Day 12 - ending at North Liberty, IN - Northern Indiana on the Open Road

September 10, 2011

Day 12 - ending at North Liberty, IN

Posted via email Sun Sep 11 07:00:02 2011 PDT

Awake at 7:30am, but didn't feel like hurrying much, since the tent was so wet from dew. It was actually a little foggy.

Finally got out of the tent and checked the bike. Pulled another wire out of the front tire. I think I've got them all now. Oiled the chain after discovering that my bottle of chain lube was leaking. Not a huge mess, since it was double-bagged.

The sun came out and made quick work of drying things. Left campsite at 11:27am.

Headed north toward Nappanee. This is an Amish area, and I enjoyed seeing the neat farms with parked buggies, laundry hanging out to dry, and beautiful gardens. Those outside waved to me. At one point, a buggy pulled onto the road behind me. I soon found out that they go faster than me.

At 1:06pm I was in Nappanee. Got a picture of their elevator. Stopped at the train station to watch a train go by. Downtown traffic was surprisingly busy - not helped with emergency vehicles going by. I saw several apparently local Amish men on bicycles, including one man on a recumbent.

I headed west to Amish Acres. I'd been there a couple of times in the past, but I'd never eaten at their restaurant. I had chicken pot pie, mashed potatoes with gravy, coffee, and Dutch apple pie. Afterwards I bought an assortment of hard candy (which I had done before).

At 3:00pm I left heading west on Route 6. At 4:00pm I passed another touring bicyclist headed east. We shouted across the highway as we both kept going in our opposite directions. He was on his way to New York.

Turned north at Miami Road. I was heading to Potato Creek State Park. Ended up backtracking two miles after I turned west, thanks to detours. Finally got through west on Quinn Road, and saw that the detours were due to a new expressway that's being built.

I was finally at the entrance to Potato Creek State Park at 6:40pm. The ranger collected my two-dollar entrance fee, and said the camping check-in was three miles up the road. Three miles! That means three miles back out tomorrow. Oh well, it's a scenic ride.

Finally checked-in and was at my campsite (#69) at 7:18pm. While setting up, a young park ranger stopped to ask about my trip. I told him also about other touring bicyclists - such as I met today - who do longer trips.

Got the tent set up just before it started sprinkling. I can tell I'm in Notre Dame country - I can hear the game on several radios around the campground.

Had a Barq's root beer and settled in for the night.

Spent: $14.93 + $2 (lunch). $2.70 (candy), $2 (state park entrance fee), $25.50 (campsite fee), and $1 (soda).

Went: 43 miles.

Jeff

Day 12 - Warsaw, IN to North Liberty, IN

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