Came close. I did ACA's Northern Tier group tour in '99. However, we went off route to Devnport to stay with a former ACA ride leader. Crossed over to Molin and then got back on route somewhere. We stayed at some state park off route the day after Davenport. The next day we rode to somewhere a little south of Streator. It was ungodly hot and humid. Easily 100 degrees. The tar used to fill in road cracks stuck to our tires and splattered on our frames. Little pieces of gravel stuck to our tires.

But I remember that day for another reason....A few of us noticed a school that was open for Saturday extracurricular classes. It was in the middle of nowhere farming country. We desperately needed water so we stopped in. A teacher was about to start a class on the pinciples of flight. She asked us if we would speak to the kids about all the things there were to do outside a rural farming community like theirs. We had many miles to go and were reluctant, but she pleaded with us and we ended up spending about 25 min. talking to the kids. Before we left, the teacher asked us for the sire of our next day off, which was to be in Bowling Green, OH. When we checked the mail in Bowling Green we found a manilla envelope filled with individaul "thank you" letters from the kids, some of whom were barely literate.