Day 87

City limits
My tent was only dimly lit in the morning. Clouds had settled over the sky. I pushed my bike out of the woods, ducking under spider webs. Freeways with small shoulders are not fun. I just powered through it. Dispite the wind and the cool air, I was warm by the time I got to a gas station so stocking up included a Klondike Bar. I passed by several bicycle share the road signs so that was comforting, but I had to fight with small shoulders and bumper strips pretty much all day. At one point I finally saw a Dodge Viper for the first time on this trip. So gorgeous! Eventually the traffic lessened more and more. Another bridge closed ahead sign- I had to at least check it out. Both ends were barricaded off, but the first was easy to pedal by. For the second, I had to lift my bike up and over. I'm glad I got to work out my arms for a change. Soon after I got near a small town. I needed to stick up. I forgot to turn at one point and had to go back to make sure I passed by a gas station or something. There was a live band playing. I didn't recognize who it was though. I found a Family Dollar to stock up at. It looked like I had a lot of nothing for the next few dozen miles. While I was packing up, I figured out what the band was for- there was a car show going on. The band sang "Under The Boardwalk" and that brought back memories. I got back on the road. There was very little traffic now but also no shoulder. Every time a car went by, it was jarring. Then I hit a dirt road. Dang. This part of the country has been good about having plenty of paved routes- oh well. It wasn't too bad. After a few miles I was back on pavement. I passed through a small town, then Stephen's Comunity (that's what the sign said). Then I hunted for a camping spot. There was very little traffic for a while but now that it was after sunset, traffic picked up. I found a spot that looked as good as any. I had to really muscle my bike up the hill and to break the vines that kept catching in it, but finally I was up and out of view. It was only 7:30, but I like not being caught in te dark without being able to see the ground. This came in handy today. I found a spot for my tent and looked around for anthills and sure enough, there was one right by me. I moved to a different spot and used plenty of ant killer. I climbed inside my tent with the sky still a light blue.