Today was only 35 miles, and it was a good thing. First of all, I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. I think it was the heat and humidity. The storm hadn't started by the time I went to bed, nor even a few hours later. In fact, I got up around midnight to pee, and just sat out on the picnic table for awhile watching the lightning bugs twinkle in the trees. It really is cool to see!
Anyway, not too much later, the thunderstorm arrived. On top of that, I had another episode (like I did when I was riding to do Idaho Hot Springs) where everything was spinning. I think before, I referred to it as being on a Tilt O' Whirl. So, the lightening was flashing, the thunder booming, and I was spinning like crazy. Somehow, I did manage to sleep, but every time I turned over, the spinning started again.
I woke up at 6:00. Ordinarily, I would have gotten up, but I allowed myself to go back to sleep, and slept until 7:45. Still feeling a little spinny, I got up and walked to the bathroom. The park had sani-cans near the tent sites, but they were surrounded by water from the storm.
I managed to get dressed, even though every time I laid down the spinning started again. I got everything packed up in my tent, then loaded into the panniers. Usually, I pack everything, including taking down the tent, then cook my breakfast. Today, thinking that maybe the dizziness was due in part to needing food (I was already drinking water), I ate my breakfast before taking down my tent. That was good anyway as it gave my tent time to dry out.
I did start to feel a little better after breakfast, as long as I didn't turn my head to fast, or look up, or bend over too long...no, really, I was feeling a little better!
I ended up rolling out around 9:30. Just outside of Grand Rapids, I met two gals heading west on Northern Tier. Rebecca and Isabel just graduated from nursing school and started in Maine the day before I started from Minneapolis. Rebecca has a job waiting for her in September in Boise. Her parents live in Bath, Maine, a town I will be riding through. She gave me their names and said I should stay with them. They are also on Warmshowers. We said goodbye, as they had the ambitious goal of making it to Monroeville (they had stayed in Bowling Green). Here's the one photo I took today.
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| Rebecca and Isabel |
Thinking my dizziness was due to dehydration, I stopped in the next town and got a Gatorade. My goal was to drink lots today (it's still warm and very humid).
When I got to Pemberville, I stopped and ate lunch at a cafe. I had a salad and a BLT with a large glass of lemonade. Calories and fluids! I really wanted a piece of pie, but I was too full (I really think something is wrong with me!!!).
Next stop was the Pemberville Library where I uploaded yesterday's post. This was another lively small town library. It's really great to see lots of people using the library.
I had just another 10 miles to go to Gibsonburg and White Star County Park. I loaded up on another bottle of Gatorade at the convenience store, then rode to the park. There was a mess of dark clouds heading my way. As quickly as I could, I got my tent set up (seems like I just took it down). Not long after I got everything squared away, the rain started, and so did the thunder and lightening. I dove into my tent. I tried to lay down, but everything started to spin again. I sat back up, waited for the spinning to stop, then tried again, only much slower. That worked, and I was able to take a little snooze.
It's 5:30, and still storming outside. I hope it stops soon because...well...after all that Gatorade...
Oh, here's a photo I took last night of a good size snapping turtle that worked its way to the river across the tent camping area.
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| Mr. Snapper |
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