This is downtown Mongo, in LaGrange County, Indiana. I’ll get back to the Alabama trip later, when I can take the time to refresh my memory and learn more about the history I was visiting.

The weather forecast is moving in the wrong direction for this weekend’s trip, but it still looks like it will be worth going. My Saturday destination is a campground on the Pigeon River, just outside of Mongo. The above photo was taken on my last trip there, 3.5 years ago.

I decided I should learn how to cook myself some real oatmeal for breakfast. I’ve been using instant oatmeal for campground breakfast for a long time, but it doesn’t seem to have the carrying power like what I have for breakfast at home. So Myra is helping me improve my culinary skills to that extent. She prepared a package for me with detailed instructions. Several years ago I shocked the family by learning how to fry instant pancakes when camping, so I suppose she figured I could handle this, too.

But then I got to thinking about the weather forecast. Sleeping in cold weather is one thing. I can handle sleeping in cool conditions — or at least I used to be able to. I’ve managed a couple of times where I’d occasionally wake up in the middle of the night shivering, but the shivering would warm me up enough so I could get back to sleep. I’d rather do that once in a great while than carry heavy sleeping gear, though I reserve the right to change my mind as I get older and my body becomes more poikilothermic.

Sleeping cold is one thing. Getting up and fixing breakfast in the cold is another. I’m a complete wimp when it comes to that. I may instead see if that little restaurant in Mongo is still in operation. It’s down the street and on the left, just out of sight in the photo.