I didn't think it was possible, but I actually had fun today

The day did not start well as you can imagine after imbibing my whiskey tranquilizer the night before. After I decided that I wasn't going to be turning my stomach inside out, I started planning my ride destination. First I parked my bike right in front of the late night partying neighbors' bedroom windows, which I just happened to notice were open and proceeded to crack the throttle wide open a few times, then leisurely strolled into the house bellowing Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory (a song my Mother used to wake me with, so I was only being nostalgic). I decided to give them time to doze off again while I loaded new tunes on the IPOD, checked the weather and maps, then give them a repeat performance. I only wish my bike were louder! Did I mention that they partied until the wee hours two nights in a row on their front porch so that all their party noise bounced off the street. They could have chosen to have their party in their large back yard or in the house and be more considerate. They probably wanted everyone to know how cool they were. After the hell week I've had at work and with J's"frakking drama" I really wasn't in the mood! I chose to ride over to Lagro, IN to hike at Hathaway and then on to Kokiwanee to see if the milkweed was in bloom yet. Twice during the ride, I had vehicles charge up fast on my right even though I was already exceeding the speed limit by quite a bit. That made me extra cranky and I ended up taking one curve about 90. I don't usually ride like that, but my current state of mind has my temper honed to a hair trigger and the jerk in the 4-wheeler wanted to race, so I just rolled it on. I'm guessing that little fit of pique cost him a lot more in gas than it did me. Then I stopped at the Bob Evans in Wabash. The hostess watched me walk in by myself, and then oh so cheerily asked how many there would be. I almost asked her, "Do you always have trouble counting all the way to one?" but I restrained myself. Then she tried to seat me at this little teeny table next to the noisy entrance to the kitchen. I may be a woman alone and spurned, but I'm still a paying customer. I looked her right in the eye, letting her feel my displeasure and said, "I'd rather have a table by the window." It's not that long ago that I would have just meekly accepted her placement, but not today. I was a bitch on wheels! The waitresses were all such fakey Susie Sunshines, but I decided it was only a matter of my own sour disposition and left a tip even though I repeatedly had to ask for my coffee to be refilled. Breakfast did make me feel better and I headed off down the road.

The generosity of the Hathaway family is quite amazing. I wonder exactly how it transpired since the doctor died in 75 and the land wasn't donated until 2007.




Just inside the entrance to the preserve you find this stream and massive tree, which I thought was an oak, but now I'm not too sure. It might be a maple.



The hiking trail runs high above the stream with a sheer drop. It's not a place where you would want to hike at night, one misstep would land you in the hospital , IF they ever found your body. At the very back of the property is a huge meadow area, that I discovered today has been planted with a variety of hardwoods and pines. I wonder if Acres did that or the Hathaway family? It must have cost a fortune.



After hiking Hathaway, I was dying of thirst and headed over to Wabash to see if the Reading Room was open and get a cold drink. The Reading Room is a cool used bookstore which looks pretty unassuming from the store front, but I've found some real gems there. It wasn't open on Sunday so I strolled around the block to what I thought was a coffee shop. The sign on the window said Modoc's Market in neon. Inside it looked like a cute little coffee/gift shop. I was gulping down my ice tea and chatting up the barista, Zach, and I asked him what the story was with all the elephants. He gave me a very abbreviated version of Modoc's escape which you should be able to click and enlarge enough to read. Modoc's Market is on the site of the former Bradley Brothers Drugstore. The story is worth reading just for the amusingly creative spelling. I don't know if that's supposed to be dialect or if someone just didn't use spellcheck.



He couldn't remember what year the story took place even though this huge drum with the year, 1942 was right across from his counter and he's probably seen it a million gazillion times.



In his defense, he said he hadn't told the story lately. Either people who came in were locals and were already well familiar with the story or they just plain weren't as nosey as I am. The rest of the story he told fairly accurately but he left out a lot of the interesting details; such as the Governor assisted with the chase and capture, that Modoc lost 800 lbs. during her ordeal, that her trainer was a 6'7" tall black man who captured Modoc with his "mumbo jumbo" hmmmm, that Modoc's "nose" cold was cured with 6 quarts of whiskey (I might hurl). I wonder if the trainer, Corona Ezra Smith, did double duty as the circus tall man? I wanted to buy a piece of the Strawbridge Pottery on display, but this week's budget wouldn't stretch that far, so I got a a couple of coffee cups instead. I liked the "Break Free" motto. It seemed appropo for the day.





These were photos that I took of their photos and they turned out surprisingly well.

Afterwards, I wandered around lost for a while and chanced on this historical marker and building in Lagro while I was trying to find my way to Kokiwanee from the opposite direction that I normally take.





I finally found my way and hiked the whole preserve with a mad waterfall dance that was fun until the wet socks gave me blisters on both my heels for the rest of the hike. I found the milkweed still hasn't bloomed and the wild raspberries aren't ripe yet, so I'll be going back in a week or two.



Even though, J isn't talking to me anymore, I'm still dedicating these last two photos to him. He's really fascinated with insects right now. I think the last one is a stinkbug. Hmmmm....