Bloomington, afternoon

Hi, Karina and I went off with Eric, Rita, Alex and Carissa for a great lunch at a neat little place near the university today. After we all went to Griffy Lake, rented canoes and kayaks and spent an hour or so paddling around the lake. Really pretty and it could have been in upstate NY for the landscape. We spotted a Rough Green Snake hanging out in a tree overhanging the water, probably 3' long, skinney, very green, and way cool.

Speaking of long and skinney, Alex is officially taller than me (though to keep him in his place I reminded him that I was still older and needed glasses to see anything - that changed nothing regarding size, but it was all I had to go with).

Got back to the house and I sacked out for an hour or so and now things are heading towards dinnertime! Days off with friends - love em!

Republic, we pedalled on to a capmground called Clinton Lake. We are riding through just beautiful farmland and it is not looking like anything is out there besides barns and corn, soybeans and wheat, then sure enough, a little campground with a whole pile of folks (several hundres), lots of RV's, lots of golf carts, a nice little lake, pavillion, volley ball tournement in process, kids, the works.

Got to swim and had a good dinner. Met a little felow named Bryce. I hear him say to a little girl he's playing with "my birthday was yesterday". Later I tell mim happy birthday and ask how old he is and he says he's five. I sang hin the very short birthday song ("this is your birthday song, it isn't very lo........"). After he tells me he's four and his birthday is in November!! He was a riot. SO I tell him that there is a place in Utah called "Bryce Canyon" and that it was named after him and that he was the King of it. He liiked that and I am pretty sure he spent the rest of the day telling folks in the campground that he was the King of Bryce Canyon!

The next night deserves a ful post of it's own, so I will try to get back to the keyboard at least one more time tonight.