Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Spencer
I wrote an entry for Spencer on Monday, the 23rd, but I'm not seeing it, so I'll have to try to reconstruct it.
I left Terre Haute rather late, and at first took the main street, Wabash Avenue, toward Indianapolis. At first, I missed my turnoff, and went by the entrance to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The engineer I spoke with in Paris had claimed it was one of the best engineering schools in the country, and at another time I would have been interested in visiting it, but not this time. I backtracked to Indiana Route 46 and took it South past the Airport, and found a corner where I could hide from traffic for the night.
I got up rather late Saturday morning, and hiked to Riley, reaching it a little after noon. Riley is a fairly small town, and I stopped to ponder development of my web site for a while. Then I went to the grocery store to get a loaf of bread, and the grocer gave me a couple of packages of breaded chicken and potatoes, and a couple more of sweet rolls. I went several more miles past Riley and found another stopping place.
I hadn't paid close attention to the distances on my map, so I found myself Sunday far out in the country, miles from the nearest town or church. I didn't want to spend the whole day in the same spot, so I continued on, taking more frequent and longer rest breaks than normal. In the evening, I was offered a ride, but the driver took me through Bowling Green, where I might have found a phone, and dropped me off a few miles outside of Spencer. Sunday was my birthday and I had intended to make a couple of phone calls to my family, but couldn't make it work. Monday morning I came the rest of the way into Spencer to the library: I don't know what happened to the entry I made.
Since crossing the Wabash River, I've noticed a change in the terrain and vegetation. It's more up and down than Illinois, there are quite a few streams and creeks, and instead of fields interrupted by forest, this part of Indiana is predominantly forest, with corn and other crops in a few clearings. (Some are soybeans, I haven't identified the others yet). I've noticed more butterflies here than anyplace else. Every hour or two between Riley and Spencer, I was seeing groups of about 2 to 10 motorcycles go by in one direction or the other. I've seen groups of them before, but never quite so many.
I left Terre Haute rather late, and at first took the main street, Wabash Avenue, toward Indianapolis. At first, I missed my turnoff, and went by the entrance to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The engineer I spoke with in Paris had claimed it was one of the best engineering schools in the country, and at another time I would have been interested in visiting it, but not this time. I backtracked to Indiana Route 46 and took it South past the Airport, and found a corner where I could hide from traffic for the night.
I got up rather late Saturday morning, and hiked to Riley, reaching it a little after noon. Riley is a fairly small town, and I stopped to ponder development of my web site for a while. Then I went to the grocery store to get a loaf of bread, and the grocer gave me a couple of packages of breaded chicken and potatoes, and a couple more of sweet rolls. I went several more miles past Riley and found another stopping place.
I hadn't paid close attention to the distances on my map, so I found myself Sunday far out in the country, miles from the nearest town or church. I didn't want to spend the whole day in the same spot, so I continued on, taking more frequent and longer rest breaks than normal. In the evening, I was offered a ride, but the driver took me through Bowling Green, where I might have found a phone, and dropped me off a few miles outside of Spencer. Sunday was my birthday and I had intended to make a couple of phone calls to my family, but couldn't make it work. Monday morning I came the rest of the way into Spencer to the library: I don't know what happened to the entry I made.
Since crossing the Wabash River, I've noticed a change in the terrain and vegetation. It's more up and down than Illinois, there are quite a few streams and creeks, and instead of fields interrupted by forest, this part of Indiana is predominantly forest, with corn and other crops in a few clearings. (Some are soybeans, I haven't identified the others yet). I've noticed more butterflies here than anyplace else. Every hour or two between Riley and Spencer, I was seeing groups of about 2 to 10 motorcycles go by in one direction or the other. I've seen groups of them before, but never quite so many.
