Day 72: Springfield, TN

Day 72

July 27, 2015

Miles: 48

Hopkinsville to Springfield

We stayed at the Hampton Inn last night. It was a great choice. It served a full, hot breakfast featuring homemade oatmeal and the usual scrambled eggs, bagels, waffles, assorted cereals and muffins, and fresh fruit.  As you can see, we are eating much healthier these days. After we finished breakfast, we went back to our room to pack our bikes so to leave before 9:00a. We were shooting for an early arrival in Springfield today.  We thought this was possible as long as we took fewer breaks and a shorter lunch. And because today's route was shorter and less hilly, and because the temperature forecast in the afternoon was for 97, we thought this was both achievable and wise. So as long as we have favorable conditions (distance, wind and elevations) we are going to stick with this strategy. We did this yesterday too. Yesterday we arrived in Hopkinsville by 4:00p and today we arrived in Springfield by 2:30p. This has given us more time to explore the town, rest and write the blog. 

Lots of fresh fruit

It really was a great day riding.  Other than the high heat in the afternoon, the roads were great and the elevation and wind direction was in our favor.  We made record time, while encountering some repeat scenery along the way.

Rows of corn

Me amongst the soy plants

More tobacco - healthy looking plants

This below was interesting I thought.  A truck with two sets of wheels designed for both the rail and also the road.

Rail truck

Hurry up

We stopped for lunch at the 1/2 way mark to eat a quick bite. We both had a chicken breast sandwich (the usual).  We didn't order any sides because as you know, we had a different strategy for today. 

Small town with one restaurant

Surprisingly it's a full house in the one restaurant in town ... so we thought.

Make some room for us

Me and the invisible people

Shortly after our, yet again, private lunch, we rolled into Tennessee.  Hooray!!!  Nashville here we come!

State number 9

TN Plate design

As you know, we checked into the Hampton Inn last night in Hopkinsville and again here in Springfield.  Of all the motels in this class, we think this one is the best.  It has a great  breakfast and also provides self-service laundry services for guests.  The rooms are clean and very spacious.  The rooms fit both our bikes nicely.  This hotel offers a free USA today newspaper, and also serves coffee 24/7 and free cookies M-TH.  Two different coffee options regular and robust. Nice!

When we checked into the hotel tonight the girl checking us in said we were the most interesting guests she has met this year.  Naturally, we had told her about our cross-country bike tour.  She gave us two goodie bags just because we were cyclists.  This picture below shows what was we got.

Yummy

We went to dinner next door at O' Charlies.  Steve had salmon and I had a chicken pot pie. After dinner tonight and on the way to our room, Steve scored a cup of robust coffee for his nightcap.  As if he needs more coffee!

Me Steve ... need coffee!

All room signs here at the Hampton Inn have a different picture associated with the room and just look at what picture is associated with our room ... isn't this appropriate!

We have decided to take a rest day tomorrow and go on a little excursion.  Assuming we can rent a car tomorrow, we plan to drive 81 miles (1 hour and 20 minutes by car) to Mammoth Cave National Park. This national park is located in Kentucky; apparently it features the largest cave in the Nation.  Mammoth Cave is a location on the TA but since we came off the TA to route to Nashville, we would miss this site.  So we decided since we have an extra day before arriving in Nashville we should go sight seeing! 

Day 71: Hopkinsville, KY

Day 71

July 26, 2015

Miles: 56

Marion to Hopkinsville

We arranged with Roz last night that we would have breakfast at 7am this morning.  She is an early riser and I think she expects others to get up early, too.  When we arrived for breakfast at 8:30am  yesterday morning, she asked us if we were still on west coast time.  We got the message and that is why we were at breakfast at 7am this morning.  We weren't really awake, but even so, we had another great breakfast and conversation with Roz and after packing up all our stuff, we were ready to start pedaling at 9:15am.

Di with the incomparable Roz

 I know, 9:15am is still not an early start, but it is a little better than what we've been averaging lately.  The day was cooler than it had been in a while and the skies were overcast.  After we had ridden for about 12 miles we felt the first drops of rain.  We spotted a large, open-ended storage barn and made a bee-line for it.  We made it into the shelter just as the rain turned into a heavy downpour.  It was satisfying to watch the rain come down while we were still nice and dry.

Di and the hay keeping dry

Our bikes look so little in the hay tunnel

Di watching the rain come down

Me showing my impatience to get going again

It rained for 30 minutes or so and we waited another 15 minutes for the water to drain from the streets a bit.  It still looked like it could rain at any moment, so we were hoping it would hold off until we arrived at the next town, Princeton.  Our maps say that Cerulean has one grocery store, so we planned on eating our lunch there.  When we arrived in Cerulean, however, we found that the grocery store was closed down.  This has happened to us quite a bit in these small towns we go through: stores go out of business very fast.  With the one eatery now closed down, we resorted to our  old standby: eating on the church steps.  Di rummaged in her food bag and produced a few snacks for us, such as cashews, trail mix, granola bar, and a peach.  We noted that is was not yet noon and we had already ridden 37 miles and we laughed at the fact that we ride very efficiently on rainy days.

Di eating lunch on church stairs again

 We rode mostly through farm country today and we saw tobacco crops for the first time today.

I hope this is tobacco.  I was wrong about the ostrich and Lois had to point out it was an emu.

Also for the first time we were chased by dogs.  Kentucky has a reputation for loose dogs.  Not loose in the moral sense, unless you believe that a dog biting a human is immoral, but loose as in unleashed.  Most of the dogs we saw merely barked at us or pretended they wanted to bite us when in reality they were merely showing off for their friends and family.  Four dogs, however, ran after us with ugly intention.  We were able to repel the first three dogs by taking out our pepper spray and holding it in a very threatening manner.  At the sight of the spray canister, the dogs immediately backed off.  I guess they have encountered the pepper spray before.  Thankfully, dogs have a decent memory.  The fourth dog, however, was a different story.  Di was riding in front of me and the dog first chased her.  He at first seemed very menacing, then backed away when Di showed him the evil pepper spray canister.  He then decided to run at me.  I had passed him by this point, so he was coming at me from behind and was quickly catching up to me.  I grabbed my pepper spray, but because he was directly behind me the dog couldn't see it.  He kept coming and was now scarily close.  I didn't know what to do, so I yelled, "I have pepper spray! Don't make me use it on you!"  Surprisingly, this did nothing to slow the dog down and he was almost at my back tire.  I have heard stories of cyclists falling from their bikes because a dog bites their back tire or rear panniers and causes the rider to lose his balance.  I was unenthused about this prospect, so even though I am very much a pacifist, I decided to use the pepper spray.  I turned around as much as I could, took careful aim at the dog that was less than five feet away, and fired.  Instead of heading for the dog, the spray from the can shot out at a 45 degree angle towards the side of the road.  The dog, however, stopped running at me and stood in the road with a quizzical expression.  And I know exactly what it was thinking.  It was thinking, "Man, are you kidding me?  I'm five feet away and you miss me by a mile? That's pathetic!" I must admit I was a little embarrassed I couldn't shoot straight, but at least I didn't shoot it into my own eye.

A dog's worse nightmare

We made it to Hopkinsville by 4pm and checked into the Hampton Inn.  It is always our goal to get to our destination before 4pm, so I guess we need a rainy day to achieve that goal.  We got cleaned up and went for dinner at the Mexican restaurant next door. 

Di is ready once again to eat Mexican food

Di was happy with her fajitas

I'm even more excited about going to Nashville now than I was before because Andy and Paige are going to spend the weekend with us.  Wahoo!  They will fly down on Friday and stay until they fly out on Monday.  I can't wait!

Andy and I back when my beard was under control

Tomorrow we ride to Springfield, TN, about 50 miles away.  

Day 69: Marion, KY and Day 70: Marion Rest Day

Day 69

July 24, 2015

Miles: 49

Carbondale to Marion

Sleeping in the rustic cabin in the Hayes Spirit Campground, which was named the Creekside Shack, really wasn't all that back.  It was, as my mother put it, better than the alternative - sleeping on the ground.  She was 100% right!  It had a shower and toilet so Steve said it counted as a motel not camping.  I had to agreed, but ready didn't want to because my 15% camping percentage is being challenged as time go on.  I have to figure something out or I may find myself in a tent real soon. I'll figure something out :).

It was such a beautiful sunny morning.  Not too hot and it seemed at first, not to humid either.   As the day progressed it got much hotter and more humid!      

Beautiful morning

We had our usual breakfast to start our day.  The pancakes were chewy, but the eggs were good.  Despite this we ate every bit!   We had a really nice waitress so it was worth it!

Breakfast at Shawnee Grill and Pub

Picture on wall of restaurant that tells is all!

We stopped for our gatorade supply after breakfast and before we hit the road.

The ride to Elizabethtown was extremely hilly.   We still had a long, hard ride in front of us so we took it slow.

Steve off his saddle - tough climb

Me in my saddle - tough climb

By the time we arrived in Elizabethtown, we were soaking wet, and famished.  We were ready for some good food, but first we both changed out of our wet clothes so they could dry before we set to ride the remaining 30 miles.  And look -  it seems we are alone in this restaurant too - as usual, as Beth has pointed out!  

That's me below showing off my potato wedge.

Lunch at Lee and Lilly's

We rode into the town of Cave in Rock, the final IL town.  From there we had to cross the Ohio River by ferry to get to Kentucky on the other side.  It was a nice break on this very hot day (95 degrees).  Although this town was somewhat deserted, the ferry ran every 30 minutes and was at no cost to bicyclists.  This town at one time was a happening town. The town is on the TA and it sure does welcomes bikers!  There were bikes all over the place.

Town of Cave in Rock

Steve exploring town while waiting for ferry.

Aureolin

Magenta

Chartreuse

Town that loves bikers

The Ohio River, like most of the rivers in the area, overflowed because of the floods from a few weeks ago.  Here is the beach front aside the ferry ramp.

Ohio River

Me waiting for ferry

Me next

View from the ferry

Taking a shortcut (the only way) to Kentucky from Cave in Rock via ferry

Steve looking good

What a pair

We made it into Kentucky!

State number 8

As we rode away from where the ferry dropped us, we saw this sign depicting a horse and buggy and then a short way ahead another that read Fresh Peaches and Cherries.  We couldn't resist.  We hooked a right and rode to the farm grocery store that was owned and run by the Amish.  Although we don't have any pictures to show, the store was full of goodies!  We only bought fresh fruit this time.  Really!  And no beef jerky either!

Slow but steady

We finally made it into Marion, KY at about 5:30p.  Before riding to the B&B, located about 2 miles south of town center, we bought sandwiches and more gatorade for dinner because we didn't want to ride back into town that night.  We just wanted to shower, eat and sleep!

Local grocery store

Marion Inn Entrance

Steve getting cozy

REST DAY

Day 70

July 25, 2015

Miles: 0

Marion to Marion

This morning we slept in.  I woke at 7:00a and Steve 8:30a, however breakfast was served at 9:00a. Rosalyn the women that owns the B&B gave us a wonderful breakfast and a good cup of coffee too.  We started with yogurt with fresh oats, pineapples and blueberries followed by a traditional breakfast of two egg, bacon and wheat ciabatta toast.  It certainly hit the spot!  Following breakfast I washed a load of laundry, as is usual on our rest days.  As our clothes were being washed we sat with Rosalyn and talked about many topics.  She is quite the historian on many fronts.  Roz, short for Rosalyn, as she introduced herself to us as, has lived in many different places and experienced many different cultures.  She speaks german and latin, and she lived in Germany, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, California and now Kentucky.  She describes living in Kentucky as "peaceful."  Roz is an avid reader of non-fiction such as the Travels of Marco Polo and she studies different religions, learning about their differences and similarities.  It was a pleasure spending time with Roz this morning, learning much from her stories and experiences! 

Laundry day

At about 1:00p our laundry was done, so we decided to ride into town.  We rode our bikes to the town's center stopping off at the Marion Cafe, the only place open to eat.  Apparently, many businesses close after 12:00p on both Wednesday and Saturday's in Kentucky.  Sunday of course is saved as the day of worship.  Steve ordered a local dish called Kentucky Hot Brown.  Ham and Turkey over a homemade Kentucky bread with homemade chips with cheddar cheese spread over it.  I had my usual (can't go wrong) grilled chicken breast and baked potato and salad  Both very good!

Still waiting for my baked potato

Kentucky Hot Brown

While zipping around town today, we saw 5 different florist shops. All in a 1 mile radius. All I can say is that Kentuckians must love their flowers!

Tomorrow we are off to Hopkinsville, KY.

Basket of Pretty