Day 89 - Nappanee, IN to Shipshewana, IN - Two Far 2020 - NTF (Not Two Far)

August 27, 2020

Day 89 - Nappanee, IN to Shipshewana, IN

A little wet again

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When we left this morning, the forecast said that there was a 30% chance of rain after 4PM. It didn't work out that way.

The first 18 miles were on our usual low traffic country roads.

If there were such a thing as "aroma-cam" you would really enjoy this picture - newly cut hay. It smelled good.

We have seen very few crops except corn and soybeans. Today's variety crop was pumpkins.

They're hard to see, but there are some small pumpkins in there.

We also saw a number of dairy farms today.

We have seen whatever this is growing in several fields today.

Here it is close up. Can anyone identify it for us?

Our first trail today was the MapleHeart Trail. We made a long ride north to get on this trail so we could ride it before we picked up the Pumpkinvine Trail near Goshen. About 1/2 mile before the trail, we encountered a "road closed" sign. Kerry, of course, was not deterred and we were able to easily walk the bike through the closed section.

The MapleHeart Trail itself was a big disappointment. It was nothing but a wide sidewalk along the road. In some places, we got on the road because it was so much easier to ride.

In Goshen, we had route through town that turned out to be difficult to follow. We were routed on alleys and through parking lots. (Kerry here.. That was my bad, it didn't look difficult when I was creating the route.) We finally found our way to the Pumpkinville Nature Trail. It is an excellent trail and we highly recommend it- especially the segment between Goshen and Middlebury.

The high today was supposed to be 92 degrees, but the shady trail helped keep us from getting too hot.

There were farms along the trail here and there, so we had something to look at besides woods for 17 miles.

I haven't taken many flower garden pictures. We've seen lots of sunflowers, but it's late and most are past full bloom.

One last picture of the Pumpkinvine Trail

Not long after I took the picture above, we got to Middlebury, seven miles from Shipshewana and stopped at a bike shop. Kerry needed tubes and decided to buy new tires as well. We were there shopping and talking for a little while when it started to rain. This was around 2PM. We waited out that shower and then the next, much heavier one. By 2:30, I was ready to ride. Kerry felt I was too impatient, but it wasn't raining and we only had a few miles to go. We put on the rain covers and left the bike shop. By the time we got across the road and back on the trail, the rain had started again. Kerry didn't want to turn around, so we rode in the rain for about 40 minutes. It had slacked off before we reached the motel, so we weren't dripping wet, but it took awhile to clean the bike and the panniers. We're going to stay here tomorrow - rain is in the forecast again - and explore the town if it's dry enough. Shipshewana is an Amish center and there are several places we'd like to see.

Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 2,919 miles (4,698 km)

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