Signs, Signs And Exploring a Trail in Woods

Location: Delaware State Park; Delaware, Ohio
(click pics to enlarge) No Pics in this post. Bad internet connection, sorry.

I went people watching yesterday and one of the best places for that activity is the laundromat or for some in East Texas, a wash-a-teria. I asked at the park office for the location of the nearest laundromat. She told me there were washers and dryers in the park at the wash-houses. That was strange since I hadn't seen it in other state parks. Usually they have only the barest of amenities. But I thought it was good because there was a wash-house just up from my campsite and since the campground is only about 25% full it should be available. Also, since no one would be there, I could wear some of the clothes that I usually don't wear so I could wash up everything. I reached deep into the closet and pulled out stuff from the back. I found some old "used to be white" (you will read why, later) shorts and a light blue T-shirt that was a size or two too small for me. If I kept it pulled down, technically it wouldn't be a belly shirt. I put on my sandals, without socks, so I could wash all of my socks. I rounded up my dirty clothes and put them in my laundry bags. When I started full-timing, I bought about a half dozen mesh laundry bags. These have served me well. I usually use two bags on laundry day. I have my fancy clothes like my shorts, pants and shirts in one bag and everything else in the other bag. I know some of ya'll, mostly women, are saying what about sorting white clothes and colored clothes. Nope, I don't waste my time on such stuff anymore. All my pants, shirts and shorts go in the same load. If the color bleeds a little bit, oh well, I just have a different colored outfit is all. Anyway, I bagged up my laundry and headed to the wash-house. I opened the door and everything was dusty, dirty and dead bugs everywhere. There was only one washer and one dryer which immediately told me I wouldn't be doing laundry here since I've gotten spoiled into using as many washer and dryers as I need to speed things up. But I was curious so I walked over to the dryer and noticed a sign taped to the top. The part of the sign that was left said, "Do not use this dryer, it is". Someone had ripped the last word off of the note. I assume the missing word could have been "broken", but I thought it might also could have been "electrical hazard", or "possessed". All sorts of things ran through my mind. But I took a risk and opened it up. There was a load of towels inside, so I guess the missing word was "full". I opened the washer and it was empty except for little pebbles, dirt and more dead flying bugs. I put my bags back in Liberty and went in search of a proper Laundromat. Ut oh, that meant out in public with me wearing strange clothes. I thought about, and realized I only knew one person within 50 miles of where I was, so the odds of running into that person was slim so it would be OK. About half way there, I thought, yeah it's OK as long as I don't have a wreck, breakdown, have a flat tire, etc.

I pulled out my good ole cell phone and searched for a Laundromat since I wasn't going to ask the office girl again. I found one about 15 miles away and headed in that direction hoping that it would be in a good part of town. If I had more time I could have searched for one near the college since I've learned those are the best places, especially when participating in people watching. I got to the place where Elise (gps) said the Laundromat was located. There was a brand new building there but it wasn't a laundry. As I was turning around in a CVS pharmacy I pulled up next to a woman walking across the parking lot. She tried to escape, but Freedom pinned her in against an old Toyota and I rolled down the window. I hollered out, "Do you know where a Laundromat is at???" She gave me a strange look and pointed across the street. That's when I noticed the sign "Coin Laundry and Tanning". By the time I looked back to thank the lady, she was walking away quickly but I was able to yell a Thank You anyhow. She must not have heard me because she didn't acknowledge it. Maybe I shouldn't have honked the horn because that made her jump. I guess she had a guilty conscious or something.

Coin Laundry and Tanning Salon

I got lucky and it was in a nice part of town with name stores close by. It really is a combination Laundromat and Tanning Salon. I decided to only do the laundry, but it must have been a good tanning place because some women came out from the back with pretty good tans. I scouted out a couple of washers and started them going. I don't read the signs on the machines anymore since I've been using the Laundromats for the last 6 months or so. I guess I'll need to started reading them again. I started my fancy clothes and the timer came up 24 minutes, which is normal. I then started my all-other load and the timer came up with 44 minutes. I thought that ain't right, but by then there is no going back because those front load washers lock the door on you. Your stuck for however long it wants to run. It was then I saw the sign, "Be advised, this washer has an extra rinse cycle". Oh well, it wasn't as if I had anything else to do so I sat down to check text and email. There wasn't any so I looked around at the people. I quickly noticed that my clothes fit right in, I knew they would, because that is one of the Rules of the Laundromat, you wear what you got that is the cleanest or else you would have waited another day to do laundry. The typical cliental were there that is in most Laundromats. A couple of older men that seemed to be just hanging out more so that doing laundry. I'm guessing the tanning salon had something to do with them being there since the tanner had to walk through the laundry area. There were a couple middle aged women that appeared to be regulars and were probably there every week. A couple girls in their early 20's which one brought her clothes in a small paper bag and put them in one of the biggest washers. She went to her car to wait once the washer started. Maybe she was famous and didn't want the rest of us to recognize her. There was a upper middle class couple that were dressed real fancy. They used about 5 washers, probably because she did that "sorting" thing instead of using my more advanced method of washing. It took a little less than 2 hours to wash and dry everything. I folded all of the clothes and re-bagged them. The bags get washed and dried in the "everything else" load. I got back to the campground around noon.

In the afternoon I went for a walk and found a wide trail that leaves the campsite area. It looked like it headed to the lake so I decided to see where
it lead. After a couple hundred yards it was wooded so dense it was as if it

Trail to the Lake

was late in the evening. Of course walking in the woods alone like that is a bad time to think about all of the strange sounds I had been hearing near Liberty in the evenings. There are woods on 2 sides of Liberty and animals seem to come and go pretty regularly throughout the night. I followed the trail some more and it came to some steps made out of old Railroad ties. They lead down to the edge of the lake. It was a pretty sight. I tried to get a good picture but since I was standing in the dark and foreboding woods looking out into bright sunlight, they didn't turn out too good. There was a

fisherman on the bank. I asked if anything was biting and he said no. He lives near by and comes to the park to camp and fish. A guy showed up in a fancy boat and the two fishermen compared notes on what the fish were hitting on and what they weren't. I wished them luck and headed back. On the way back I
thought about a TV program that a woman I worked with used to watch. It was Joy's favorite show; The Walking Dead. Uhmmm,,, that made me look side to side a few times before I made it back to Liberty.

I cleaned Freedom up a little bit. I finally got around to getting the sand out of the mats. That was sand from Maine. I then rearranged a few things in the basement area. Afterwards, I rewarded myself with a nice 30 minute nap in the lazy boy recliner.

Some strong storms blew through here the other night. Lightening and thunder galore with some moderate winds. The temperature is suppose to be in the lower 70's for the next couple of days. It got chilly last night. When I got up around 3:00, I checked the inside temp and it was 54. I had to use the heater to warm things up this morning before my shower.

I pull out of here tomorrow after checking to see if my mail gets here. I'll being heading about 160 miles northwest to the corner of Ohio/Indiana/Michigan. I'll be there thru the weekend before heading up into Michigan for a few days to a campground on the coast of Lake Huron, which will be my third Great Lake.

Ya'll take care of each other. Cya down the road.