Gin's Bar & Grill-Lone Tree

Last Saturday (see my May 30th post) our cycling club had a ride that went out to Lone Tree for breakfast. They stopped at Gin's Bar & Grill, which is noted for their large pancakes for $1 each. Patti and I didn't have the time last Saturday to make it all the way to Lone Tree, so today I decided to take half a day off and make the trip.

I parked at Wild Cat Den around 6am and went through Muscatine on the bike path and headed west on G28 past the elk/buffalo farm and then north into Lone Tree. I entered Gin's around 8:15 and there were several patrons there playing cards and some farmers at another table talking over the weather. The waitress/cook/bartender was playing cards and she got up and took my order. The pancake was big (around 10" diameter) and fairly thick. I also ordered 2 eggs and had coffee, which was self-serve. My total cost was $3 including tax, what a bargain. I have always been partial to the pancakes at Julie's in Albany, IL, which is on the bike path that runs between Rock Island and Savanna. Julie's pancakes are just a little larger, but not as thick; so probably about the same volume.

After leaving Lone Tree, I headed north for quite a ways and then east into West Liberty. I went past several turkey farms and as I came into town took this picture at the Louis Rich Turkey processing plant. There were several trailers of turkeys waiting to be processed and they had rigged up a bank of fans to help keep the birds cool. As if they are going to know the difference in a few minutes. I stopped at the Casey's in West Liberty for a sort break before heading east through Atalissa and Moscow. East of Moscow there was a train crossing the road and it had stopped to drop off some cars at Gerdau's steel plant in Wilton and had to wait about 15 minutes. Then it was east through Wilton and Durant and then south back to Wildcat Den. I had 82.5 miles for the trip.