Day 12

43 miles
I woke to the sound of thunder rolling in. Shortly after my eyes blinked open, the rain started splashing down. The storm was brief and my gear stayed dry. My tent also held up quite nicely and i stayed comfortably dry. I had a look around for the gentleman to pay for my site. He was nowhere to be found. In fact, there was no one around at all. The tiny village seemed devoid of human life. I fell back to sleep quite unintentionally. And when I woke I heard a lawnmower in the distance. But I still saw no one. I packed up. I taped a note to the wall with my number and requesting an address to send payment to. I haven't received a call yet though.
I didn't fill my water at the campground because it was a bit brown in color. I figured I would just fill up in the next town. I was also out of real food. I started my ride on an empty stomach. This kept my pace very light. I finished the last of my water 20 minutes into my ride. I wasn't anticipating it to be so hot and humid out. Although I surely should have after the morning rain. 45 minutes into my ride all i could think about was water. About an hour in i started looking for people outside their homes so i could ask them for water. This actually took some time. Finally i did find someone outside. The woman was gracious and helpful. She let me drink almost all full bottle making sure i didn't leave thirsty or partially filled on water. I thanked her profusely and carried on. Luckily the little town of Royal Center was only 20 more minutes after that.
I bought some groceries and a gallon of water. I sat under a shady tree and had a picnic. I was so hungry that i ate several sandwiches.
As i readied to leave Royal Center my front left rack fell loose. I rigged it so it would stay, but the bottom eyelet was stripped leaving the rack quite wobbly. After an hour and a half i left Royal Center behind.
It was another windy day. I fought hard against the wind. Twice the effort put out half the output of a normal pedal stroke. I have discovered that i prefer the small country roads on windy days. The narrow row of pavement is shielded by the tight rows of crops. The main roads become corridors down which the wind whips maliciously without mercy into my path. Cars have been generally courteous in Indiana. They pass with plenty of room, some even signaling as though they were passing any other vehicle. I appreciated this greatly.
I opted for a campground closer rather than further away. I am glad i did. The man at Acorn Oaks only charged me $10 instead of the usual $15 for tent camping. He made sure i knew where to charge my cellphone and put me near the showers. I must stink to high heaven... They always put me near the showers. I chatted with the man for some time. I slept like a baby during the night.

Sent from my HTC PURE™, a Windows® phone from AT&T