Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Day 40 - Calm Before the Storm

Today was one of the best rides of the trip so far.  The weather was cool and we only had about 55 miles to ride to Dayton.  I was a little concerned that the first 15 miles or so was on HWY 12 which is a busy

4 lane HWY, almost like an interstate.  The shoulder was 10 feet wide, clean and smooth so it was very nice and being early in the morning, traffic wasn't bad either.  After transitioning from HWY 12 we were on back roads and it was just fantastic conditions.  Of course I have to include a couple more barns in my picture cluster.  I have received some off line comments that there are some other closet barn lovers out there which makes me feel better.  Like it or not, they will keep coming.  

Cheryl scouted ahead and and turns out Dayton isn't much of a town.  One restaurant that appeared out of business and a city park that didn't allow dogs.  Note to all city councils - If you want to get on Cheryl's bad side, restrict access of dogs anywhere, but especially parks!  We decided to spend the afternoon in Belleville WI (population 2556).  There is not campsite close by and since the
temperatures are cool (no need for generator to run the AC) we decided to dry camp.  The question was where?  Though we could probably plop down anywhere, to avoid any midnight "rat tat tat" we went to the police station for advice.  I decided to stay in my riding gear as I entered the police station as I think it made my story more believable and request more legitimate.  Its not the first time on this trip I've had to sacrifice some dignity for the good of the team.  I was successful and they thanked us for asking and directed us to a vacant lot next to a grain elevator.  Not quite as picturesque as we've seen to date but safe and secure.  

We had lunch at the corner café which didn't look like much from the outside but was really good.  From there we simply spent the afternoon in the community park relaxing.  We even found time to watch a couple episodes of The Crown.  We started it before we left and expected to complete it on this ride as we thought we would have quite a bit of down time.  Well, we know how that has turned out so far!  It almost felt like a true "rest day."  I figured this was a good thing as Kyle and Casey will be joining us tomorrow and it is going to be a WILD seven days.  If the riding doesn't kill me the evening activities will I'm sure.  We have a lot planned.  

Had a nice dinner, went for a walk and now it's time to get to bed so I'm ready for the storm that is brewing in the Northwest and heading this direction.  It's going to be really fun and Cheryl and I are looking forward to it.  Riding to Rockford IL tomorrow (67 miles).  Another state checked off the list! 

By the way. I've wanted to ask if there are any Blogger experts out there who can help with the comments in the blog.  I reply to every comment and as you can tell, some go through, some show up multiple times and others don't go through at all.  It's frustrating as I appreciate the 5 of you that are reading the blog and would like more two way communication.   Feel free to contact me off line with suggestions.   


Until then....

6 comments:

  1. There may be a couple reading every morning and commenting however there's many of us closet readers who use this is as our morning wake up. I read it to Mindy every morning in my best Chris voice. I was wondering how your tires are holding out you have not comment about flatt tires sounds like you may be good to go. We can talk tires since they have miles on them and the new tire jink is off.I have been posting a few comments on your strava feed. Happy miles

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    1. Hey Scott. Thanks for the note. I had a flat on day 2 and (fingers crossed) haven’t had any since. Love my gaterskins!

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    2. Hey Scott. Thanks for the note. I had a flat on day 2 and (fingers crossed) haven’t had any since. Love my gaterskins!

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    3. Hey Scott. Thanks for the note. I had a flat on day 2 and (fingers crossed) haven’t had any since. Love my gaterskins!

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  2. Frankly, I'm surprised the cops haven't been mentioned in a lot more of the posts! Glad you had a great ride. Love the barn pictures. Vickiy and I really liked The Crown. Kyle and Casey joining you is going to be fun. Yippee!

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  3. Casey is on team Cheryl about the dogs. Booo Dayton.
    That pic in front of the grain elevator is very Breaking Bad.
    Illinois! Amazing.

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