Monday, riding through the farmland

Monday, what was that? Day 4? I would lose track except leaving on the 1st of the month makes it easier.

It rained a lot during the night. This was the first test of the tent in the rain with the tarp over it and I’m happy to say it worked out very well and the test stayed dry. The forecast called for more rain ending around noon and since I had a short day planned, I spent the morning in the bath house enjoying the four walls and electric outlet which gave me a chance to catch up with my family, blog, and other on line activities.

No wonder the train seemed so close. It was!

This is the home of the struggling lady I talked to the day before.

The bath house! My new favorite place for a little while.

The morning had intermittent sun and light showers, and by noon it looked better so I decided to pack up and hit the road. Of course I was hardly down the road when it started to rain again, and I continued to get rained on throughout the day but nothing hard or long so it wasn’t bad.

Today’s route took me on back roads through beautiful, lush, green farmland and it was a very enjoyable ride with good roads, but almost no traffic. It was almost eery that I was passed by so few vehicles and there was no sign of activities at the farms.

Beautiful green farmland

The towns reminded me a lot of Kansas, where we lived in the past

Who are you and why are you looking at us?

More of them, but they were very interested in what was going on in the building next door.

Is this the cutest little wooly pony you ever saw?!

More beautiful country with some gray clouds that occasionally rained on me

I’m not sure what they were spraying here

Beautiful sky!

Goats grazing in a very beautiful scene

More beautiful skies

My destination for the day was Lewis and Clark state park which had great reviews on line, tent space, RV hookups, beautiful scenery, etc. When I arrived though – closed for winter! Not again. I would have camped anyway but a ranger working in one of the buildings saw me and told me I couldn’t stay there. She recommended the city park in Toledo, maybe 10 miles down the road.

So, off I went again but for some reason, the ride was fantastic. The road was flat, I felt strong, and I made great time. I got poured on for a little if the ride so maybe that helped motivate me. When I got to Toledo I asked someone on the street and was directed to the city park.

This actually turned out way better than the state park would have been. There was a picnic pavilion and I was going to set up there but the caretaker arrived and said that wasn’t allowed. The surveillance cameras would see me and he would be in hot water with the mayor, so I went to the designated camping area. He also said that this park was closed but when I said the ranger had sent me there he didn’t object to me staying.

My home in the city park

It was a nice park with the pavilion, a playground, and rest rooms with working electric outlets where I could recharge my devices. The caretaker lived in a camper on site with two little dogs who watched the area at night so I felt very safe. I spent a good night, stayed warm all night and slept quite well.