I forgot an important rule about incoming bad weather: if the night was dry but the morning brings rain, break camp right away and get the gear stowed, before the tent gets rained on. I had to towel off the rain fly before putting away the tent, or the whole thing would be damp tonight.

I’ve showered and eaten a little breakfast, and the scooter is packed in rain mode. This is earlier than I planned to get underway, but considering the uncertainty of the weather, it’s probably best that I do so.

It wasn’t the wind keeping mosquitos away, because it’s mostly gone and they still haven’t showed in force… just a few buzzing around. A few flies from time to time. And as dusk deepens here at the campsite: fireflies. The brush next to my site is positively twinkling with them. (How could primitive humans not believe in fairies?)

The weather did hit 90F at least; it’s currently 80F. Just enough clouds by evening to make the sunset interesting. Should be dry overnight, low just under 70F. Nonetheless I’ll be exercising full rainproofing protocol with the gear; there’s nothing to be gained by taking a chance. The rain south of here seems to petering out as it drifts northward over Kentucky. But a new line of serious storms appears to be developing in Iowa, and may pass thru the area before I get home.

I saw a deer off to the side of the road approaching the campground after supper; didn’t get a picture. I went for a walk to the lake and happened upon a groundhog; got a few blurry pictures on the big camera. Just saw a bat fly overhead; way too dark for pix.

I’m in the no-electricity section of the campground, which is probably only about 10% full. I really would’ve been better off if I hadn’t made a reservation and picked a site after seeing them. Oh well. Didn’t cost me any extra (unlike Michigan, which charges $8 for each reservation). Anyway it’s quiet. It’s nice.

One dilemma when camping without cooking gear is supper. Do you stop to eat before going to the campground, or set up camp and then go for supper?

I usually do the latter. I like to get the site all set up, and to take advantage of the park before it starts getting dark. One problem is that the nearest restaurant can be several miles away, which can make for a longish ride back and forth. Another problem is that it usually means a rather late supper.

My supper options were limited a but by road construction that requires a big detour to get to Angola (the nearest largish city) from the park. (Unless you can take the interstate.) Fortunately my pre-ride research turned up a bar and grill nearby: Dave’s Lake Shack on Snow Lake. It’s a loud bar with a kitchen, attracting a big crowd. The tables were all full when I got here so I’m sitting at the bar. In the time it took to get a menu and order, a few tables have opened up, but I’m OK where I am.

UPDATE: My food took ridiculously long to be ready. In the meantime I nursed my beer and became annoyed with the noise. But it turns out it wasn’t the bar that was loud. It was just a few really loud drunks. The kind who laugh at the top of their lungs at Every Single Thing someone says. When they left, around the same time my food finally showed up, the bar became pleasantly quiet.

I just hiked some of the trails at Pokagon State Park. Nothing spectacular, but still a nice woodland with some semi developed lakes (the land on the other side is not publicly held). Some flies, but no mosquitoes; that might be thanks to the wind, or maybe just the dry conditions.

They’ve been doing some tree removal, presumably borer-infested ashes. Sad to see, but the woods have a pretty diverse population, so it’s not like clear-cutting or anything.

One of my rules of thumb is to avoid letter-number roads, such as M-37 or US-2. But my choices for the last leg today bent that rule. First there was M-311, which I figured was a large enough number to be safe. It was, taking me for miles in a mostly straight line with minimal traffic. It was here that the wind started to be noticeable, as the landscape opened up with fewer trees. Still not too bad. There were places where the road stretched as far as you could see in both directions, but not quite Kansaslike.

The second exception was Old US-27. That word “old” there is a clue that this would be a great road to take, because it tells you that it’s been replaced by an expressway. In fact Old US-27 up near Roscommon was one of my favorites on that journey: well built but disused. Same here.

At one point I saw nearly a dozen raptors circling overhead, and stopped to try to get pictures. But they cycled out of sight before I got the camera out. Then I saw a fawn come out of the woods a little further down the road. I snapped one picture just as it stepped into the road, as a car was approaching. The car stopped, the deer crossed and disappeared into the trees on the other side. (I’ll add the photo here when I get home; I can only post iPhone pictures from here.)

My first clue that I had entered Indiana was wen I saw a sign with a different county name. My second was the huge fireworks store, catering to Michigander pros who can’t get their fix legally in Michigan.

The campsite I reserved was not really a great choice. The photo on the web site didn’t show how very close to the adjacent road it is, nor how there isn’t a level area of any size in it. I found a spot close enough and pitched the tent. A little different from putting up the old one, but easy enough.