Travel thru the state of Illinois by interstate, and one could be forgiven for thinking that there's nothing to see but acre after acre of corn. Get onto a bike (or trike) and venture out onto the rural backroads and there is nature aplenty.
These pictures are from my Sunday ride, which included a trip through, and in the vicinity of, the tiny borough of West Brooklyn. Parts of the route run along the south side of the Richardson Wildlife Foundation, which offers up views like this:
And while Montana is officially big-sky country, when you find the right spot, Illinois has some of that to offer as well...
That's a patch of sunflowers in the middle distance, I suspect planted by the Richardson folks to attract and feed the wildlife. All in all it made for a lovely Sunday ride.