Day 37: Newton to Sterling

June 16, 2006

This place doesn't exactly sound like a place I want to swim...

Brad, our local welcoming committee, made sure we knew where everything was in his town.

Getting a local geography lesson from Brad

Later that night-------------------

So our uneventful day turned eventful when the sheriff came by camp with warnings of a storm heading our way. A doctor who lives near the park we camped stopped to tell us we were welcomed to his basement if the tornado sirens went off. Well, the sheriff came back and told us he highly recommended not staying out in our tents. Alvin asked the doctor if we could take him up on his offer of the storm shelter NOW, and he went to warn his wife that 14 people were descending on their home.

I had been one of the last to set up my tent (hoped to find a picnic shelter or something instead), and an instantaneous change in wind direction coupled with a nearly 20 degree drop in temperatures had me ripping it down and shoving everything back in my bags. I got packed up pretty quickly, asked Alvin who I should help, and went over to help Wil find and pack all his things in the semi-darkness. He's legally blind, but we found most of his things before they blew away.

Jim and I, both native Midwesterners, were surprised that the rain didn't start falling right away. It had been our experience that such a sudden change of wind/temps meant almost immediate rain, but we were glad to get most things packed up before the rain hit. The doctor pulled his truck into the park and we started throwing bags and tents in various packed and unpacked states into the back. My bags were all reattached to the bike, so I just wheeled it over to the backyard workshop where we were parking for the night after rescuing the group's cooking gear from under one of the tables and making sure Wil had his bike and gear under control.

Almost everyone got their bikes parked indoors before the rain hit (poor Helen was trying to repack properly instead of quickly and got soaked).

Turns out that this doctor and his wife had 4 grown children and 4 free bedrooms and miscellaneous other sleeping options, so most people got to sleep on a bed. About everyone went to bed right away, but Alvin and I stayed up talking to our hosts for a while and eating some GREAT rhubarb crisp. I took the comfy floor with cushy carpet after my snack, thankful I hadn't had to weather the wind in my tent!

Dumping everything into a neighbor's workshop when the sherriff confirmed that 70 mph winds and hail were likely headed our way

Today's ride: 64 miles (103 km)
Total: 1,904 miles (3,064 km)

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