Day 47 - Thu, Jul 10, Greenville to Eaton Rapids

DAY 48 - GREENVILLE TO EATON RAPIDS

76.5 miles

5.07.03 st
14.9 avg
TTD-2412.07

We left Greenville at 7:50, a little later than we had wanted to because of the winds and thunderstorms forecast for today. It was already warm and humid.

We headed east on 57 then south on 66 to Ionia. The back of my knee hurt almost immediately, a medium on the pain scale.

We passed by cornfield after cornfield and many soy bean fields.

Although it's been close many times in our years of riding, today was the first time we've ever had to "hit the ditch". Technically, it was just the shoulder, and it wasn't a big deal. A truck was passing coming toward us and there just wasn't enough room for the three of us so we opted for the gravel. Gerry saw it coming in plenty of time and we were able to get off the road and stop and even see the whites of the guy's eyes as he went by.

At Ionia, we dropped down, down, down into the city, which meant that we had to climb, climb, climb out of the city on the other side. It wasn’t that bad, though, only about ½ mile was steep.

A quick stop at Walmart for some fruit, oatmeal and chocolate (Aren't those the three main food groups?) and we headed out again. We've found that we prefer Walmart because we know where everything is and we can get in and out quickly.

Question: Was there a law passed recently that forbids motorhome drivers from moving out of their lane? Or when they purchase a large motorhome, are they required to sign an agreement that they will never move across that middle line, no matter what? We are halfway across our 7th state now, and we can truthfully count on two hands the number of motorhome drivers who have moved over even a little to go around us. Them + narrow roads + us + narrow shoulders = close encounters and annoyed riders. Enough said.

South of Ionia, we had to take a detour, turning east on 43 to Sunfield, then south on a county road to hwy 50.

At Charlotte (pronounced Char-LOTTE), we stopped at Super 8, but the rate she quoted was way, way out of our budget. There was a big fair going on in Charlotte, and even the RV park was full. A guy we talked to in Sunfield said he knew there was a cheap motel in Eaton Rapids.

So we pushed on to Eaton Rapids, another 9 miles. We stopped at the police station to ask about campgrounds, RV parks and motels. Again, no campgrounds or RV parks. "But, there's a Budget Inn on the way out of town! And we don't get too many calls to go out there." (Uhhh, that's comforting.) Hmmm, not too many options here, so Budget Inn it is, especially with a thunderstorm forecast tonight. (We admit it, we are weenies when it comes to camping in the rain.)

At 1:15 in the morning, we were beginning to question this choice. At 3:45, I was getting a little annoyed at the party people next door. What in the world is there to do at 3:45 a.m. besides sleep???!! "Lord, could You please quiet them down?" I looked at the clock at 3:51 and it was dead quiet next door. THANK YOU! (Our friend, Joel, said today, "Next time, you need to pray earlier.")

Gerry and Pat