Day 7 - ending at Cicero, IN - Northern Indiana on the Open Road

September 5, 2011

Day 7 - ending at Cicero, IN

Posted via email Tue Sep 6 18:02:01 2011 PDT

I was awake at 6:45am after a cold night - it got down to 55 degrees F overnight. Had to break-open a package of hand warmers. They helped.

Worked on report and got packed. Ready to leave at 11:10am. Headed north toward the freeway (I-74). Fortunately, this busy road I was on (US-231) has a very wide shoulder. I was looking for fast food, and found it - McDonald's ahead. Finished up report while eating a bacon cheese burger with fries and root beer.

Since I'm off my planned route, I recruited Kris (George's wife) to email me camping destinations that are within my reach. Kris is good at this, and emailed several locations I could head to. She also provided Google Maps bicycle routing lists. I was having trouble correlating the list to my GPS's and paper maps, so didn't follow it very closely.

Left McDonald's at 12:27pm, heading north. Later turned right toward Darlington. My DeLorme paper map indicated that a covered bridge was west of there. I found it at 1:47pm. This bridge used wood blocks (set on end) for flooring, just like what I used to walk on at Caterpillar when I worked there.

Went through Darlington, then south and east on country roads, then back north, ending up in Thorntown, known for its Turning Leaves Festival.

I'd decided at this point to ignore routing and straight-line-it to White River Campground, my chosen destination (from the list Kris provided). There was twelve inches of pavement to the right of the white line - and a good shoulder to pull off on. Came to a Dairy Queen at a crossroads (at 4:25pm) and stopped for a medium root beer float.

Back on Route 47 pushing east. I lost my twelve inches of pavement and the shoulder when I entered Hamilton County. Sheridan has a new bike trail going to Westfield to the southeast. But I was going straight east.

Turned on my flashers, and later my headlight, since it was getting dark. Stopped in Cicero at a park for a break at 8:30pm. Wide road through Cicero, and a beautiful shoulder east of town.

It was getting really dark now, and I hoped I was on the correct road. I was, arriving at the park entrance at 9:00pm. The entrance was gated, and I had to use an intercom to get in. The camp host met me at the campground area, and took me to the four primitive sites available. I picked A4, and was able to set up the tent OK, thanks to a street light nearby.

Took shower in a very nice shower house and went to bed.

Spent: $6.20 (McDonald's lunch), $2.91 (Dairy Queen), $16.05 (campsite fee).

Went: 57 miles.

Jeff

Day 7 - Crawfordsville, IN to Cicero, IN

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