So today was mostly a lot of driving. I stopped for lunch at an exit which said Buffalo. After about three miles I came to an intersection where I found Clem and Hazel's Corner Cafe - isn't that a great name? - and as far as I could tell, that was the only store in Buffalo, although there did seem to be a few houses further down the road.
Later I needed to stop for gas. I am very careful about this. I do not want running out of gas to be one of my "adventures". The exit said Windsor and there was a symbol for gasoline, so I took the exit. I came to a small bar and one gas pump that only sold regular gasoline. The bar and the gas pump were all operated by a friendly older woman. When I asked her where the rest of the town was, she said , "This is it." The bar was Windsor - all of Windsor! I paid for my gas by running my debit card thru an antique looking little machine which rang up 40 dollars like a credit card in a store except that it could only ring up multiples of $20.00. I signed the slip and she gave me change.
Around 4:00, I saw a sign for a campground and took an exit into Dawson, which contained two gas stations, one of which was connected to a restaurant and a food market, and a post office. I couldn't find the campground, so I went into the post office to ask for directions. The lady said, "Just take the dirt road across the street for two blocks and you'll see a couple picnic tables. There may or may not be a port-a-potty nearby. It's free." I went there and sure enough there were just two picnic tables and a nearby port-a-potty which was clean but had no toilet paper. It wasn't very fancy, but the price was right and I had the whole picnic area, such as it was, to myself.
It had been a nice sunny day, so I just threw down the air mattress and sleeping bag and skipped setting up the tent.
I then went to the market to buy some food and stop in at the rest room to refill my canteen. The rest room was reached by going through a door from the restaurant. On the other side of the door were three rooms, one of which was the men's room. I filled my canteen and took care of some other personal needs and then came out - or at least I tried to. The door back to the restaurant was locked. I tried a couple times then banged loudly. No response. I banged again. I was not looking forward to a night locked up in the restaurant rest room! On the third knock, a lady came and opened the door. She seemed very surprised to see me. I was not surprised to see her, but I was very pleased - and relieved! We both had a good laugh together, which was definitely better than a good cry by myself.
Meanwhile, back at the campsite, towards dusk mosquitoes were coming out and the sky started to cloud up, so after I finished my spaghetti dinner, I put up my tent and put the rest of my gear inside.
I was reasonably well-settled when the wind started to blow - not just a little but a lot. I hadn't bothered to stake down the tent; I had never needed to up until then, and the wind became so strong that it knocked over the tent and my body was the only thing holding it in place. I finally concluded that I needed to get out of the tent before it blew away with me in it, so I managed to get outside during a sort of lull in the wind, just as a policeman rode up to see if I was OK. He suggested that since there was a tornado watch I would be better off in the car. That certainly seemed like a good idea to me, especially since it was what I had already planned to do. I managed to drag my tent with the air mattress (without air) and the sleeping bag still in it into the car just before the rain came down in torrents. It didn't seem to be getting any better and I didn't feel that safe in the picnic ground by myself, so I carefully drove the car back to the road and down the two blocks to "town" where I parked the car beside the market. The rain eventually stopped and I spent the night dozing off and on in the car. Now that was an adventure!
Glad it wasn't a real tornado!
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