This was the least happening day of the trip and certainly not that fun. I suppose that it’s my own fault for the route planning but it is what it is.
The day started off well with a short hike on a trail that wraps around the lake I am camped near. Fishermen are firing up their boats and getting out early under the fantastic weather.
I went to the bath house and had a shower before starting the tear down routine and heating up water for my oatmeal and herbal tea. I looked at the place where I decided to camp tonight and decided not to make a reservation as recreation.com showed almost every site was available. Over the weekend it’s completely booked but I figured I’d just ride there and check it out.
For the ride, it was The Slab again. I looked at the alternative of taking backroads but through this part of Indiana and Illinois the scenery is the same and the 2-lane route is a couple hours longer even though it’s shorter by 20 miles of so. The Slab it will be.
The first item to deal with is my broken tent pole so I found the Dick’s Sporting Goods in Bloomington and looked for a replacement. I’d never been to one of their stores but was familiar with them as they are a major sponsor of the Pittsburgh half marathon that I ran a couple years ago. I was disappointed as 80% of the floor space is clothing. The sports with balls have more shelf space than camping. No, they don’t have poles or stakes. I did pick up a length of rope.
I got back on my bike and thought about the bag that the tent stakes for the tent came in and remembered that it also contained rope, some clips for adjusting the rope, and a little tube about 4 inches long. I never looked into what that tube was for and all the sudden I had it: It’s a splint for a broken tent pole. I headed to a local hardware store and picked up four 1/4” pipe nipples, about 4” long. This just had to work.
I hit the road on I-69 south which was in perfect condition and almost devoid of other vehicles. This was big difference from riding I-70 yesterday with all the truck traffic. I made the occasional rest and gas stops along the way and left I-69 and took I-64 west which had a bit more traffic but nothing that was crazy. The speed limit is 70 and I like setting my cruise control to 66. It’s the most comfortable speed and I like looking at my instrument panel and seeing 666. 66 mph and 6th gear. ;-0
Somewhere along the way I entered Illinois and except for the signs informing me of that, the scenery looked the same: flat, straight roads, green fields. Corn is about one foot high.
I stopped at a Subway in Mt. Vernon for a sandwich about 3 pm, a much overdue lunch, and then it was back on the ride. I was now on I-57 south which eventually ended and the road was named “Future I-57” but continued on as Hwy 60. I stopped in Dexter, MO for gas, beer, and chips and then it was a short ride to the campground. Well, not as short as the Google navigator wanted as it tried to send me down an unpaved shortcut but I had it reroute me and eventually arrived at Peoples Creek Campground using paved roads. There is a big lake here and the attendent who checked me in, who was very nice, said that they only have 4 campers now but are booked solid on the weekends because fishing is a big deal here.
As I headed to my assigned site, the sky opened up and I had to set the tent up in a downpour. Those pipe nipples worked GREAT as pole splints.
Now I sit in my tent and wonder if beer and chips will be my dinner. It’s been an hour and it’s still raining but the weather app says it should stop by 8 pm or so.
About 8 pm the rain let up for a while and I fired up the stove and made lasagne.
I settled into the tent and the rain continued all night. I don't think that I got the tarp fully placed under the tent and with setting it up in the rain everything is wet. I have waterproof liners, AKA trash bags, in the bags that are exposed to the rain so the gear inside them is dry as are the things in my side cases but there are small puddles in the tent. The place where the tent is won't accept stakes so I can't keep the rain cover away from the inner tent and that brings in a little water around the bottom. But I am still mostly dry.
It was a 375 mile day.
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