Aug
10
2009

Day 54 – Remington, IN to Bluffton, IN – Another Tailwind

112 miles in 9.75 hours – Max Speed 23.5mph

Not to be repetitive, but I woke up reasonably early and headed out to try to get breakfast 15-20 miles down the road. Something I didn’t mention yesterday is that when I crossed into Indiana, the shoulder grew from like six inches to maybe a foot, which makes a huge difference. Sadly, today they shrank back down to almost nothing. And the traffic was extremely heavy on my trip to Monticello. And the whole town was packed with people everywhere you looked. Eek. So I went to McDonald’s.

A lighthouse in a swampy lake?

A lighthouse in a swampy lake?

I went inside and bought my usual large breakfast, and sat down and was eating it. As I was some guy sat down at my table and started talking. But the thing was, didn’t actually get all the way into the booth, so he was facing 90 degrees away from me while he was talking. He allegedly bike toured all over the world when he was younger, and we talked about it a little. He then mentioned that Indiana Beach is the vacation destination for all of the surrounding states, so that is why traffic was so heavy. He then talked about how the mosquitoes were worse in Indiana than in the rest of the country and started questioning me on what strength bug spray I used. Well, I don’t use bug spray, and I sit outside at dusk almost every night working on my journal, or looking up where I am going to go the next day, and I am almost never bothered by mosquitoes. And suffice it to say that Indiana was not close to having the most bugs that I had seen thus far: it was the same as any most other states (Wyoming and Western Nebraska were by far the worst, need you know). He then suddenly proclaimed that he had to go home to set some bug bombs in his back yard. It was a really strange encounter to say the least.

Anyway, I headed out, and the traffic did get better as I moved away from Indiana Beach. I went through the somewhat large towns of Logansport and Peru, and after having lunch in Peru, I got on state route 124 for the rest of the state.

Indiana is pretty, but it get a little repetitive after a while (though I do like this picture).

Indiana is pretty, but it get a little repetitive after a while (though I do like this picture).

State route 124 was absolutely fantastic in that there was almost no traffic whatsoever on this road, anywhere. It was quiet and flat, and with the tailwind, that made for really good time. The only problem on it is that there was almost nothing on it for long stretches. I would look at my phone from time to time and see a ‘town’ was coming up, and then get to said ‘town’ and there would be nothing there. It was okay, because I didn’t really need anything, but it could be annoying if someone was planning to stop anywhere on it.

Fly fishing.

Fly fishing.

Why wouldn't you use proper grammar on a sign?

Why wouldn't you use proper grammar on a sign?

These guys are always interested in you. Seriously, they will always stare as you go by, and sometimes they will run after you. Horses are the same way.

These guys are always interested in you. Seriously, they will always stare as you go by, and sometimes they will run after you. Horses are the same way.

I disagree - this town had a bait and tackle shop that I could get Gatorade in, many other towns on the 124 had nothing.

I disagree - this town had a bait and tackle shop that I could get Gatorade in, many other towns on the 124 had nothing.

Anyway, I reached Bluffton, and saw there was a KOA there. Sweet. I stopped in and talked to the people who ran it for a while and got a tent site. I mentioned that I wanted to do some laundry and the woman offered to keep it open late for me (it closed at 8 in theory, and it was just about 8), but after setting up, I realized that I simply did not have the time or the energy to do laundry so I just told her never mind and I headed into town to find food. After eating I got back to the tent, showered, and went to sleep.


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