Day 21 ending near Terre Haute, IN

September 13, 2015

rode on National Road Heritage Trail (Terre Haute)

It was predicted to get cold overnight, but I slept warm enough, thanks to thick socks and a set of hand warmers. I had camping neighbors, so didn't set my alarm. Woke up at 4:40am and started working on yesterday's report. Got it done. Packed up and left my campsite at 10:15am.

There is a parking area on the road out of the park, next to a trail that goes to falls that are on McCormick's Creek. I parked the bike there and walked down the trail far enough to see the falls from a distance. Others there had/were going down farther to actually stand at the base of the falls.

The road into/out-of this Indiana state park wasn't as long/hilly (it seemed to me) as the other parks I've visited. I was at the entrance/exit gatehouse at 10:48am. The gatehouse attendant asked where I was going today. I knew it was a park near Terre Haute, but had to look at my sheet for the name: Hawthorn Park.

It was a downhill coast to nearby Spencer, where I hoped to eat breakfast. Shortly after passing the courthouse in town, I saw a place ahead. On Sunday mornings in downtowns, you just need to look for a bunch of parked cars. That will be the place to eat.

I sat down in Chambers Smorgasbord at 11:05am. After placing my coffee and orange juice order, I was informed that I was too late for breakfast. So I had lunch food - their buffet - for breakfast. It was very good. I had a plate-full of dessert also - carrot cake, cherry cheese cake, and something that was like a pecan pie square. All that tumbled together on one plate - I'll spare you the picture.

I left full at noon. Distance covered so far today: 4.1 miles.

Headed out of town going west on IN-46, until I came to a waypoint turn-off that would get me on Patricksburg Road. There were hills on this road, but almost no traffic. I was moving rather slowly this afternoon - like I was out for a Sunday afternoon drive. I needed to let my breakfast settle. When a cloud blocked the sun, it seemed almost cold; with the sun, it seemed hot. The road flattened out just before I got to IN-246 east of Patricksburg, and that turned out to be the end of walking-up-hills for the day.

Just west of Patricksburg, I got off IN-246 and onto CR-195N, going west. The bike and I fell over into the ditch along this road as we were stopped waiting for a couple of cars to pass.

I came to a gravel road one mile west of Smithville. I don't mind gravel roads, as long as I'm not pressed for time. And these roads are as flat as Illinois.

At 3:32pm, I met up with IN-59. There's a fair shoulder on this highway, so I ignored waypoints and stayed on the highway going north.

I went through Ashboro at 4:13pm, circling around until I got to Lower Bloomington Road. The road signs at intersections with this road had it as "L' Bloomington" and as "Lower Blom". At 4:48pm, I crossed over a waypoint on my GPS, which indicated I was back on-route.

I enjoyed Lower Bloomington Road, even when it turned to gravel. 6:00pm brought me to the end of it. On to no-shoulder IN-42. A round-about got me on a great-pavement, good-shoulder section of IN-42. I was on this for just a little while before turning north. Arrived at the Jones Trailhead for the Heritage Trail at 6:30pm. A nice trail, which took me to the bicycle trail entrance to Hawthorn Park at 6:47pm.

I wasn't sure where the campground was, so kept going until I arrived at the north entrance, which had a sign for the campground. The campground attendant said I could ride around and pick out a site. That's what I did, selecting site #53, which has electricity. There was a long registration form to fill out, including a line for vehicle make/model/year. I went ahead and wrote Schwinn/Typhoon/1965.

At 7:18pm I was back at site #53, ready to get set up. I ate the rest of my ginger snaps, got everything into the tent, then took a shower. Worked some on the report, but I was falling asleep. Decided the report could wait until morning, and got ready at 10:00pm for another predicted cold night.

Jeff

Spent: $15.14 plus $2 (breakfast buffet) + $20 (campsite) = $37.14.

Day 21 - Spencer, IN to Terre Haute, IN

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