I woke up to Gibsonburg, Ohio in a tent being lightly drummed by rain and a cellphone (and map) that was dead. I waited some, but the rain never dissipated, so I packed up my wet gear in the rain and rode into town a few miles down the road. The only place that was open at 7:30 am was a gas station. They had neither paper maps nor the charger that I needed for my cellphone, but they were able to direct me to the Dollar General down the street. I biked there and was able to get the USB/AC adapter for my phone at 8:00 am. All this was about 3 miles from the campground where I had spent the night. I knew there was a diner next to the campground, so I headed there to get some calories and hopefully to start charging my phone.
At the Hungry Bear Diner, they served me pancakes that completely hid my plate. I obsessed over my phone, texting people to let them know I was alive and good while it thundered outside. Young women who were on summer break from high school waited on me and hid in the back room as soon as they dropped off the goods. The diner was high school sports themed with the Golden Bears being the mascot for the schools there. Is that like a honey bear?
Even though people gave me directions to head south and take country roads west, I decided to bike north to Route 20 to get to Perrysburg and Toledo. I felt completely isolated the day before, and I didn't want to be caught in a torrential downpour with no shelter around me but private residences. Route 20 from Gibsonburg to Perrysburg wasn't bad with the exception of entering Perrysburg where it seemed to mimic an interstate rather than a highway. This only lasted from the intersection of Rt. 420 to I-75. On Google Maps, it's where it says Fremont Pike on Rt. 20.
It continued to rain all morning. I took a break at a Tim Horton's in Perrysburg. I was about to fill up my water bottles when they told me that there was a water ban in effect for the Toledo area. People were filling their cars with bottled water in the box stores all around the Tim Horton's.
This was my view from the donut place while my phone was charging, and I was enjoying a lovely coffee with milk. I didn't get any donuts. My body still hadn't adjusted to everything. I didn't even eat a quarter of the pancakes they served me at Hungry Bear.
I left there a little recharged even sans TimBits and biked through the historic downtown of Perrysburg and then Maumee, Ohio. I missed my turn somewhere and ended up going through a busy edge of Toledo by the airport, but things calmed down as soon as I started down Angola Road. They calmed way down as I didn't see even a convenient store until into Country Road L, maybe a county away. The rest of the miles this day were very rural. I made it to my destination at the Lazy River Resort & Campground in Pioneer, Ohio. Noone was working at the office even at 5:00 in the afternoon. I was exhausted and decided to pitch my tent and charge my cellphone at a space in the front part of the campground. Every restroom was locked. I took a nap for about an hour and then went on a walk of the camp where I found the party barn that had an open restroom with working toilets. On my way out of the party barn, a man in a golf cart asked me if I was the lady with the bike (I was). I asked him if he worked there (he did). I paid him there. He asked, "How does 10 dollars sound?" I said it sounded fine. I never filled out any paperwork. He also inquired, "Do you drink beer?" to which I replied sometimes. He invited me to the party barn for a dance and said the guys there would make me feel welcome and would share drinks from their coolers with me. I told him I was fairly exhausted. As I fell asleep, I listened to country hits as well as "Sweet Alabama" three times that was punctuated with little whoops. I wanted to shower, but I didn't want to walk past the people in the barn.
This was also another night when I looked at the map to see what restaurants were near, but nothing was particularly close. It was another Payday candybar dinner--exactly what was for dinner the night before. I was so thankful for being able to fill my stomach with it too.
I woke up to Gibsonburg, Ohio in a tent being lightly drummed by rain and a cellphone (and map) that was dead. I waited some, but the rain never dissipated, so I packed up my wet gear in the rain and rode into town a few miles down the road. The only place that was open at 7:30 am was a gas station. They had neither paper maps nor the charger that I needed for my cellphone, but they were able to direct me to the Dollar General down the street. I biked there and was able to get the USB/AC adapter for my phone at 8:00 am. All this was about 3 miles from the campground where I had spent the night. I knew there was a diner next to the campground, so I headed there to get some calories and hopefully to start charging my phone.
At the Hungry Bear Diner, they served me pancakes that completely hid my plate. I obsessed over my phone, texting people to let them know I was alive and good while it thundered outside. Young women who were on summer break from high school waited on me and hid in the back room as soon as they dropped off the goods. The diner was high school sports themed with the Golden Bears being the mascot for the schools there. Is that like a honey bear?
Even though people gave me directions to head south and take country roads west, I decided to bike north to Route 20 to get to Perrysburg and Toledo. I felt completely isolated the day before, and I didn't want to be caught in a torrential downpour with no shelter around me but private residences. Route 20 from Gibsonburg to Perrysburg wasn't bad with the exception of entering Perrysburg where it seemed to mimic an interstate rather than a highway. This only lasted from the intersection of Rt. 420 to I-75. On Google Maps, it's where it says Fremont Pike on Rt. 20.
It continued to rain all morning. I took a break at a Tim Horton's in Perrysburg. I was about to fill up my water bottles when they told me that there was a water ban in effect for the Toledo area. People were filling their cars with bottled water in the box stores all around the Tim Horton's.
This was my view from the donut place while my phone was charging, and I was enjoying a lovely coffee with milk. I didn't get any donuts. My body still hadn't adjusted to everything. I didn't even eat a quarter of the pancakes they served me at Hungry Bear.
I left there a little recharged even sans TimBits and biked through the historic downtown of Perrysburg and then Maumee, Ohio. I missed my turn somewhere and ended up going through a busy edge of Toledo by the airport, but things calmed down as soon as I started down Angola Road. They calmed way down as I didn't see even a convenient store until into Country Road L, maybe a county away. The rest of the miles this day were very rural. I made it to my destination at the Lazy River Resort & Campground in Pioneer, Ohio. Noone was working at the office even at 5:00 in the afternoon. I was exhausted and decided to pitch my tent and charge my cellphone at a space in the front part of the campground. Every restroom was locked. I took a nap for about an hour and then went on a walk of the camp where I found the party barn that had an open restroom with working toilets. On my way out of the party barn, a man in a golf cart asked me if I was the lady with the bike (I was). I asked him if he worked there (he did). I paid him there. He asked, "How does 10 dollars sound?" I said it sounded fine. I never filled out any paperwork. He also inquired, "Do you drink beer?" to which I replied sometimes. He invited me to the party barn for a dance and said the guys there would make me feel welcome and would share drinks from their coolers with me. I told him I was fairly exhausted. As I fell asleep, I listened to country hits as well as "Sweet Alabama" three times that was punctuated with little whoops. I wanted to shower, but I didn't want to walk past the people in the barn.
This was also another night when I looked at the map to see what restaurants were near, but nothing was particularly close. It was another Payday candybar dinner--exactly what was for dinner the night before. I was so thankful for being able to fill my stomach with it too.
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