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June 9, '03 - Watseka, Ill. to Logansport, Indiana
What a day, what a day. Fifteen mile per hour wind out of the West, and I am heading East. Now that is a combination made in heaven. I took secondary roads out of Watseka that lead into Indiana. One bad thing about taking a farm to market road into another state is there was no "Welcome to Indiana" sign. So no picture. I may have to fake it when I leave Indiana and go to the other side of the road for the "Welcome to Indiana" sign. I picked up State Highway 14 just past the border of Indiana and took it almost all the way to Logansport. When riding past a golf course located south of Renselear, a golfer yelled at me. It was Gere who was out golfing with Tom. Talk about a coincidence. Made it to Logansport around three. The big news was that the weather was nice enough Jan rode her bike today. So you just know how perfect it was. The bad news...rain is on tap for tomorrow. Short day as I head for Huntington. Let us hope I beat the rain. Miles today 82...total trip miles 2798.
June 10, '03 - Logansport to Huntington
Today starts the eighth week of Geezerpalooza, and while I think I'm having fun maybe, just maybe, I'm getting cranky. This morning at 6 a.m., I went to the lobby of the Super 8 Motel in Logansport, Indiana for coffee. The desk clerk was sitting in a chair watching TV and writing in her puzzle book ( I am not making this up). I asked if she was a Logansport local. "Lived here all my life," she replied, obviously irritated that I was A) Interrupting her TV program, which featured a live shot of a car that had gone into a drainage ditch in Indianapolis...or B) I interrupted her pondering of the very hard to answer question "A three letter word of an animal that's name begins with c and ends in t and it goes meow." So I said, "I think there's a shortcut out of town that I can take by going Mall Street. Do you know where I would catch Mall Street?" "Hmm," she says, "I'm afraid you've got me there". Just then the janitor strolled by and said, "It's to your left about a hundred yards." "Thanks," I reply, and the desk clerk says, "I sure didn't know that," and smiled. Her front tooth was missing. Now I hate to be elitist, (can you be elitist and stay at a Super 8) but is it a lot to ask of a company that if they are hiring someone to meet the public that said person should at least have all their teeth when they smile? I'm just wondering. Or to quote the desk clerk, "Gosh, I'm afraid you've got me there." Anyway, off I went trying to beat the rain and arrive in Huntington before the showers. I almost made it. I had a bad cross wind most of the day under gray overcast skies, and twenty miles from Huntington it started to rain, but then just settled into a steady mist. I've been much wetter (is wetter a word?) on this trip. I got in around twelve thirty. Jan had to get the trailer (not Bob, but the one she pulls behind the Moose Drool Xpress) fixed, so she arrived just after one. We spent the afternoon in the car and out of the rain, exploring eastern Indiana. Huntington, the home town of Dan Quayle (hey, he had to be from somewhere) and Wabash 15 miles to the west, are beautiful cities just filled with large, gracious, extremely well maintained old mansions. And Wabash, a town of less than fifteen thousand, has a performing arts center Junction would kill for. Well at least some of us would. The rest of the town would kill if we voted it in. That dollar a year tax increase would seriously cut into their powerball purchases. See I told you I was getting cranky. Tomorrow we lose an hour as I head into Ohio. Miles ridden today 58...total trip miles 2856.
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| "The Letterman Cycling Society welcomes Geezers." |
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| "We know Dave is morose and withdrawn but he's rich and called Hussein a "rat bastard" on TV." |
| "Nobody likes to mow like a mid-western farmer." |
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| "They would mow the road too if it weren't for that damn asphalt." |
| "From my new book, The bridges of Wabash County." |
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| "This bridge becomes somewhat less romantic when you find out it's on the Eel River." |
| "This town will give you gas." |
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| "Geez, I would have to be busy on the 4th." |
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| "Glad the christmas pageant will be in December...August is so booked." |
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| "I had to ride all the way across Indiana to find a "Welcome To" sign." |
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