I spent last night reprogramming the next few days and woke ready to go…sort of. I slept in hard and barely made it out the door before checkout at 11:00. The sleep was glorious.
A quick 2.6 miles through a neighborhood that found itself both on the wrong side of the tracks and the river physically and metaphorically took me to the local golf course. Booked online at $28 for 18. It was a bargain. Three rivers golf course is a classic example of a course that serves the everyday people and serves them well. The greens were in outstanding condition and the layout was interesting while not being punitive. The short par threes were well guarded and at quirky distances and the long threes were reachable and more receptive. An even mix of very reachable or better have your two best shots par fours and looooong par 5s. If you escape with a boggie on the par 5 18th be grateful and buy your playing partners a beer.
As for playing partners Mark, Mike, and Gary were great. Mark and Mike both retired Air Force, thank you for your service. All three were a little skeptical as I bounded up looking like a vagabond and carrying 3 clubs but thankfully they warmed up swiftly and the round was full of laughs and some great shots. Mike (sorry if it was Mark) holed out his chip on 18 to cap off the round. All in all I played boggie/double boggie with a couple of pars to make me feel good about the round.
Then on the road…well not before changing a tube again. This time the staff were gracious enough to give me space under an awning and I took the time to strip all of the sealant from the tire. In doing so I found all kinds of shrapnel that I cleaned out and double check the tire before deploying a fresh tube and finally getting under way easily an hour late.
33 swift miles North in cool evening temperatures landed me in Lewis and Clark State Park just as the sun was setting. A nice campground with massive pines that make you forget your neighbor is 15 feet away. Well untill two families with kids hopped up on candy and soda roll in at 11:00 and wake us all up. The rest of the evening was spent fondly remembering having a campground all to myself two night earlier.