The campground filled up more as the evening wore on and it was a tad noisy late into the night but gradually quieted down starting around 10pm. I fell asleep pretty much as soon as I closed my eyes and slept very deeply till just before sunrise. I gathered everything as quick as I could and hit the road to try and beat the wind. Thankfully the day started calm and cool so I made good progress quickly. The first few miles were fun rolling gravel roads, hard packed and fast. I neglected to fill my water bottles up before leaving the campground on purpose, as the water tasted horrible. There was actually a sign posted warning people not to let infants drink the water as it had tested high in Manganese. It was even worse than the water at Swan Lake which was itself almost undrinkable. And I've tasted some truly nasty water on this trip. Tasted like drinking liquified pencil lead. So at the first town of West Branch I got some Gatorade at a grocery store. It held the distinction of being the final resting place of Herbert Hoover and contained his presidential library but I didn't have time to check it out. The old rail line through the area has partially been converted into a trail and named the Hoover trail. I was only able to ride a few miles in random spots and in some small towns. But mostly today I was on random gravel roads. After I turned due east to head straight for the Mississippi, the wind was really blowing hard from the South-southeast and it made things quite difficult. In addition it was in the mid eighties with full sun beating down, and I'm just not used to it anymore. But eventually I reached Muscatine and rode some nice paths there, got yelled at by two different drivers for doing nothing at all(no joke, these people, two separate incidents, just didn't seem to think bicycles are a valid form of travel apparently, and both times I was within city street grid boundaries, theoretically safe and inclusive). But my faith in humanity and Iowa was restored soon after. I met a really nice local cyclist named Dustin at the grocery store and we chatted for awhile. I met another local cyclist too but I don't remember his name. They were both very supportive and wished me well on my trip. Great meeting you today Dustin! I drank a liter of Pepsi near the river under a tree to steel myself for the bridge crossing. It turned out to be very safe and no big deal at all. Had a little shoulder and there was almost no traffic. I really enjoyed all the miles, the great people I met and wonderful gravel in Iowa but I am glad to be making progress and getting into Illinois is another huge milestone as I am now east of the Mississippi again. I was able to turn off the highway right away and soon hit one of the most challenging hills of the trip in a very long time. It was hard packed gravel but was extremely steep. 15-17% grades for most of the length, it was no joke. But it didn't last long as there's only so much elevation in northern Illinois. I really enjoyed the rolling hills here, lots of the area was densely wooded and I was grateful for the break from the wind. After a big descent from Illinois City I thought I was done with hills but one last climb up to the park and I rolled up to the park office. Thankfully they still had primitive campsites available on this lovely Saturday, and it's just fantastic, I am in a very secluded place with only a couple campers within earshot and each campsite is separated by a patch of woods. It's great.