Day 14 ending near Madison, IN

September 6, 2015

Woke up at 4:30am, after sleeping well. Worked on report until 7:00am, then walked across the highway to the restaurant next to Casey's: 'Nices Family Diner'. It's "A nice place to eat". The front of their menu states, "Pie fixes everything". I chose a couple of breakfast selections to get everything I wanted. The waitress got creative with substitution calculations to get me a good deal ($7.90 total).

It's fun listening to all the old men there talking while they're drinking coffee. One fellow was bored being retired, with nothing to do. Advice he received was to mow lawns. Then they got to talking about how much money you can make mowing lawns. And on-and-on it went.

I was back in my room at 8:10am. Finished the report and went to get my clean laundry at 9:00am. Packed up and left at 10:03am. Another hot day predicted, but the chance of afternoon rain is less.

My location (in Salem) set me up to get back on track to the destination I had planned next after Charlestown State Park (which I'm skipping). So, on to Clifty Falls State Park. About 39 straight-line miles away. Looking at the map, using IN-56 should get me most of the way there.

My route out of town was anything but straight. There was a 'Road Closed' sign for IN-56 at the IN-135 intersection. This BlackBerry didn't have, at the moment, the needed data signal to get Google Maps or a web browser. So I called Kris to find out where the road work actually was on IN-56. She said it was near/at the Salem bypass. What bypass? My maps and GPSs don't show a bypass. This is the second time my out-dated maps have surprised me.

Anyway, with Kris' help, I figured out a detour I could use; south to IN-60, then east getting onto IN-160. Then country roads north and east after a few miles on IN-160. It was a scenic detour, that had me sweating due to the hills, but it worked, getting me back on IN-56 northeast of Canton at 11:52am.

By noon I'd bicycled 9.1 miles, but was only 5.4 straight-line miles from Salem. But, I'd be making up time real fast now. IN-56 has a great shoulder here, and is relatively flat. I'd almost forgotten how much fun keeping a constant speed is. I was definitely enjoying myself.

My fun abruptly ended at 12:55pm when I entered Scott County - the shoulder went down to almost nothing. Later it was nothing. It reappeared near Scottsburg, when I got there at 1:22pm. Passed I-65 and every kind of food place. Then through downtown and back to no-shoulder highway east of town.

Traffic had picked up east of town. Staying on the white line takes concentration, and I was ready to be done with it. IN-256 to the north would also get me to the park, and IN-203 coming up could get me to IN-256. I made the left turn onto IN-203 at 2:02pm. This was better. Still no shoulder, but a lot less traffic.

I met up with IN-256, which would take me east, at 2:33pm. There is a convenience store here (Pioneer Village) that has camping/fishing gear, as well as snack foods. I stopped for lunch: a chicken fried steak sandwich, chips, chocolate milk, and Powerade.

I started down IN-256 at 3:15pm. Seventeen miles to Madison, according to the sign. Riding wasn't bad - a few ups-and-downs, and not too much traffic. Had a Gatorade from the BP gas station in Kent when I arrived there at 4:50pm.

At 5:35pm, IN-256 met up with IN-62, which I turned onto, going north. I was close now. This highway is four-lanes, with a curb. It was working out OK, riding next to the curb and over each drainage grate. Where the highway curves to the right (east) is where I saw two touring cyclists going the other way. They had on bright-colored cycling clothes, and rather large US flags flying at the rear of their bikes. I'd have enjoyed meeting them, but traffic was such that getting across the road wasn't practical. We did exchange big waves and hellos.

At 5:57pm, I was at the entrance to Clifty Falls State Park. I paid the $2 park entrance fee, and proceeded on to the campground. The woman at the gatehouse high-lighted on a campground map available campsites, and said I could ride around to look at them. Eventually, I selected non-electric site #142, and was ready to begin setting up at 6:34pm.

Ate supper at 7:20pm, then called Kris to once again thank her for the detour help this morning.

It's pretty quiet here for an almost-full campground. Lots of campfires. Time for bed.

Jeff

Spent: $7.90 plus $2.50 (breakfast) + $7.56 (lunch items) + $1.70 (Gatorade) + $2 (park entrance fee) + $23.54 (campsite) = $45.20.

Day 14 - Salem, IN to Madison, IN

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