Day 55 continued

This is my first post back at home... It's great being back, but now it's harder to focus on writing my blog. My rough plan, subject to change: I will have our days spent in New York written about by the end of today, and the rest of our trip done by the end of next weekend. Hopefully, I'll be done by September 7. Of course, I go back to school tomorrow, so that date might get pushed back a little.

When dad and I arrived in the town of Blue Mountain Lake, the sky still hadn't cleared up. We pulled into the gas station and asked for directions to the nearest camp ground, "Oh, there's a state one about 3 miles down the road that way." the clerk pointed in a direction we didn't want to go.
Sighing, dad and I perused the convenience store for any last minute additions to our dinner (we already had some packets of ramen noodle and fresh vegetables in our packs.) "Where are you from in Oregon?" one of the shoppers suddenly asked. I stared dumbfounded for a second, then realized I was wearing my bright yellow jersey with 'Oregon' written across the chest.
"Ahm... Oregon City. It's a little town just south of Portland." I said.
"I know where Oregon City is! I used to go to Canby High School." For a second time in 30 seconds I found myself dumbfounded.
"I go to Canby High School." I said shakily.
The woman laughed, "Really? Oh, then I have to ask if this one teacher is still there. He was my favorite teacher... he really changed my life. Sort of weird, though." She thought about it for a second, "He was my literature teacher..."
"Was it Mr. Mikulec?" I asked quickly.
"Yes! Yes! He's still there?"
"Yeah, I just had him last year."
"Oh, wow. I can only imagine what he's like now. I mean, he was strange when I had him." I found myself grinning as she spoke.
"He's definitely a different sort of person." I agreed, "So do you still live in Oregon?"
"No," the woman shook her head, "I graduated in '82, and now I live just south of here in Saratoga." She nodded silently for a moment, "So, did you ride out here?" I nodded, "Wow! Well, good luck on your trip!"
"Thanks!" I said as she left the convenience store.

Our campground was a state park just south of the route. We were given a site slightly removed from the road, that could only be reached by a short trail. Dad and I wheeled our bikes up the path, then raced to set up our tents before the rains came. Since the campground was already almost full, dad and I crammed our tents together in one corner of our site, so that if Liz, Cate, and Sarah showed up they would have some where to put their tent. Dad and I hurled our gear into our tents, then scurried in after it just as the first drops started to fall. For the next fifteen minutes, we both sat in our tents, munching on goldfish, gorp, and snickers bars, and listening to the rain fall. As the drops became fewer and farther between, I heard dad climb out of his tent, "I'm gonna go take a shower." he said, "I'll probably get more wet on the walk than in the shower, but oh well... When I get back, I'll start dinner." I heard him shuffle off to the shower while I slowly started to organize my gear (very early in the trip, I developed the nightly routine of listening to my iPod while repacking my bags, pulling out the clothes I'd need for the next day, and so on.)

When dad returned from the shower, the rain had stopped almost entirely, so I took my turn to clean up. I gathered together my 'street clothes' (by that I mean, non-lycra clothing) and my towel, then headed down to the bathrooms. Unfortunately, after I had peeled off my wet bike clothes, I realized I didn't know how to operate the shower (I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to put in my quarter to make the water run.) After five embarrassing minutes of fiddling with the controls, I gave up and switched shower stalls, not bothering to get dressed again (luckily, no one else was in the bathroom to see me hurry into the other stall). After my shower, I went back to camp to help dad finish dinner (ramen noodles with chopped up salami, and a corn, cucumber, and balsamic vinegrette salad that we had seen the girls make the night before.) I got the dishes, and then crawled in my tent at about 8:00.