well, at least i didn't sleep on my glasses last night. actually, it was a good night, even with the rain and the strong winds. i'm in turtle river state park, just 20 miles from grand forks, nd and the minnesota state line. pretty little park and i'm the only one here in the 14 site 'primitive camping' area, complete with mowed grass, picnic shelter, tables, toilets, and water. the storm brought even cooler weather, so sleeping was very comfortable.
the previous night, a different story. wednesday night i was in the middle of nowhere, just past rugby, nd. rugby is the geographical center of north america, in case you're wondering. i could feel it. 10 miles outside of town are fields and sloughs. i had thoughts of going to a highway rest area that was somewhere up ahead, but i wasn't sure quite how far or quite how legal it would be. i still had plenty of daylight when i saw a nice little copse of trees, with tall thick grass under them. to the one side was a pond, to the other a corn field. i looked around and there were no houses anywhere in site, just a couple of barns across the highway. so i pulled in, walked it over, leaned the bike up against a tree, and sat down in the shade. No mosquitos, no gnats, just a few ants. great.
since i was visible from the highway, i didn't want to put the tent up till dusk. the tent is green and it blends in pretty well, but i like to becautious in my tresspassing. so i rested for the next hour or so, waiting for the sun to go down. talked to suzi, sent some texts, arranged a warmshower in grand forks, and did a crossword puzzle. but no cooking and no evening tea. eventually, the sun slipped low and i put the tent up. just in time, the mosquitos were starting to come out. i got in and zipped up.
now one of the less enjoyable things while camping, is sitting in your tent seeing lots of mosquitos sitting on the outside of your netting. at least they're on the outside. problem is when you're over 50 and need to get up in the middle of the night to pee. and of course the more you lie there thinking about it, the more you need to go. finally, it gets to the point where i take a deep breath and get out of the tent and go. even if they weren't there, i would feel the mosquitos all over me. i dive back in the tent hoping i got most of them off and lie back down. no such luck. soon they're buzzing around the head, must have slapped my ears a dozen times. i finally dig out the insect repellant and coat myself with it.
but wait. what's this thing poking my back. a branch beneath the tent? i reach under me and pull out my glasses frame. frame, no lenses. my only glasses, no backup pair. so i search again and find both lenses. a little sigh of relief and i put them back in the tent pocket where they belong to deal with in the morning. i finally got to sleep.
woke up in the morning. mosquitos are much easier to find in the morning. i track down and kill the six or so buzzing inside the tent, one has my blood. i try to ignore all the ones on the other side of the netting, under the rain fly. then i pack up while still protected in the tent and address my glasses. it's not too hard to pop the lenses in, but my vision is pretty fuzzy when i get them on. the lenses must be backwards. oh, well, i'll deal with it after i get out of this breeding ground. steeling myself, i open up, crawl out and, actually, it's not bad. there's a pretty good wind blowing and it must be helping. i guess the ones on the tent were protected under the fly. i pack quick and am out of there. back to the road, i pop my lenses out and reverse them. much better.
and it's a beautiful day with a strong wind at my back.
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