Day 6

Long day today, I was going to camp at 'Land Between the Lakes' National Recreational Area in western Kentucky but it had just seriously thunderstormed as I pulled in. It looked like the weather was going to continue to be unstable so I figured there was a relationship between discretion and valor and kept on riding to look for a hotel. I eventually found one in Union City, Tennessee using Karen's method of choosing a motel where the trucks are reasonably recent and in good shape. The motel is half the price of a Hampton Inn, clean, decent, but the TV doesn't work. Can't have everything and I have spent too much time blogging to need it.

The riding today, about 400 miles in Kentucky, was truly excellent. I stumbled across the first road that is in my top ten (the whole trip has been full of 'new favorite roads' for Brian). It is Rte 77 in Kentucky between Mariba and Slade Kentucky through the Red River Gorge Geologic Area. The highlight is a tunnel dynamited out of a mountain to use trains to get logs to a saw mill 15 miles away. See the push pin in the map for pictures of the sign and the tunnel.

The rest of the day was spent crossing the state on State Rte 80 which is mostly a two lane, 55 MPH, scenic route through a combination of horse and tobacco country. You can tell it is tobacco country as it was hard to find an ice cream stand but every single hamlet had at least one bulk tobacco store. You could tell it was horse country from the white fences and large homes. One other thing to note, as most of you know, it is election time. Most places have campaigns for Governor or interesting ballot initiatives, not so in Kentucky. In Kentucky it seems the most holy contested races are for jailers. I never knew jailer was such a sought after position, but, hey, it's a living. [edited in on the morning of the 3rd, I was reminded that Kentucky does have a race of national interest when reading the paper, the problem is that you would never know it by reading the signs as you pass through the countryside.]

Tomorrow, it will be day 7. A whole week and there is a lot left to go. I may get philosophical. In any event, I plan to start my day by crossing the Mississippi on a ferry from Hickman Kentucky to Dorena, Missouri. I will likely camp tomorrow night, somewhere in Arkansas (weather permitting).

PGL-Day6 at EveryTrail

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I'm gonna take two weeks, gonna have a fine vacation
I'm gonna take my problem to the United Nations
Well I called my congressman and he said Quote:
"I'd like to help you son but you're too young to vote"
Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do
But there ain't no cure for the summertime blues
-Eddie Cochran