Day 10 ending near Boonville, IN

September 2, 2015

Last night I slept on the picnic table at campsite #2 from 10:00pm - 12:30am, and 3:20am - 4:45am. Awake-times were spent writing the report. It was humid and still overnight, with fairly bright moonlight. I surprised a raccoon, who didn't expect anyone to be up when he was going to visit.

Daylight came before I was finished with the report. Bought a bottle of Pepsi from the machine next to the showerhouse/bathroom, and kept writing/revising. Finally done.

I was not too unhappy with my 7:26am departure time. The thing was, however, it is three miles back to the gatehouse and another mile from there to the highway. I used the bicycle path - this time including the section not next to the road - to get to the gatehouse (at 7:58am). I see now that I was supposed to deposit my site tag at the gatehouse as I left - oops. Made it to highway IN-69 at 8:06am.

The big question today was which route to take to my destination: Scales Lake County Park near Boonville, Indiana. I wasn't sure my pre-trip at-home routing didn't include lots of gravel roads. Looking at the maps, going north to New Harmony, then east on IN-68, then south on IN-61 would be best. But the Google Maps app I'd installed on this BlackBerry wanted me to go to Evansville on IN-66, then back northeast on IN-62. Google Maps even had a bicycle path in Evansville for me to use. I finally agreed, and went with Google.

So it was a little south on IN-69, then east on Harmony Township Road. So far, that was like my pre-trip routing. Nice paved roads. Made it to Blairsville at 9:30am. I pulled under the canopy shade of an out-of-business gas station for a break and to maybe change my mind.

Ate two bags of peanuts, then finally made up my mind for good - I'd go through Evansville. Left heading that way at 10:04am. The shoulder kept getting better the farther I went. At 10:28am, I stopped at Parker Mini-mart for snacks. Went outside to eat and noticed an old schoolhouse behind the business. I was amazed at how much the threshold was worn down on 'School No. 4'.

At 11:33am, I arrived at the city limits of Evansville. I turned right a mile early, but soon discovered that mistake and got back on IN-66 until North Fulton Avenue. I thought, "There's no bicycle path here going east." but then saw it was hidden by a berm. I took a break at this spot at 11:55pm to check the next part of the route.

My noon mileage was 26.2 miles. I was happy with that. This was working out OK, except I had to keep referring to the BlackBerry in my pocket (and later sitting on my front bag).

The route got me off the bike path and onto residential streets. That works. I eventually ended up on East Morgan Avenue. This looks good on paper (or the BlackBerry screen), since it was a straight shot east, but East Morgan Avenue seems to be the main business road through town, and it has a gutter as its shoulder.

I needed a break from this and saw a Subway Restaurant on my right. Pulled in at 1:05pm and got lunch. This was better. After I was done, I walked up to the road for a picture. Got back at it at 1:47pm. Traffic had lessened some, and when I got to the freeway crossing, there was a wide shoulder. After that, it was easy riding again. It was flatter than I expected. Boonville was hilly, however.

Got through town and arrived at the entrance to Scales Lake Park at 3:32pm. At 3:47pm, I was at my assigned site - #73, which is next to the showerhouse. Got a 'Big Red' from the soda machine, then had another.

Finished setting up the tent and flipped the bike over so I could check the tires for debris. Just then a teenage boy rode up on his bike, asking if I had bike problems. That was nice. So far the bike and tires are holding up well. I took a shower next, then rode to the lake to check it out. Then report-writing until 10:00pm. Ahh . . . a real bed (sleeping bag in tent, anyway).

Jeff

Spent: $2 (Pepsi) + $1.97 (snacks) + $6.75 plus $1 (lunch) + $2 (park entrance fee) + $16 (campsite) + $2 (Big Red sodas) = $31.72.

Day 10 - New Harmony, IN to Boonville, IN

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+ plus signs indicate pictures added after returning home from the trip +