On the road to Mile Marker 88

Jill dropped me off at Blufton, I was kind of down about leaving the trail yesterday. It was late afternoon so I took a short 5 miler to Rhineland and stayed in the city park. They keep the water on and the restrooms are kept open. There's a very nice designated camping area that's open and flat. A cop came by and waved, he must have just been patrolling. I regret not camping at Steamboat Junction I've heard it's a really nice place. All day I've seen bicyclist going down Highway 94 with vans behind them playing music. They kept coming by all night. Some vans even had spotlights illuminating the road ahead of the bikers. I later found out they were racing across America, coast to coast. These guys ride a minimum of 20 hours per day and usually eat while riding. They're better folks than I am. Rhineland is at mile marker 105 and I had made previous arrangements to camp at mile marker 88. It would be a long day but I guess that's my penitence for wusing out at Blufton. It was a really hot walk but still along the river, making for a very scenic hike. I stayed at a church that's about a mile from the trail that night. The minister used to live about an hour away from the church in Moscow Mills, which is only about 10 miles from my home in Troy. The church at mile marker 88 is one of those quaint, small rural churches that only have services every other week.
The caretaker was a super nice guy. I called him just to let him know I was there. He shows up 5 minutes later to open the fellowship hall so I would have restroom facilities and running water. He even said I could sleep in there if I wanted. The women of the church had a quilt stretched out on a frame they almost had finished. I'm not a big arts and crafts guy but it was beautiful. I filled my water bottles and set up my tent outside, don't want to overstay my welcome. The only requirement was to lock the door when I left. It's refreshing to know there's still good people out there.