2020 Conesville, Iowa & Savanna, Illinois

- Year of Riding in the Rain, cold rain, more rain, and night rain.

2020 was a challenging year for social gatherings. Despite the challenge, Brad and I decided to meet in Conesville, Iowa for the Redneck Revival Rally. I started in Detroit and rode I-94 across Michigan west until it joined I-80 West. Conesville is a small farming community west of the Quad Cities. The Quad Cities are on both sides of the Mississippi River. Illinois has Moline and Rock Island. Davenport and Bettendorf are on the Iowa side of the river. Conesville is about an hour ride westward and slightly south of Davenport.

The Conesville Rally was well attended. We met up with some familiar folks from years past. The rally is centered on an old school no prep concrete drag strip. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, golf carts, and even pic nic tables race down the drag strip. Yes, pic nic tables. Just ask, we’ll tell you all about the pic nic table. The races start early in the morning and ends by the afternoon. This allowed time for special contests such as the naked dash for cash, mud bogs, and various other contests that draw quite the crowds. The contests were very entertaining to say the least.

During the evenings we started out around a campfire for dinner with friends. After dinner we migrated across the drag strip to the entertainment stages to see the live bands, comedians, contests, dance music and people watching. We did a lot of people watching resulting in many smiles and laughs. I witnessed a few policemen patrolling the entertainment area walking thru the crowd. People were drunk but not rowdy. No problems noted. People were having good times. Years past there were aggressive club members who frequent the rally. There is a story of rival gangs fighting and one man was either beat to death or beat close to death. After that incident the owner closed the racetrack to the rally for a number of years. The racetrack was eventually opened to several family friendly events and two adult events per year. The staff enforces the campground rules of no club colors, gangs and activities that could ruin the fun for the majority. The event is a friendly atmosphere with like-minded drag racers, motorcycle riders and campers. Many people show up and car tent just to party!

Our notable motorcycle ride while at Conesville was a ride to Burlington, Iowa. Burlington is city on the Mississippi River. The ride is about an hour south of Conesville. Our friends took us to ride Snake Alley. Snake Alley is in the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Recognized as the street that is “unbelievably crooked.” It is also the #1 Odd Spot in the Odd Spot Across America Campaign. It looks like a twisted alley paved with red brick. It is incredibly steep for an automobile alleyway. I imagine it is slippery in the rain. Here are some pictures near the bottom of Snake Alley. We enjoyed lunch with outdoor dining overlooking the Mississippi River. The waterfront in Burlington is a neat area for a weekend getaway. 

I retired from the Marine Corps earlier this year. Brad gave me a shadow box with the Iwo Jima Memorial etched in it. The lid will accommodate my medals and awards. I brought a bottle of Don Julio Tequila to celebrate. We took a shot from the bottle each night. We shared the bottle with friends along the way. 

Our next stop was Savanna, Illinois. We heard that there were a few small businesses that were open despite the political environment. Brad has what I call the Rock Star Bus and pulled his bike into Seven Eagles RV Camp. The campground is about a half mile from Poopy’s in Savanna. We made the walk a few times. 

Brad and I visited most of the businesses that were open, which were few. Poopy’s and The Iron Horse Social Club were the two popular places to eat and drink in Savanna. Oh, beside the Iron Horse Social Club is an antique store called Franz and Fritz Finds at the old Pulford Opra House. Brad got pretty excited about the shop. He said it was featured on a show called American Pickers. Neat place. 

The locals told us about a scenic byway that would take us from Savanna to Galena. It rained most days including the day we rode the scenic byway. To get to the scenic road, we had to ride up a pretty steep narrow alley type road. It was pouring down rain and early in the morning. We were being alert and careful. Just as I was getting comfortable with the wet and curvy road, a deer jumps out in front of me. So this near miss put me on alert again. Then a tractor pulls out in front of us from a side road. A few miles later another deer runs across the road ahead of us. Finally we reach a stretch of the road were we are elevated. We could see the farmlands with their fences and fields for miles ahead of us and in three directions. The land was lush and green. At the bottom of the valley we could see a tractor cutting grass on the side of the road. One side of the road was already cut. This was obvious because the road was covered in freshly cut green grass. Did I mention the rain was still coming down drenching everything?  Luckily it was a straight road so we rode thru the freshly mowed grass with no problem. 

We had lunch in Galena, Illinois. Galena is a small town known for some well-preserved 19th Century buildings. We passed by some historical homes and sites. Ulysses S. Grant’s home is preserved there. I believe Galena is home to at least 8 Civil War Generals. It was steamboat hub and now a good place for a weekend getaway. Savanna worked well for our basecamp allowing us to explore the area. We covered some miles in the surround area. Some notable stops were in Fulton, Illinois where the Dutch Windmill museum is located. There are some small cafes in Fulton too. Get a slice a pie if you visit. Don’t worry, just ask the locals were the best pie is…they will show you. On the west side of the river we had coffee and donuts at a bakery in Clinton, Iowa. It was pouring rain as we looked out the window at our bikes parked on the main street. 

After another ride we stopped for brunch at the Sandbar Grill that is across the river west of Savanna but not quite into Iowa. There is an island, causeway or sandbar connected with bridges. To the east, we found some covered bridges in Iowa while looking for the Psycho Silo and visiting the Rock Falls area. 

The most memorable ride during this trip was from Savanna to a small town in Wisconsin to visit with Brad’s niece. We were near Madison. It rained all the way north. We had a great visit and dinner. By the time we departed and headed south to our campground, it was later in the evening. The rain continued to pour all day. The sun had set and the temperatures began to drop. Our rain suits stopped resisting the rain. Our clothes were soaked. We had to continue. It was dark. Not just dark but we were in a rainstorm with dark skies. There were no street lights. We rode faster on the four-lane highway thinking to hurry up and get the ride over faster. I have a theory that our speed combined with the wind had helped the rain penetrate our rain suits. Eventually we turned off the four-lane highway onto the two lane curvy road. I could not see anything. I felt resistance on my tires if I veered too close to the right of the road. The rain was coming down so hard that it was overflowing the ditch beside the road. When an oncoming car passed, the lights blinded me. I had raindrops on the outside and inside my helmet shield. It was so cold that I couldn’t keep the visor open. Plus the rain hurt hitting against my face. Brad was behind me. He said he could barely see my dim red taillight. He followed the red taillight. 

We stopped for fuel in Galena and immediately started shivering. We were miserable. We were riding blind in a rainstorm in the middle of a freezing night. We could have slept at Brad’s nieces warm house. What were we thinking? Later that night, Brad and I arrived back to the shelter of the Rock Star Bus. He cranked up the heater on high. We laid out our wet clothes all over the bus. 

The next morning, Brad puts his rain pants on his head searching for leaks. He finds some pinholes indicated by light shining thru the pants. He has the idea that he has to patch the pinholes. So we rode around town looking for something to patch the rain pants. Of all places, Brad stops at a pharmacy. The clerk gives him a bottle of liquid cement out of her desk drawer. You know the small bottle with the brush attached to the screw cap used for arts and crafts. Back to the Rock Star Bus we went. Brad put the rain pants back on his head and began sniffing the glue. Uh, I mean he patched his rain paints. 

The most memorable meal was a steak dinner on the Rock Star Bus. Cheers until next year!