We were in search of Jamestown Road that would lead us to the Garden of the Gods. We found the wine trail, the Pomona Natural Bridge and Bald Knob Cross, instead.
The Pomona Natural Bridge, situated in a verdant corner of heaven, is amazing. It is a huge sandstone rock that was carved out by some long-gone river. Yes... "a river ran through it." What is even more awe-inspiring is that we survived the 3-mile gravel road that took us there; full of ruts and going downhill fast. There were several other bikers with equally questionable sanity, who braved this near-death experience to get to the bridge.
It was worth it.
The wine trail was picturesque... earthy, idyllic and pastorally peaceful. The wines were... the wines were... well, the wine trail was picturesque, earthy, idyllic and pastorally peaceful.
Bald Knob Cross is impressive. It is 111 feet tall with arms that span 63 feet. It is covered with highly reflective reinforced porcelain steel panels. It is located on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi flood plain. You can see the cross from miles away. Sadly, the cross is showing signs of having weathered the elements. Even in its current disrepair, the cross stands solemn and majestic.Unfortunately, we only had a day and a half to ride. We got rained out in true Southern Illinois spring fashion... torrentially with a couple of tornado warnings thrown in for good measure. We took this opportunity to visit our very dear friends, Nancy and David. We also visited our good old Saluki stomping grounds. It was a good tromp down memory lane and fun to re-live the love story that led to your existence.
We hope this to be the first of many cruising trips. We will definitely return. We did not get to taste root beer in Makanda. We did not get to shop in "The Smelly Hippie" store in Alto Pass. And we never did find Jamestown Road.
So many roads, so little time.
Love,
Mom and Dad
