Thursday, June 20, 1996
Day 40
Huntington, Indiana to Van Buren, Ohio
Today's Miles: 116
Cumulative Miles for the Tour: 2723
Degree of Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Terrain: Flat Farmland
Find of the Day: The Immaculate Conception Cathedral
Sherry, the hostess at Good Shepard, gave us a complete tour of the Monastery before we got on the road this morning. If you didn't read yesterday's journal, go back and check it out. We had a fantastic day, yesterday and ended up sleeping in a Monastery, each of us getting our own monk's cubicle to spend the night.
There was a slight wind as we headed east out of downtown Huntington. The road was lined with historic, three story Victorian homes from the 1800's until we reached the outskirts of town, then, once again, we were riding through the flat farmlands of middle America.Our first stop was Decataur, Indiana for a quick breakfast. Dave Blair and I introduced ourselves to the editor at the local paper, The Decataur Democrat. By coincidence, his name is Mark Miller, so we got along very well for the half hour we were there.Mark was more interested in the computer technology we were using than the bike ride. He stood over my shoulder asking questions as I logged on to post the journal and pick up e-mail. I think the hit of the visit was when I showed him and his staff how the Connectix Camera stored images directly into the computer.We left the newspaper office with a new sticker for Adam's bike. He's been covering his bike with stickers from the different places we've been. It's to the point where you almost can't see the paint job.Eight miles east of Decataur, we passed into Ohio. We stopped for the obligatory state sign picture before pushing on to Ottowa. It was a long ride today, so there wasn't much time for sightseeing. Sometimes, though, it's necessary to step back a bit and adjust the schedule if something unique shows up. We found it in Ottowa.On the way into Ottowa, I saw a double spire cathedral, towering over the rest of downtown. "Downtown" might be a misnomer in a village of 800, but I made a mental note that I wanted to checkout the cathedral before leaving. I haven't been feeling in top form today, so I was consistently falling behind the others. I rode into Ottowa, looking for a stack of bikes in front of the local cafe. The first riders into a new town get to choose where we eat. There the bikes were, in front of the "Dew Drop Inn and Lounge". Robert, his wife, Marylou and their daughter, Barbara, own the Dew Drop and manage it themselves. The food was good, the hospitality pleasant, but the kicker for all was that we are in "TRIBE" country.
You can take the boy out of the "TRIBE"
but you can't take the "TRIBE" out of the boy
Dave Blair lived in Ohio for 18 years and considers the Indians "his" team. Evidently, so does Robert. Dave tried to persuade Robert that it was in the best interest of the team for us to have the new "TRIBE" banner so we could display it on the van as we finished our cross country trek. I don't think Robert was fooled for an instant. The banner is still where it was when we walked in and I guess it will still be there when Dave passes through next year.
Dave and Robert
in the midst of SERIOUS negotiations
Ottawa has one of only seven, double spire churches in the United States. It is called "Immaculate Conception" and was built over a four year period, ending in 1888. Dave Blair and I walked into the church, passing through the solid, copper doors that opened into the main cathedral. The light from the stained glass windows that covered the north and south walls, put a soft glow over the double row of wooden pews. As we walked towards the 30 foot high alter, the doors at the back of the cathedral opened, a nun came over, introduced herself and said she would like to turn all the lights on so that we could see the interior better.
The area around Ottowa is virtually 100% Catholic. That's how a town of 800 can have a cathedral this size...no competition. It has been active for over 100 years except for the time 12 years ago when two six and seven year old kids broke in and sprayed the entire church with the fire extinguishers. It had to close for six months while the complete interior of the facility was cleaned.We thanked the nun and wished her luck as we were leaving. After 26 years at Immaculate Conception, she is being transferred to a parish in Denver next year.The campground tonight is one of the weirdest we have been in. The first sight upon entering the driveway is of about 25 RV's, permanently settled, with decks, gardens...the works. People live in this park inside their RV's. I've never seen anything like it.We're all looking forward to an easy, 60 mile day tomorrow and the rest day on Saturday. It's all in preparation for our final week in the Appalachians. The excitement is building...I think we're ready.9 days to go and counting...
Bike America Tours
dblair@wtp.net
1-800-738-7271