Difference of a Day

Rachael and I lingered in the hotel bed this morning. We decided to eat our leftovers from the Italian place rather than have to leave the room for breakfast. It was raining anyways. Between waiting for the rain to stop, and mostly not wanting to part company (for real this time), I didn't get around to leaving until after 10. I would normally not get started so late for a 75 mile day, but it was well worth it. We said our goodbyes and it was back to the road.

Well, the trail. I got to take a nice, flat, crushed limestone, and very scenic trail along a river valley. I very much enjoyed it. It was perfect, save for a West wind that any other day would be great, but today as I wove North by going back West and East along the trail it was a little frustrating at times. The only downside of the trail was that I didn't have signal virtually all day... and no data even now. I spend most my days touring by myself, but when I am without phone service, that is when I feel truly alone. It was alright though, me and myself had a good day soaking in the sunshine that today finally brought and all the beautiful scenery. While I was on the trail, it did start raining for just long enough for me to get on my rain gear, but was clear aside for that.

After I got off though... Well, I took Google's advice, and again got burned, though not near as bad, as it set me on some nonsense rock road closed to cars that I was having none of, and turned back to the highway I should have just stayed on in the first place. Then the rain came, for real this time. I came into the campground in rain and high wind. It was registration only, which I hate. And with the wind, I was worried about my tent holding up (as anyone who has followed this blog from my first trip knows it was a high wind that broke my original tent poles).

So I made a split second, totally stupid decision that I was going to bike on to the little town ahead and ask someone there to let me throw down my sleeping bag on their porch, as I have done before. Yeah... This isn't the West. Houses were almost all dark, eerily so, and no one outside. I worked up the nerve to knock on a dark looking house. An old man came to the door, I explained my plight, and he pretty well told me hell no to even setting up my tent on his big yard. And he told me no one else in town was likely to allow it either. I asked what I could do, and his direction was to take a dead end road and camp in this area he said no one would know I was there to bother me. Well... that's where I am now. The ground is again so hard I couldn't stake properly, so I am begging the winds to die and for it not to rain. And now also for no one to come and bother me in the night. There's a reason I've never stealth camped before. It makes me nervous, especially in a town that is as inhospitable as this one seems.

Ah, the difference of a day, of one night to another. Last night I slept in a nice hotel bed with my girlfriend, tonight alone in my poorly prepped tent in a field where I hope no one bothers me and I don't get soaked. Here's hoping for daylight to come soon.