We finally left Brazil a couple of days ago. On Sunday we went to church with Rob and Vanita and planned to leave. We got the bike all ready, water bottles ready and then it started to thunder and turned dark! Uh oh! So we pushed the bike back into the garage, just as the storm hit. We went in and checked the radar (what did we ever do without computers?) and it looked like it was going to clear soon. So we headed off for points northwest. Rob mapped us a nice route to Rockville, IN on backroads. It was very pretty. We stopped in Bridgeton at a little store for $1 bottle of pop and snickers bars. We rode through the covered bridge capital of Indiana. We headed to Rockville. When we got to an IGA and planned to buy our dinner supplies, it started thundering again. As Hap bought the groceries I asked the worker where is the closest campground? She said there is one four miles from here at Rockville Lake. So we sprinted (as much as you can on a 450 pound tandem). Just as we pulled into the campground it started to storm. We waited until it slowed down before we set up the tent. Then we rode to a shelter house to cook dinner. It was a dry night in our new tent.
The next day we headed towards Danville Illinois. At one point as we were riding down the road we saw a swamp area full of trees with a boat in the middle of it. There was a sign that said "Nancy's boat rides". We thought it was a funny place for a boat. Just down the road our road turned to gravel. We also noticed the rear wheel was really out of true and wobbling. So we stopped at a house and asked Dale and Wilma if we could borrow there shade. Hap trued up the wheel. We talked to them for quite awhile about the area. Then "Nancy" rode up on a four wheeler. As it turns out she had just bought the land where we saw the boat. It was very swampy. One of the neighbors had put a boat in the swamp and put up the sign. Dale suggested that she put up a sign with the man' who put up the sign's name on it and his phone number to call for information on the boat rides! Very funny!
Dale and Wilma gave us some great advice for getting to Cayuga. We had to ride a few miles of dirt road but it wasn't bad. After all that is why we put on those heavy duty tires. They also recommended that we stop in Cayuga and eat at the Covered Bridge restaurant. Which we did and it was an excellent meal. Great pie. Note to self......do not share a piece of pie with Hap....he doesn't share well! We crossed into Illinois and into Danville. We spent the night at Kickapoo State Park. A beautiful place.
Today's ride was mostly directly north of Danville. But the really good news! We had a fantastic tailwind. It was very hot in the 90's all day. We spent all day riding through farmland. Traffic was light. I don't think I have ever seen straighter roads! We arrived in Watseka. We are now on the Adventure Cycling map. According to it there was supposed to be camping at the city park. We asked several people and no one knew anything about it. So we decided to stay in a motel and air conditioning. After we checked in we found out if you call the police you can get permission to camp in the city park. Oh well....... Tonight, dinner is in the microwave, laundry can get done and we can charge up all of the phones, computers and all the other "stuff".
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