June 19, 2005

The Campground From Hell

Last night’s camping experience was one to remember, or rather try to forget. Camping was free in a town park with a section laid out for camping with site numbers and electrical hookups. There were about 14 sites but the four that count are as follows: Site 8, occupied by a man (who used to work in a carnival) his wife and two children. This is their permanent residence for the summer. Site 9 occupied by an older couple. They have their broken down van parked in the driveway for site 10 but they sit at the picnic table for site 9 and chain smoke Camel cigarettes. They say site 9 is their site. Site 10 is occupied by a tent and when we arrive we don’t know who is staying there. Site 11, that’s us. We are riding bikes so we don’t use the driveway. It’s a late night as we arrived late yesterday and by the time I finished writing yesterday’s log it’s 12:15 so lights out for me. Nick has been sleeping a couple of hours already. At around 2:00 AM (after the bars close) in rolls two vehicles. One is a pickup truck with a very loud muffler that just about runs over my tent as it parks in the driveway for our site, and a beat up Chevy that parks on the grass next to it. Four young people (three guys and a girl, all staying in one not too big tent) who have by the sounds of things just left the bars are talking loud and swearing every fourth word. After about 15 minutes of this the man in site 9 jumps into the fray and is yelling and swearing at the young people in their twenties. The older man in site 10 and 11 then jumps in, and at one point yells, “I may be old but I can still fight.” It goes on like this until someone calls the police. As they are driving in things quiet down and everyone becomes Mr. or Mrs. Goodie Two Shoes until the police leave then thing start up again. Someone kicks over two garbage cans. Eventually things die down at around 3 AM and things get quiet. I guess that’s when they ran out of swear words or combinations thereof. I could describe more about the out houses for the campground but suffice it to say it wasn’t pretty. Nick and I used other facilities a short walking distance in the park.

Nick slept through most of the fiasco, but heard some of it. I heard it all but stayed in my tent. We arose around 7:00, which is late for us and consequently didn’t get on the road until around 9:30. I have been up late writing these logs and now its three days without a good nights sleep and I am getting cranky.

The winds for the day are almost the same as the past four or five except that they are out of the south, which gives us a cross to head instead of a head to cross. This is some improvement, but at times during the day they shifted to head. Our progress is somewhat better as we are getting stronger.

2,000 miles and counting

We get our first sight of the Mississippi River during the day and pass the 2,000-mile mark. On the route after our lunch break we talk to a young woman whose father is planning a coast-to-coast trip later in the summer.

First view of the Mississippi River

Nick goes into a bike shop to buy a couple of jell packs and as we leave a car drives by and someone yells “Bike a_ _ h_ _ _ s!”. This is a term I have never heard before but later I figure it must refer to local cyclists we see on the bike trail that gets us out of Saint Paul who won’t make eye contact, wave or say hi as a response when we wave and say “hi” as we pass them.

It’s a long day as we press to get in at least 95 miles in. We finish with 108.19 as we had to ride to Stillwater as that’s where the first motel on the route is outside of Saint Paul, MN. We stop a small grocery to get some provisions for me and in rides a group of cyclists on double-decker bikes. They are a club from NY and go to different parts of the country to get some looks as they ride by. Nick chats with them.

Nick's new friends

At the store we meet Erick Rydeen and his daughter Rachael. Erick has done a bit of touring in Europe and Alaska and after chatting a bit he offers to let us camp in his back yard and use his shower. That’s a good idea as it has been three days. We meet Erick’s wife Tracy and their dog Coconut. It was fun to share some touring stories with Erick in his back yard while we ate a late dinner.

It is another late night. I told Nick to let me sleep in the AM as I have some catching up to do. We are confident that the winds will be with us tomorrow and we will make the time up on the road.

Jim

Cycledog (Ride the extra mile!!)

© 2005 - JNS

Next Log Entry >>

<< Previous Log Entry

Main Page