You can remove the watches and jewelry when we get to the plant)
Shorts...I got busted for this last year. Long pants are preferable. If you're legs are shaved, shorts are fine. There will be a place to change if you want to bring a pair of pants along.
Sleeveless shirts should be OK except for the guys. Unless you want to shave!!!
You will be required to wear a hairnet. Guys - Bearnets too if you have more than 1 day's beard growth. Mustaches are OK.

Who is in??? I'll start the official list back up!!!

[Spfld-IL-SKY]

Diane:

I'm planning on running and cookie tour.

who hoo

[ihawk95]

Originally Posted by Spfld-IL-SKY

Diane:

I'm planning on running and cookie tour.

who hoo

Excellent. I'll try to go back through the thread and start a list. I can pull people off as needed!

[ihawk95]

Here we go...

Here's who is interested so far:

ihawk95
Rick Tinley Park
berserk303
heeseop
Boat Drink
bentley
AwsmSky
Spfld-IL-Sky
V8 Sky
SkyBaby
Appygirl
POTFH
jchao
suzy711Q
Sky Vue 1
Rusty Knight
Mountain King - Maybe

Let's see who still wants in...

[ihawk95]

Originally Posted by Rustyknight

O.K.

I took another sample run this morning, initial proposal for route:

Rally Point in Morris @ 10-11 AM June 7th or 14th ?
take the old stage coach road from Morris to Senica
take county 2553 from Senica to Illini State Park
detour into Illini State Park via county 2450 (Take Round Trip Army Corp of Engineers Driveway)
exit Illini State park on county 2350
run to Ottawa via county 2653
Rt 71 from Ottawa to Eagle Rock or Starved Rock via Deer Path rd.

Selected notes:
This is pretty much the same run that was made last year, except for the detour into Illini State Park. The Army corp Driveway is about 5-6 miles of blacktop that runs from inside Illini State Park to the Marseilles Locks, there is nothing there and since it doesn't really lead anywhere (except the parking lot of the Army base) there is hardly any traffic, it is twisty and runs right next to the river, with a few private campground entrances.

I checked this out...this is the route we took last year except for the detour into Illini State Park. I like it. We could jump off 2553 at either 2650th or N 25th...both look very twisty...and then catch 2450. There are some nice snakey roads around there. Maybe we can make a few loops and jump on them.

I'm checking Google Maps right now and am seeing some things to the north that have potential. Nevermind...it's all too short. Nothing worthwhile until around Hennepin and we're not going to go that far.

This will be a nice detour and we'll definitely do it. The route will be the same as last year. We just need to decide between Dee Bennett Road on the north or Deer Park to the South.

If we do Deer Park...we could eat at the Biker Bar!!

[SkyBaby]

I am looking forward to this... I was looking forward to Mecca.. but.... NO.... stupid health crap.... This will be fun... Thanks Diana for arranging.... and Rusty for scoping things out.... SkyBaby

[ihawk95]

Originally Posted by SkyBaby

I am looking forward to this... I was looking forward to Mecca.. but.... NO.... stupid health crap.... This will be fun... Thanks Diana for arranging.... and Rusty for scoping things out.... SkyBaby

Anytime! I did get your PM and text. Sorry you can't make MECCA. I'll take the spare with me and PayPal ya everything when I get back!

[SkyBaby]

Cool.... HAVE SOME YAK FUN FOR ME!!!!! SkyBaby

[ihawk95]

I did pretty well last weekend I thought!!!

But I think there were enough stories from last weekend. We'll see what happens this time around!!!

[Rick Tinley Park]

Hope ya don't get any dough on my Yellow drivin shoes!! LOL

[ihawk95]