Day 18 ending near Edinburgh, IN

September 10, 2015

The alarm went off at 5:00am this morning, and I got up. I needed an early start today if I was going to arrive before sunset at my day's destination: Heflen Park near Edinburgh.

Paul showed up a little after 7:00am, just when I was ready to leave. We talked a little, then Paul offered me a quick tour of the park's Nature Center. It's not quite complete yet, and has been made using as many salvaged/recycled materials as possible. The sun hadn't come up yet over the trees, so the lighting was too poor to get good pictures of the place with this BlackBerry. A few turned out OK: the coffee pantry and the neat old door. This building is set in a nice spot for watching wildlife, and enjoying peace and quiet. Paul wished me a safe trip as I left him to enjoy his morning.

I'd decided to indulge in another breakfast at The Farmhouse Restaurant before I left town. I was there at 7:52am, and had the "All American Breakfast" this time. The waitress/cook/owner said she knew about Metamora, Illinois, when I mentioned that that town wasn't far from my hometown of Morton.

I left Metamora at 9:15am, heading toward US-52 going west. US-52 wasn't as bad as I was anticipating, since it had a shoulder all the way to my turn-off onto Stipps Hill Road. I don't like roads with 'hill' in their name, but this road was nice, low traffic, and has just one had-to-walk-up hill. After that it straightened out, and flattened out.

I passed through the small town of Buena Vista at 10:30am. They were drilling a water well at one house, which was drawing a crowd of local residents. It was a beautiful, sunny, cool morning, and the slight breeze seemed to be at my back. Rode through Clarksburg at 11:15am, and Springhill at 11:40am.

At noon, I'd already ridden 19.3 miles.

I crossed over I-74. I was following my GPS waypoints routing today - except for the two times I missed turns. I'd lost track of where I was on the map. When I arrived in Adams at 1:07pm, I knew where I was, and was happy with how far I'd come. I took a break there to eat a Clif Bar in the shade of a tree.

Through Milford at 1:57pm, then on to Hope. I was a mile north of Hope, saw a waypoint on the GPS, and figured that was a turn to Hope. It wasn't. But I was in town before I figured that out, sitting in their square, which is a park. They have a radio station playing through a PA system in the park. I was surprised to hear that there's a chance of rain predicted for Friday/Saturday. I turned on my weather radio, and, yes, that is the case. Oh well, one day at a time. There was a restaurant in view from where I sat, so I decided to get an early supper.

I walked the bike over to the Corner Cafe at 3:25pm. Special #3 - country-fried steak dinner - sounded good to me. I also had room for peach cobbler topped with ice cream.

I looked at the map while I ate, and there was no way to get to where I was going, except get back on-route by going a mile north. I left Hope at 4:23pm, but went a mile west before the mile north. At 4:40pm, I was back on-route at a place labeled on the map as Old St. Louis. At 5:00pm, I rode through St. Louis Crossing.

The county road I was on now was getting busy with traffic, and I pulled over a few times just for that. I got over I-65 and past the outlet stores and fast food places along US-31. Started seeing direction signs for Heflen Park, and was there at 6:14pm.

Heflen Park has three types of campsites: with electricity and water, with just electricity, and primitive. With just electricity was what I was looking for. Then it's a matter of finding a site that has a good spot for the tent, close enough for my extension cord to reach the electricity. Site #27 looked good, so that's where I settled, at 6:28pm. The Driftwood River runs by right to the west of the site. This is a nice spot. There are other campers here, but it's quiet. Started in on writing the report after I got set up. Waved back at kayakers as they floated by. What a great way to end a great day!

Jeff

Spent: $13.87 plus $5 (breakfast) + $13.55 plus $3 (supper) + $16 (campsite) = $51.42.

Day 18 - Metamora, IN to Edinburgh, IN

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