Day 83

Anthill
I wanted to sleep in because of the awful night, but I had a lot to do and I was probably really visible. Plus my bike was away from my tent. Even though it would have been next to impossible and really stupid to try to steal it, I still worried- it would totally suck to have it stolen. I started packing up inside my tent and a train went by- I guess I picked a good time. There was only one ant left on my bike. I brought it over and loaded it up. Finally I had to deal with the basket. The trash bag was full of holes. I dumped out the basket and threw it around a bit- that got all the ants off quickly. Then I cleared them off of all the stuff- mostly trash. I packed up my tent and finally I was ready to go. I got back on the red brick road for a bit to get warmed up. I brushed my teeth while riding- that felt productive! Soon it ended and I got back onto the parallel road that had great shoulders. I loved how straightforward my path was- i90 the whole way. At one point I saw a Loves truck stop. Everyone suggests them for post cards. Sure enough, they did! Hooray! A bit later, I found an iPhone in my lane. The screen and back were both shattered, but who knows if it still has some working parts. I've found phones before. They are generally pretty light, so maybe I will carry then with me and see if I can sell them or at least recycle then. It had rained lightly on and off all day, like it had done for the past few days. There was a crazy storm off to the right. It must have passed over because it slowly started to pour. It was enough that it was worth finding cover. I found a roof that kept both me and my bike out of the rain. Soon after, a car pulled off the highway and parked nearby- I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't like to ride in the rain. A bunch of other cars ended up parking near the first- 6 in all. Eventually it stopped raining, but no one got back on the road. I was confused but I figured the roads were still wet, maybe that's why. Then the school bus pulled up. I felt so dumb. I wa s at a bus stop. I continued catching up on this blog until everyone left. Then I got back on the road. A few hours later, the rain picked back up again. I thought about finding cover but decided against it. I already wasted a bunch of time. Riding in the rain is actually kinda fun. Good and bad are just perceptions. They can be changed pretty easily. I found station an hour before sunset. I got warm food and ant killer spray. I ate there, under the eave of the roof. The cashier came out and chatted. He told me about the travels his old job used to afford him. I worked on a boat, so he was pretty familiar with the coastal states. He had seen the Statue of Liberty and felt great pride. He was retired now. He helped out his buddy, who owned the gas station. It was something to do. I finished my food, he went back inside, and I kept going. Perhaps stopping for so long was a bad idea. It was finally freezing cold again- for the first time since the beginning of the trip. I pedaled harder and eventually warmed back up. I started looking for a place to camp. I figured there would still be giant spiders here, so I didn't know how I would deal with that. Then I found a bridge. If I could pitch my tent under it, I wouldn't get rained on. I took the small road down. There was a small stream. I crossed over it and set up my tent far enough away from it that I was confident it wouldn't overflow. I was still pretty nervous- waking up on a waterbed is not the best feeling when you didn't fall asleep on one. Dispite the horrible run in with ants the day before, I didn't even bother with the spray this time. There's no way ants would set up a colony so close to water when it could destroy their home at any time. Then I realized I should probably be thinking like the ants... But by then I was already totally set up. I fell asleep just hoping I was lucky and that the stream would stay small.