Bedford/Mitchell/Orleans

 8-12-2021 - Thursday

We were hoping for an earlier start this morning because Joe Myers had given us a pretty full agenda, starting with breakfast at a bakery in Bedford that he highly recommended.  We left the RV at 10:00, stopped at the gate to ask about a waiting list to stay longer. She said there was a site, 116, open but she did not have the ability to "extend" our stay and suggested we get online, or try the office at the entrance where we did the other day. We drove up there, yes it was available, but she couldn't "extend" our stay, because she couldn't take the money if the office was open (when we got here on Tuesday, the office at the gate didn't open until 3:00 so she could take our credit card then, go figure). But she came up with the magic word -- we could “transfer" to that site, but we had to move today. But she couldn’t do that either, but they could back at the gate where we started out. So we went back to the gate, yes she could transfer us, but we had to move today. So we did all that, are now good until Monday morning. So 45 minutes later, we are heading out again.  What a mickey mouse way of doing things!!!

 Anyway, at 10:45, we are finally on our way, going across the causeway toward Bedford.  Water on both sides of us, very pretty.

On the way to  Bedford, we encountered our first Amish horse and buggy.  I always get excited when I see these, always think I have to take a picture of them.

in Bedford, we drove part way around the square (the buildings surrounding the square are beautiful Bedford stone), and found the bakery that Joe had raved about.  Another 11:30 breakfast. The choices were immense, 4 cases full of yummies.  

We settled on cinnamon rolls, and they were delicious.  We could see why this is one of Joe Myers' favorite places.

Joe had encouraged us to drive completely around the courthouse square and check out the beautiful limestone buildings, so we headed back to the square.  Bedford is the limestone capital of the world, and the limestone buildings last forever, and still look new.

Joe parked in front of the courthouse and I got out to take a couple of pictures.  There were some beautiful flowers here on the grounds.

There was also a buffalo statue on the grounds.  At one time, buffalo roamed Indiana, and parts of Highway 50 are also known as the Buffalo Trace. There are 200 of these painted buffalo around the state.  The second picture, which is on the courthouse side, has a beautiful covered bridge painted on it.

There are also a lot of beautiful limestone churches in town, some of them are huge.

As we headed out of town again, we saw an Amish produce wagon set up.  Joe stopped and looked at their cantaloupes but said they were all cracked on the bottom so he didn't buy any.

Along the way we came past this house -- looks like mother nature won this battle.

Next we headed to Mitchell, but we got sidetracked by a sign about Blue Springs Cave.  So we pulled in there and did a 1-hour boat ride tour in the cave.  Pretty awesome.

entrance

small stalagtites

other tour boat coming in, so we waited to leave until it was unloaded

You can barely see our opening here, where the boat goes through

There were several rock formations, everything is covered with a coat of mud but every once in a while you could see the limestone peeking through, especially in the few places the boat scrapes the side occasionally.

this is a good picture of the mud coating

Our guide/boat driver did a couple of "things" at the turn-around point.  She had us turn off all our flashlights, watches, phones, etc., and put us in total darkness.  With the lights back on, she smacked a floatable seat against the floor so we could hear the echoes.  Pretty cool.  The whole experience was pretty cool, very relaxing.  But the short walk up the steep incline back to the gift shop about did us in.  We have learned every cave we have toured ends with a walk up an incline, this one was particularly steep.  

Once we got our breaths back, we went back to the turnoff and continued on to Mitchell, home of astronaut Gus Grissom, the second American to travel in space and who perished in a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission in 1967.  We didn't go far enough the first time, toured Spring Mill Park instead, then drove back to town and tried it again.  This time we asked someone, and were successful.   

we didn't go inside the house

I love these pink flowers, called Naked Lady Lilies, Resurrection Lilies and Pink Surprise Lilies.  We have seen them all over southern Indiana, and they were also alongside the Grissom home.

On to Orleans, where I used to go to church camp.  It was fun driving through there, and I believe there are still some of the buildings being used, although a different church owns the grounds now.  I think this is the dorm we stayed in.

I believe this is the tabernacle we went to.  I looked inside and the bleachers looked familiar but I think they have upgraded the front altar area.

A

The landscaping in front of the tabernacle was very nice, including this planter filled with flowers in the shape of a cross.

and sure enough, the White Castle is just across the road.  It didn't like anyone was working today when we drove around the building.  We were told it is there processing plant, I believe.

also along the road here was one of those caution road signs, this one with a horse and buggy.  but we didn't see any of them here.

We made so many trips back and forth today, in the campground, in Mitchell, in Bedford.  And we do this everywhere we go.  I'm sure all over the country there are people saying “there goes that little white jeep again." 

We finished the day with pizza in town, another recommendation from Joe and Cathy.  They didn't join us, they have a broken board on their back steps and wanted to get that fixed -- I'm sure they were thinking they didn't want us falling through it.  But we were exhausted.  I was in bed by 8:30, and Joe followed shortly after.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a "down day" -- we need one.  But we are not very good with those, so we will see.

Visit to Ed

 8-11-2021 - Wednesday

Another late start morning, but we did get a little shopping done in Bloomington -- a stop at Best Buy for a new GPS for the Jeep, and a stop at Walmart, as usual.  Then we made our way over to Joe and Cathy's office to charge the new GPS.  We got the call from Ed that we had been waiting for, and headed over to Mooresville for a visit with him.  He's not doing well, but it was good to get to see him -- it had been a long time, and we have a long friendship with him.  He and Nancy have a lovely home here, on almost 2 acres.  They have a really nice deck in the back that I didn't get a picture of.  It took almost an hour to get over to their place, a lot of road construction around I-69.

We got back to Bloomington about 6:00 and met up at Cathy and Joe's place.  They have a chair that Joe would really like to put in the RV, and it would actually fit into my color scheme at the house.  Not a recliner, but it was very comfortable.  Cathy said it was made in Canada -- too bad we can't just run on up there and pick one up.

Cathy and Joe have a real flower garden going on, both in the front and back yards.   Another pandemic accomplishment.  The bench behind them belonged to Joe's father.  I didn't get any picture of their flowers, but Dixie would be jealous.

We went to a dinner at a Mexican restaurant, and the colors there would have competed with their flowers.  It was very, very bright!

these are the chair backs

We enjoyed a great meal and great company, but it got late.  It was 10:00 by the time we got back to the RV, and it is very dark out here.  Fortunately, we did find the camper.

We need to get an earlier start tomorrow because we have a road trip planned.  Hot and humid today, same for tomorrow.  

Moving on to Bloomington

 8-10-2021 - Tuesday

We actually did pull out today from Mike and Rachelle's house, and made it all the way to Bloomington, 94 miles.  We got on the road about 11:20, made our way over to I-69 again but went north on it today, instead of south like we did yesterday. We arrived at the Paynetown State Recreation Area, part of Lake Monroe State Park, at 1:07, and by 1:30 had checked in and found our campsite -- electric only (30 amp), but water was accessible just one campsite over, and there is a dump station here.  Joe topped off our water tank, then backed into our "slightly sloping" spot.  The camp sites are pretty roomy, and right now the campground is practically empty.  We got the only site that was available through Friday, but we have to check out Saturday.

the lake is right behind this camper, about 50 yards from our campsite.

this will be full Friday night.

After another night of not sleeping well, Joe and I took a nap after we got set up, then hooked up with Cathy and Joe for dinner.  That was a good time, and a good meal.  They gave us some ideas of places to see in this area, then we drove back to the park.  We drove around inside the park just a little (it wasn't quite dark yet).  

This is the beach, just after dark.  a couple hangers-on still hanging, but the sky was pretty. 

a look at Lake Monroe

the marina

a couple of fishermen

I would have been a little bit jealous of the fishermen, but it was still 84 degrees and miserably humid, so I didn't really envy them -- obviously, they are more dedicated than me, and I like fishing.

Cathy had suggested renting a pontoon boat on Thursday, but it is too hot to enjoy that so we didn't pursue that idea.  They have more work to do this week, so we are on our own for a little while.  but this is a pretty interesting area, some of which I have been through years ago, so we will see what we see.  Joe and I are not opposed to a couple of days that are not busy.