Day Eighteen

Today was a really great day. Or I should say ended up being a great day. We rode 85 miles from North Spencer, IN to Greenup, IL.

We were actually off to a terrible start, much like our day ended. There were thunderstorms all night, which actually woke me up, which is saying a lot because I'm a pretty heavy sleeper. Luckily my tent is great, and kept me dry. Jason had a little less luck and got a bit wet, but we didn't get struck by lightning, so it's all good.

We got breakfast at the campground. They had this goofy system where you ordered at the window, brought the slip to the desk to pay, then brought the slip back. I accidentally got an extra order of scrambled eggs, but I ate them anyways. I got some B&G (biscuits and gravy,) which were actually pretty good.

It was supposed to rain all day, but we ended up avoided it all day save for a few sprinkles. We got the inciteful advice that it was "gon' rain." Thanks man, you're really helping our optimism.

It wasn't especially hilly, but not completely flat either. Oh well, it all evened out I think. We hit the time change today too, so we got a free hour. Awesome. We also accidentally rode on Rt. 70 (a highway) in an accidental merge incident. We cut through the grass quickly though, and were soon in the clear.

We got lunch in Marshall, IL. Our waitress was a little standoffish, but when we told her we were from Maine, she revealed that fact that her uncle apparently owns "like half of some
town called Auburn." Hrmm. Paul Duplease or something like that? The name actually
does sound familiar.

The excitement of the day came when we passed through Martinsville,
IL. We were riding by a little community event when some
people called us over for drinks. We accepted, and spend about a half hour at the Rt. 40 festival. Yup. They were celebrating a road. Apparently it's historic or something, and this was it's 200th anniversary or something. So we got orange drink, popsicles, and se
cookies. We got pictures too, and might be in their paper, since we were riding the road they were celebrating across the country. I'm going to try to get a copy of the paper shipped home.

We're staying in a hotel tonight since last night was so miserable. It was only 40$, but it actually really nice. We can't ask for more. We were in early enough that we were able to take a ride into town. We got ice cream and dinner, and stocked up on donuts for breakfast. It really ended up being a great day.

Tomorrow: Highland, IL.