Day 17--Rantoul, IL, to Lafayette, IN

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Well, here I am in Lafayette, Indiana at the home of George and Kate Patrick. George and Kate are not Warm Showers people. George is a Purdue Ag Econ Professor Emeritus and his wife, Kate, is a  mental health therapist. The two are friends of Damona Doye, one of our Payne County Audubon board members. When I was stuck for an overnight in Lafayette I put out a plea to my bike club and Audubon friends. Thank you Damona for connecting me with this delightful couple!



Kate and George Patrick in their lovely living room

I was very lucky with the weather on today's nearly 80-mile ride. I started at 8 a.m. in bright sun with a strong SSW tailwind which stayed with me through most of the route. I was on IL-136 and IL-119 for the first 32 miles before entering Indiana. When I entered Indiana the time changed to EST, so I gained an hour. I really made good time, however, arriving here about 3.



These always look like dinosaur skeletons to me

Saw many of these mailboxes today; I think the farmers must get a free one when they buy the real thing

All along my route today frogs sang in the ditches, two different kinds, I think, judging from the different songs they sang. Made me smile every time I'd pass a frog chorus. The route was flat to gently rolling through more vast plowed and planted fields, until I reached Attica. Then there were a few hills and right at the end of the day there were hills, too.

I stopped about 20 miles out at a convenience store and drank a coffee power drink. A storm was to the south of me, and for a good part of the route I was in cloud cover. At noon, however, I was under the heat lamp and beginning to overheat. So, I stopped in Williamsport at the Warren County 4-H Fairgrounds and took a short nap on the bleachers. After crossing the Wabash River, I stopped in Attica, IN, for a Subway sandwich and a cold lemonade. My final stop was only 5 or 6 miles from the Patrick's house. I sat in Arni's, a little pizza restaurant, and called George to tell him that I'd be arriving in about 45 minutes. The place was air-conditioned and I cooled down for a half hour under the AC with my second tall lemonade of the day.



Took a little nap on these bleachers; the breezes blew in through the open door

George met me in his driveway a tall glass of ice water in hand, and then showed me my room, complete with towels and a shampoo and moisturizer just like a hotel. Kate was home by the time I'd showered and the three of us enjoyed a delicious meal of lentil soup and great bread served in bowls and on plates that Kate had made. They were wonderfully asymetric and earthy.

Kate and I ran to the grocery after dinner, she to buy groceries and I to buy toothpaste and sunblock. I slather the sunblock on each morning but on long hot days it doesn't protect me all day, so I'm going through a lot of it.

Bed is calling so I'm done with this post . . . yawn. Tune in tomorrow.