Thursday July 23

Hello,
WE left chariton after waking up to thunder and lighting and a strong rain storm. The inside of the tent was even a bit damp after the rain was forced trough a bit. A bout a hour or so later we came among a scene which quickly let us know how luckily we were. The storm actually skirted us a little and hit south east of us. There was hail along side of the road so thick that Melvin was waiting for me as he usually was. But this time he scoped up a handful of hail and threw it at my legs. That felt good. We stopped and ate breakfast at a little restaurant by the lake (rathburn ) It was great the food was good and cheap. $2 for a full order of biscuits and gravy. We arrived in Moravia and had a good time and stayed a little while enjoying the shade and the local culture. We continued onto Ottumwa. We stayed a local park. It was the first time we stayed all concentrated at the same spot with the other 15,000 people. It was crazy. However it was okay even when it started to rain. We went next door and stayed with a nice lady who luckily allowed us to share her canopy. The storm passed quickly as it came. We went out to dinner to the knights of Columbus. It was steak dinner. It was good. We took the shuttle to eat and roam around town. We had a great time. Even stopped and listened to a couple who quit their jobs and sold almost of of their possessions and have traveling around the world on their bicycles and free camping and such. It was interesting. But not my cup of tea. We went back to camp and yes we went to bed pretty quickly.