Day 33: Oskaloosa, IA to Indianola, IA

I had a lot of dogs bark at me in the eastern states, but they never left the confines of their yards.  Once I got to Indiana, I began getting the occasional dog that would run out into the street after me.  This can be somewhat unnerving, but usually a loud “No! Down!” will dissuade or confuse them long enough for me to get out of their territory.  I’m not as worried about getting bitten as I am that one of these dogs will get run over by a car when they come out in the road after me.  Today I had my closest call yet.

I was approaching a lone house and saw a big, happy dog meandering around in the yard innocently entertaining itself.  I felt bad that he was all alone without a playmate.  That’s when he spotted me and charged.  I could tell right away there were no psychological barriers for this guy, and sure enough he raced right out onto the road toward me as I picked up speed.  The barking a snarling sounded serious, and my shouts of “No! Down! Bad dog!” didn’t seem to be deterring him.  The beast got close enough that I could feel his fangs about to sink into my delicious calf, and I pulled my leg up out of its reach.  Just then someone yelled “Harley!” from the house and the blood-crazed predator peeled off and trotted back toward home.  Phew!

I rolled into Indianola, which is a good-sized town, and was happy to see that everything looked well-maintained and squared away.  This made me happy because I was planning on staying at the municipal campground, and if all the other town facilities were any indication it was going to be a nice place.  Well, as it turned out, yes and no.

First off, the daily fee was $18.  Good if you have an RV, high if you have a tent.  I was on my way toward a quiet spot near the shower house when I was intercepted by the campground host who sternly informed me that the tent sites were along the south fence.  It should be noted that the south fence was also along the main road.  If all the sites were the same price, what difference did it make what spot I was in?  Grrr.

The only tent site with a picnic table was across from an RV that had two yippy dogs tied up outside and no human to monitor them.  They began barking as soon as I arrived and didn’t stop until I went to dinner an hour and a half later (or maybe they just kept barking after I was gone).  This site also put me as far away from the shower house as I could get.  I was too tired and hungry to put up a stink.  I set up my tent, took a shower, paid my fee, and headed off to the pub.

It was dark by the time I got back.  The owner of the yippies was back, so at least the only noise I had to listen to was the traffic whizzing by ten feet away from my head.  As bothered as I was about being relegated to the tenter’s ghetto, I was exhausted enough to fall asleep in a matter of minutes and remained blissfully unconscious till dawn. 

Miles Today: 60 miles
Total Miles: 1,615 miles