August 19 - The steel industry used to be very big around the Great Lakes. There are still mills around Gary but this was probably the most depressed-looking big city we've been through so far.
It started raining as we were going through Gary. The first downpour we took refuge in a fire station that had its doors open. The second one happened next to an ambulance station. We talked to the crew until they had to leave, then hung out under the garage door apron's roof until the rain turned to showers. Donna had flat tire #7 a few miles later while we were stopped at a McDonald's for a break. Forgot to take a picture but it was dry the whole time it took to change it.
Took Highway 12 through this part. The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore would have been a beautiful place to camp if we didn't want to get more miles in for the day. While we were in Michigan City the rain set in for good and so we stopped for the night there. NOAA issued flash flood warnings for the next 24 hours that evening
August 20 - It rained most of the morning as we rode from Michigan City to South Bend, first on 20 and then on Highway 2 after they split. Hwy 2 had the better shoulder for such wet conditions and took us right into downtown. That is about when it stopped raining. We didn't go inside this place but thought all you football fans would want to know it was here. We also crossed into the Eastern Time Zone somewhere west of town.
We didn't go in here either because we wanted to take a couple of hours to tour the Notre Dame campus.
And here we are.
School hasn't started yet so we just about had the place to ourselves.
You can't see the Basilica from here because of the trees but it is right next to the gold dome in the background.
All the buildings on campus are made out of this blonde brick.
The inside of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart
Part of the ceiling
The chapel
The altar
The baptismal font by the back door
Just couldn't get the whole thing in one picture.
This is the library
We had a late lunch at a smoke-free Irish pub in downtown South Bend then headed east again on Business 20 through Mishawaka where we passed 2 Hummer assembly plants.
We spent the night in Elkhart. Doug has been doing a great job of keeping our bikes cleaned and lubed. Here he is hard at work outside our motel room.
Donna satifying her craving for sweet corn. She picked this up at a road side stand earlier in the day and cooked it in the room's microwave. It was delicious!
August 21 - Slept in a bit today due to the time change. The sun didn't come up until 7:00. It wasn't raining anymore but there was standing water everywhere and the rivers were all up in the trees.
We entered Amish country - Middlebury to Brushy Prairie. We picked up our box for the last time at the post office in LaGrange. We are moving through states so quickly we figured we might as well take all the maps.
There was quite the mix of traffic along this section of 20. Those carriages move along at a brisk clip. They also provided the sound of the day ... horseshoes clopping along on the asphalt.
This family was picking up a tractor tire.
Take note of the first vehicle in the left turn lane. The horse was very calm until the light turned green, then he was raring to go.
The nice thing was the shoulder was wide enough for the carriages which made it plenty wide for us. We just had to avoid horse piles every now and then.
We ended the day in Angola. It was quite the sight watching semi trucks negotiate this traffic circle.
August 19 - The steel industry used to be very big around the Great Lakes. There are still mills around Gary but this was probably the most depressed-looking big city we've been through so far.
It started raining as we were going through Gary. The first downpour we took refuge in a fire station that had its doors open. The second one happened next to an ambulance station. We talked to the crew until they had to leave, then hung out under the garage door apron's roof until the rain turned to showers. Donna had flat tire #7 a few miles later while we were stopped at a McDonald's for a break. Forgot to take a picture but it was dry the whole time it took to change it.
Took Highway 12 through this part. The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore would have been a beautiful place to camp if we didn't want to get more miles in for the day. While we were in Michigan City the rain set in for good and so we stopped for the night there. NOAA issued flash flood warnings for the next 24 hours that evening
August 20 - It rained most of the morning as we rode from Michigan City to South Bend, first on 20 and then on Highway 2 after they split. Hwy 2 had the better shoulder for such wet conditions and took us right into downtown. That is about when it stopped raining. We didn't go inside this place but thought all you football fans would want to know it was here. We also crossed into the Eastern Time Zone somewhere west of town.
We didn't go in here either because we wanted to take a couple of hours to tour the Notre Dame campus.
And here we are.
School hasn't started yet so we just about had the place to ourselves.
You can't see the Basilica from here because of the trees but it is right next to the gold dome in the background.
All the buildings on campus are made out of this blonde brick.
The inside of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart
Part of the ceiling
The chapel
The altar
The baptismal font by the back door
Just couldn't get the whole thing in one picture.
This is the library
We had a late lunch at a smoke-free Irish pub in downtown South Bend then headed east again on Business 20 through Mishawaka where we passed 2 Hummer assembly plants.
We spent the night in Elkhart. Doug has been doing a great job of keeping our bikes cleaned and lubed. Here he is hard at work outside our motel room.
Donna satifying her craving for sweet corn. She picked this up at a road side stand earlier in the day and cooked it in the room's microwave. It was delicious!
August 21 - Slept in a bit today due to the time change. The sun didn't come up until 7:00. It wasn't raining anymore but there was standing water everywhere and the rivers were all up in the trees.
We entered Amish country - Middlebury to Brushy Prairie. We picked up our box for the last time at the post office in LaGrange. We are moving through states so quickly we figured we might as well take all the maps.
There was quite the mix of traffic along this section of 20. Those carriages move along at a brisk clip. They also provided the sound of the day ... horseshoes clopping along on the asphalt.
This family was picking up a tractor tire.
Take note of the first vehicle in the left turn lane. The horse was very calm until the light turned green, then he was raring to go.
The nice thing was the shoulder was wide enough for the carriages which made it plenty wide for us. We just had to avoid horse piles every now and then.
We ended the day in Angola. It was quite the sight watching semi trucks negotiate this traffic circle.
No comments:
Post a Comment