Day 8 - still near Gas City, IN - Metamora, USA

August 11, 2022

Day 8 - still near Gas City, IN

Woke up for this catch-up day at 6:47am to a pleasant morning. Shower first thing. Breakfast at 8:20am, which was my two pancakes left over from yesterday morning. Very good, even without syrup.

I tuned in a country music radio station on my radio, after reading instructions online on how to auto-scan for stations. I don't normally listen to Country, but I do on bike trips. Now hearing country music elsewhere reminds me of bicycling. Worked on reports until 9:55am, when I walked up to the office to pay for my two-night stay.

It was fun talking with the manager. He said they've had bicyclists here before, mostly Swedish, who are going cross country. He also told me about the Mississinewa River which is at the edge of the meadow to the east. His family likes to kayak on it, going upstream then floating back. The meadow area I'm in hasn't been developed as a seasonal camping area since the river floods the meadow sometimes. The river level is controlled somewhat by dams upstream and downstream. On occasion, due to high water, the upstream dam officials will give notice of excess water release, so there's sometimes that advanced warning.

I checked out the river view, then was back at report writing. I kept moving to different picnic tables, depending on which one had shade.

Lunch at noon at my site's table. It went from sunny to party cloudy as I ate. Checked the weather radar. A few rain areas were developing just west of here and moving southeast. This place stayed dry.

I took a ten minute picnic table bench nap at 1:20pm. At 2:00pm a refreshing breeze started.

At 5:00pm I called the manager to ask if I may use some of the wood lying around to make a campfire (yes). Also asked if there's a pop machine here (no). But he did have some Mountain Dew left over from a camp function. That can tasted so good with my supper!

At 6:15pm I started my campfire. When it died down, I went back up the hill to get a better cell signal to upload reports. I was one bar better there.

When I returned to the meadow at 8:40pm, there was a loaded bike leaning against a nearby tree, and a cyclist paying the manager, who was in his ATV. The cyclist is Bill, who is doing a 650-mile trip from Pittsburgh to Chicago, following the Great American Rail-Trail. We talked for a short while, then Bill went to set up. He stopped back after dark to talk some more. He does high mileage per day, especially considering his normally later morning starts. He went back to his site to cook his supper and make a fire. We talked some more by his campfire. Bill does all sorts of adventure sports. He knows a lot about the need to stay properly hydrated. He gave me a pack of Nuun hydration tablets that can be added to water, which makes it sort of like a sports drink.

We shared road stories - one leading to another - until it was after midnight!

Bed for me at 12:15pm. For Bill? He still has plans for a shower before bed!

Jeff

Spent: $34.24 (campsite).