Day 96 (8/20): Rest Day in Cornel, Wisconsin

Mileage: 6.3; 2,762 total

Cornel seemed like a good town to use as a rest stop, so I left my tent standing at the campground and spent the day in town, eating, blogging, catching up on email, and doing laundry.

In the morning, as I was leaving to bike into town, I met my neighbors in an adjacent campsite: Dave and Paula and their four children. They were on a camping vacation, with bicycling and canoeing excursions thrown in. They were about to leave for a 22 mile bike ride, with the two youngest children cuddled together in a trailer behind their father's bike. I enjoyed riding with them for the first couple of miles, until I went into the town of Cornel and they continued on the bike trail. Their picture is below: that's Emily (age 3) on your far left, being held by older sister Kayla (age 16); then Paula; then Noah (age 10); then Olivia (age 1); then Dave.

When I returned from town in the evening I was happy to join this family around their campfire, and to get to know them a little better. Dave and Paula, who have traveled extensively with Christian Youth Ministries (I may be wrong on the nameof the organization), certainly have a great family. Kayla told me about her recent trip to China with other young adults; she is very well-spoken and mature for a 16 year old! Noah loves bicyling, and is not worried about risking a crash --it sure would be great if adults were as crash-resistant as 10-year olds! And Emily and Olivia, as you can see, are too cute for words.

My sleep was interrupted by one or more raccoons who were trying to get into my luggage/panniers, which I had left on a picnic table by my tent. I had not tightly sealed the bag that held some fresh fruit that I bought today, and a raccoon had managed get a paw inside and pull out two plums. Shining flashlight on them and chasing them away was not effective -- they came back in about five minutes. So, I hung the bag from a high branch and was then able to sleep.