#2: [21-Oct-18]

31-Mar-2001 --

My co-explorer, Thomas C.H. Mueller and I set out in the morning from Wisconsin to Illinois with the goal of visiting three confluences along the 40th parallel. This one and N40W091W had recorded no visitors as of our travel date. The 90W confluence had a pending claim, which posted within a couple weeks.

Colorful events which usually unfold about our other confluence visits were lacking this day, but this was probably for the better since these events usually cost us money (e.g. speeding tickets, broken equipment, etc.). Instead we were treated to the mild stimuli of scattered early-spring showers (which always seemed to materialize as we stepped out of the car) and the broad, treeless expanses that are Illinois farmlands.

This confluence was located in fields west of Janvrin Road, a none-too-broad gravel street. The latitude of the confluence put it just a little north of the halfway point between School Rd and Hampshire Rd -- so perhaps not coincidentally there was something of an access point for farm machinery from Janvrin that allowed me to park the car off the gravel. Tom and I were very conscious of the flatness, lack of trees, and easy viewing for a mile in any direction so we moved at a brisk jog out to the confluence, took our photos, and ran back to the car to minimize the chance that anyone would take note of us or be bothered by our presence. Fortunately the fields hadn't been plowed yet this season, which would have been a muddy mess with the on-again off-again rain showers.

We were off and on our way by 1 p.m., heading west to visit N40W090.