Sunday, June 12, 2011

Day 31: English for the Night

This morning we were treated to breakfast at the Main Cafe by Nathan and Jeanie, they told us that we were the talk of the town and that that all the locals would love to see us at the Cafe.  Before we went to the Cafe they showed us several other local sights that they insisted were worth seeing.  Jeanie drove us in their golf cart while Nathan led the way on his bicycle.  Bikes and golf carts are normal forms of transportation for this small town, and actually it was the first town in Indiana to have a golf cart ordinance that states you have to have your golf cart registered  and have a license to drive the streets of New Harmony.  Jeanie informed us that every 4th of July they have a golf cart parade where everyone decorates their decorated golf carts, but since everyone is in the parade their is no one really left to watch the show.  They took us to the roofless church which was constructed by the Harmonists as a place of worship but now is a hot spot of weddings and is  booked through 2014.  The statues in the church are quite rare and bizarre, but yet beautiful.  After saying goodbye to Jeanie and Nathan we headed out of town to get our first real glimpse of southern Indiana.  The road wound through beautiful and rolling fields of wheat and corn.  After our morning ride we located Holland, Indiana which was home to a nicely manicured park, with pavillions, a baseball field, and a serene lake.  We decided to eat our packed lunch here and rested before we finished out our ride. Steve decided to bike shirtless for the second half of our journey so he could work on his tan. Twoards the end of our ride we began to see our terrain transform to hilly forests.  After judging the the town of Birdseye to be too small to stay in for the night we forged on to English, Indiana where it also seemed quite small.  We struggled desperately to find a place to stay in the seemingly abandoned town.  After knocking on at least 6 doors without any response or speaking to anyone we were all feeling quite discouraged until we saw a man John working in his garden.  He offered us a place to tent on his vacant rental property and we settled down for the evening.  We had heard rolling thunder in the distance and went to sleep with the rain fly off hoping that it would stay to the north.  In the middle of the night we were awoken to a light rain and Jody and I sprung into action quickly putting up the fly and throwing all of our stuff underneath the porch of the house.  Once we were safely inside our tent the storm bombarded us with high wind that rocked our tent and rain that pelts the sides with hurricane force.  We spent that hot sticky night hoping for morning as we tried to sleep through the storm that had interupted our nights sleep.
96 miles, hot and sticky, thunderstorm in the night








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