The next day I left for Chugchilán, which has been one of my favorite places that I visited. The hike started out circling around the volcano and then headed down to the left, passing the town of Guayama, where the inhabitants stared at the gringo with the huge backpack. The hike was exceptionally pretty, and not super long, and this time I managed not to get lost, although the trails were much better maintained in this case and they were also more clearly laid out. When I finally made it up the hill to Chugchilán, I crashed at a lovely little hostel and went out to see what was happening in the town. It was Sunday, and it seemed like the whole town was out in the street--playing volleyball...

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Litchfield city manager Andy Richie plans a bike ride next spring to raise money for the LITCHFIELD MUSEUM and ROUTE 66 WELCOME CENTER — an estimated 2,400-mile trek from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif. Richie expects to make about 80 to 100 miles a day by riding from 9 a. m. to noon and 1:30 to 4:30 p. m. At that pace, said Richie, he should be able to make the trip in about 30 days. He and his Easy Racers recumbent bicycle have been in plenty of long-distance road trip/races before, including a recent 100-mile ride in Indian Head, Md. He also has a 500-mile ride along the California coastline under his wheels. “A bike route will be longer because some of old Route 66 is now interstate,” he said. Backers have a site picked out just off Interstate 55, which generally tracks the route of the historic road through Illinois from the St. Louis area to Chicago. He does plan to ride the remaining stretches of Route 66 as much as possible. “I’ve done some distance riding before, but not at this level,” said Richie.

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