Seymour, Indiana

We made it to North Vernon, Indiana and pulled over a couple of different times in town trying to get internet. Should have headed right for the library. Oh well.

We have two laptops, so part of our internet problem relates to both of us wanting to be on our computers at the same time. But because we aren’t paying for internet, that’s a bit of a problem. The internal wi-fi antenna is only good for about 100 yards, at best. Using that, Ruth’s laptop is better than mine. Anyhow, for about three years we have used a Hawking antenna to extend our wi-fi range, and it works really well. I have connected to unsecured networks from 1000 yards away, and further if there is clear line of sight. The manufacturer claims 3x better connecting distance, so I’d say it’s working better than their claim.

Hawking came out with a new antenna last fall that claimed to have 6x better connecting distance. Not available in Canada, so I ordered one from the U.S….I think we paid about $89. This way, we should both be able to connect up to a source that is reasonably close.

I tried this new antenna at the KOA over the summer, and the bars of strength seemed worse that the older antenna, but it still connected okay. But now that we have some real experience using it, it is actually MUCH worse than the older antenna, so I am not impressed. It’s actually only slightly better than the built in one in Ruth’s laptop. So maybe I’ll try emailing Hawking and see what they say. The only problem when you’re on the road is that it’s pretty difficult to try send it in for repair or replacement! Maybe their office is along our route..I’ll have to check that.

There is a way to have a second laptop “share” an internet connection, and I have tried to set this up but haven’t had any luck making it work yet. When we’re parked up somewhere for a day or two with a good connection, I’ll do some more research into this plan.

So we gave up on the internet yesterday afternoon and headed straight to the Mustatatuck County Park. We paid $10 for an unserviced site, and had our choice of any of them…the place was empty. We have found that most county parks are very reasonably priced. A full hookup site here, with water, electric, and sewer is $23. We have no problem paying $10 for an unserviced site, although wouldn’t pay much more than that.

The park has lots of walking trails so we took Whiskey for a litte hike. She really enjoyed it, and because there’s nobody around, she could be off leash. She apparently has lots of running left in her yet! Just as we’re thinking she may be getting tired, she comes racing past us at full speed. Sure is nice to see that.

I took our firewood bag, and scrounged enough wood from the other sites to be able to have a nice campfire last night. Ruth made some yummy broccoli and chicken pizza and we ate by the campfire. Nobody else showed up, and we had the place to ourselves.

Had a great nights sleep, although we noticed how windy it had become by the time we got up around 7am. It was a bit overcast, but warm. In fact it was 68F (20C) inside Sherman at 7am! Had some breakfast and then took Whiskey for another good hike. Half way through, it started raining fairly hard and we had to run to a nearby shelter, but it stopped shortly after that.

We decided to do a short drive in the wind to Seymour, Indiana. And it is too windy for Sherman, so the 18 miles (30 kms) or so is as far as we will go for now. As we entered Seymour, the sky got very dark and a big storm started we headed for the Seymour library and are now parked outside using the internet as the rain pours down. We'll check and see if there's anywhere worthwhile to park for the night here, and if not we will go the Walmart for tonight.

Today's drive may not be very long...

About 18 miles (30 kms)