August 19, 2022
Day 16 - ending near Findlay, OH
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Up and packing this morning at 6:02am. The nearby camper who'd provided me supper my first night here was away all day yesterday. He was back this morning, driving a different truck. He said he'd planned to be here last night to fix me a supper, but was in a wreck yesterday. At an intersection a lady had turned left into him, totaling his 1996 truck. The lady kept telling the police officer that she had the green arrow, until the officer had her watch the lights to show there was no green arrow at this intersection. No one was hurt, which of course is a good thing, but the beloved truck will be missed.
With safe travel wishes, I headed out at 8:15am. First stop, a Dollar General store ahead for food items and Gatorade. Then a right turn back down toward Indian Lake to the Tilton Hilton for breakfast.
Another beautiful day, with a south wind this time. At 10:08am, I was in a town with an historical marker. A lady in a car stopped on the road beside me. I asked what town this was. "Roundhead - my hometown. We have history!"
Riding today, so far, was very easy. Almost no traffic, flat roads, and wind at my back. Destination is Riverbend Recreation Area just southeast of Findlay. Should make that, no problem.
At noon I was just past the Scioto River near the Fort McArthur Cemetery. I already had 21 miles done.
At 1:07pm, I was in Dunkirk, ready for lunch. 101 Smokehouse on Wheels was along the very busy north-south highway (US-68) through town. Their BBQ Sundae - potatoes/pork/beans/pork/slaw layered in a cup - sounded interesting. I walked with it and the bike a block to the town office building, where there was a bench with some shade. That layered mix was excellent! As I finished up, a contract worker for the city showed up on his utility ATV. We talked about the town, the USDA, and water pollution control. He recommended I stay off of US-68. Sitting there watching traffic, I had already decided that I was not going to go on that road. Fortunately my routing did not have me on it, but I did have to get across it, which I was able to do at a stoplight a block down. Once across I was at the Dairy Dream where I bought dessert - a root beer float. While in line, I met a woman who was today remembering her recently departed mother at a memorial. But now it was time for a little ice cream cheering up. She was very interested in my trip so I gave her my journal address, since neither one of us really had time to talk.
Back riding east out of Dunkirk at 2:10pm. At 2:35pm, I stopped to call Metroparks Toledo to see about camping at one of their campgrounds, since a permit is required.
East and north roads were my way to the campground. The Findlay Reservoir is near the campground. When I got there at 4:30pm, I climbed the stairway to check it out. It's a lake contained/surrounded by a man-made levee.
Back on-route to the campground, I came upon another road Google Maps recommended, but is gated. Not a big deal, since other roads would get me there.
At 5:13pm, I found a bike trail in the park that got me past a pond and to the campground at 5:26pm. The camping area is on the other side of an old iron bridge. Four roomy flat sites to choose from. I was going to go with site #3, but purple/black wasps had a home under the picnic table there. Site #2 would work just as well.
The tent was no worse off from being stored wet for a few days. A disc golf course was nearby and players were walking past every now and then. A very pleasant evening. I'm planning to stay here two days to see if I can get caught up on journaling. There's no pay box here so I sent an email to the park office asking how to pay.
Supper at 6:41pm, then a tour of the park. Their picnic shelters are awesome - they're enclosed. There's no electricity at the campground, but these picnic shelters have electricity. Except they're all reserved for all day during the weekends.
I checked out the Blanchard River next, in pursuit of a sunset picture. There's a covered bridge over the river and on the other side I got a clear view of the sunset and also of deer grazing in a field. The bridge was surprisingly busy with traffic, but I think that was due to parents coming to pick up their children from a park event.
Back at my tent site I watched birds above eating mosquitoes, and saw a few lightning bugs. This was definitely a good day. My easiest riding day so far. My only concern is how long I can keep the phone charged using the lights battery on my bike to get reports posted. We'll see in the morning. Off to bed at 9:45pm.
Jeff
Spent: $13.25 (Gatorade, food supplies) + $9.65 plus $5 (breakfast) + $11 plus $3 (lunch) + $3.95 plus $1.05 (root beer float) + $15 (campsite) + $15 (park donation) = $76.90.
Today's ride: 53 miles (85 km)
Total: 620 miles (998 km)
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