Day 23 Kenlake State Park to Dover: Crossed Another State Line

A short day with lots to see: 31.73 miles, 2:29 hours, 11.91 average

Another day began and we were off in the cool morning. We are appreciating the cooler temps and dry air, such a wonderful change from the previous heat and humidity. We had the bikes loaded on the car so Bill could drive us, once again, over a bridge, this time across the Cumberland River. So many bridges are very bicycle-unfriendly so we take advantage of the safety of our support wagon. We rode through The Land Between the Lakes, a national park between the dammed-up Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, an area almost 50 miles long. The road was basically deserted except for us, with side roads to campgrounds, trailheads, boat ramps and old cemetaries. It was mostly forested and fairly flat, just lovely riding.

By 9:15 we were in Tennessee!



We stopped at Homeplace 1850, a living-history area. Ten cabins-barns-sheds had been moved into the site from nearby. Fascinating log joinery, wood siding, stone foundations. Two women were piecing together quilts dressed in period costumes, and a gentleman was getting set up for some activity near the tool barn. Everything that is made here as part of the demonstrations remains on the farm, such as quilts, forged iron and these chairs shown in a picture below.








There were gardens and fields, horses, oxen, pigs, chickens, ducks, and sheep. We were very impressed with the museum's exhibits and grounds.










After more than an hour spent at the Farm we shed some of our riding layers and headed to Dover at the south end of The Land Between the Lakes. After checking into a cabin, we hopped into the car for lunch then drove to nearby Fort Donelson National Battlefield. There had been hundreds of cabins for sleeping quarters, but the fort itself was a 15 acre site made of dirt mounds and trenches, many of which remained. Originally a Confederate fort, of three in the area to protect the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, it was the site of an important battle of the Civil War in February 1862. Two forts, Henry and Heiman, were attacked from the rivers and no match for the Union's new ironclad gunboats. At Fort Donelson the Confederates had a much stronger position with two river batteries of 12 heavy guns crippling the gunboats.



After several days the land troops managed a vigorous attack and succeeded in surrounding the fort. Confederate General Buckner asked for terms of surrender to an obscure brigadier general named Ulysses S Grant, both West Point graduates and former friends. Grant's answer was short and direct: "No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted." Securing the fort allowed the Union to have the valuable position of opening a path towards Nashville and other areas to the south. The building below, the Dover Hotel, was the site of the signing of the terms of surrender.




It was a battle of many casualties. The Confederate soldiers were buried in the fields. 670 Union soldiers were reinterred in the Fort Donelson National Cemetery. Today the cemetery contains both Civil War veterans as well as other veterans who have served since that time.






We were back at the cabin for showers, rest time, and prepared a great dinner of grilled salmon, zucchini, garlic bread and salad. Another wonderful day was over.

Day 22 Layover at Kenlake State Park, KY

This is just too pretty a place to leave so quickly and so this morning we decide to take it easy and do our chores. We were going to layover at our next stop, Dover, but that the only place with internet was the McDonalds and that we had to drive 23 miles to get to the closest laundramat. Two great excuses to take our layover day here instead of there! As you can see from the photos, it is quite lovely!

Day 21 - Belmont SP to Kenlake SP, KY - Rain to Sunshine

Miles: 66.6 Time: 5 hours 26 min. Ave: 12.2mph

We woke up this morning to NO rain! Yeah! It isn't a lot of fun taking the tents down in the rain. However the sky is overcast and by the time we start riding it is starting to spit at us and of course that is followed by real rain. We ride for the first 15 or so miles in a light rain and wonder if this will be with us all day. We seem very lucky however as it starts to clean and by our stop, 30+ miles down the road it is getting quite sunny. We lunch at the Huddle House in Mayfield, KY and it is actually quite good. The variety of people coming in the front door holds our interest. There is an older couple quite nicely dressed and obviously straight from church sitting just steps away from and old man who looked like he had slept under a tree. One young fellow who was quite large in body size (a lot of people are quite large) was chowing down on biscuits & gravy, hash browns and bacon. Lots of biscuits and white gravy in this part of the country.

Our riding after lunch is especially pretty (of course the sun helps!). We were on back roads going over and around and up and down through lovely rural country side. We are using the Map My Ride service that the day before proved less than reliable. Today we are finding the same problem. Turns left when you know you should be going right. Martha and I use our instinct and forged ahead with some trepidation. Finally we have a farmer turning into his barn and stop to ask him directions. He was just the nicest man. He asked if we were lost......we said "no, we just don't know where we are!" We all had fun laughing before he told us how to go, which I have to add is the way we were going. He then said he was just there to check on his barn which is full of drying tobacco. Never having seen drying tobacco, we asked if we could have a look. He was pleased to show us and have his picture taken. He has two barns, the other is closed up and he is smoking the tobacco which will be used for chewing tobacco. NO, Kit didn't give him a lecture on the health issues surrounding tobacco use!

As we continue on our route we see more barns, old and new, full of tobacco drying.






We also smell the roasting of the tobacco being smoked in the closed barns, almost the smell of meat being smoked in the outside smokers. There are a lot of those in this area also. We are wanting to actually see the tobacco growing when we come around a corner and there is a small field of it. To look and feel and smell the leaves you can't imagine why anyone would dry, roll and smoke the stuff!

We eventually get to the main road. This only means that there is traffic, not that there is a shoulder. None of the roads seem to have shoulders. We finally arrive in Aurora and find our way to Kenlake State Park. Bill has gotten us a two bedroom "cabin" in amongst the trees and with the most beautiful view of the lake. It is a luxurious state park as it has a "lodge" with swimming pool, golf course, marina, tennis, etc. Nothing like this in New Mexico that is for sure. We eat dinner and watch The Amazing Race before bed.

Day 20 Cape Girardeau, MO to Columbus, KY Across the Mississippi!

67.16 miles, 5:04 hours, 13.23 average



What an incredible day today. We had been communicating by email with Renate Dubois. She and her husband, Jim, are avid cyclists and host travelling cyclists. We did not stay with them but they and another friend joined us for a morning ride, escorting us from our motel, across the bridge, along the backroads of the Mississippi delta. We enjoyed the personalized tour and visiting with them. We are in Illinois!







It was cooler and drier this morning, in fact the weather was wonderful all day. And the morning was the flattest we will probably experience on our whole trip until we near Savannah. What a wonderful change, but we got back into mild hills in the afternoon. We rode through fields of corn and soybeans. At the old town of Thebes, oops there was a hill, we looked at an old a stone courthouse overlooking the banks of the river. Dred Scott was imprisoned there on his way to trial in St. Louis.



On through the delta farms and woods. In Olive Branch at Horseshoe Lake, our hosts turned back for home. Their 50 mile ride today was a warmup for their century tomorrow.



Horseshoe Lake was a "stump lake" entirely full of cyprus and a deciduous tree. The entire lake was at this time of year covered in what looked like green algae, but actually just teeny leaves floating on the surface, eerily beautiful.




As we entered Cairo we felt what we had heard about. Years ago it was a bustling town relying on river traffic for its income. In the 60s race riots totally ruined it. The downtown was entirely deserted as were many many homes. Historic Millionaire's Row had some beautiful homes, but that was about it.





Fort Defiance Park at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers was deserted but offered us a view of the rivers. We were fascinated by a tug pushing a line of barges, 5 long and 2 wide. The bow of this huge entire rig was not 10 feet from shore and it was maneuvered to make a sharp turn form the Mississippi up the Ohio, make exact use of the currents and power of the tug.






We had been warned about the bridge over the Ohio. Bill scouted it out and we decided to load the bikes on the car. It was very narrow with fast traffic including big rigs. On the other side we grabbed a BBQ sandwich, unloaded the bikes and were on our way. In Kentucky now!

We rode another 20 miles, back in rolling hills. We were following a route that Martha had found on the internet, but the directions were spotty with old county road numbers so we had to ask a fellow mowing his lawn for directions. Once again nice quiet backroads amongst farms and fields.



We arrived in Columbus at Belmont State Park located on the bluffs of the Mississippi and the site of many battles in the Civil War. There were old Confederate trenches right behind out tents. We enjoyed a great meal and then were treated to a wonderful sunset.

Day 19 - Piedmont to Cape Girardeau, Last Day in Missouri

Miles: 82 Riding Time: 6 hours 20 min. Average mph: 12.9

This is our 3rd day of over 80 miles. We had intended to stop about 30 miles sooner, but we were at that destination before noon! So heck, might as well keep riding and Cape Girardeau was the next place to stop. We did treat ourselves to a rootbeer float at about mile 70!

But first a little digression. A couple of photos from the Alley Springs area two days ago. The first is the mill at Alley Spring. It was so picturesque. Martha and Kit posing for Bill. And then Kit and Martha at Big Springs where the water gushes out of the rocks into the pool.

The food photo is from last nights chicken fajitas, cooked up on our coleman cooker and portable propane grill in front of our small but adequate cabin in Piedmont.

So as for today, Martha and Kit started out in spitting rain that became "real" rain but never very heavy. It was nice to have it cooler and the countryside was rolling hills with the same that we have seen for days; green grass and lots of trees and some small farming. Bill gets a photo of a fixer upper, you see a lot of these, as well as businesses closed down. It, like so much else we have traveled through, gives the feeling of dying communities.

As I mentioned above, we get into our destination before noon and after a bite to eat decide to head onto Cape Girardeau. We stop 20+ miles down the road in Burfordville to see the historic mill there. It was built in the 1850's and then burned by Union troops during the Civil War. After the war it was rebuilt and the top floors added. The covered bridge was started before the war and completed afterward. It is only one of four covered bridges in Missouri. Very picturesque!




But we are off to ride again. There were some tough hills the past 20+ miles and there are more ahead as we head towards the Mississippi River. OH BOY! The MISSISSIPPI River!

We saw the "Big Muddy" through the sea wall as we strolled around old downtown Cape Girardeau. We were very impressed with the several block area, a happening place with a New Orleans feel. Buildings were in very good shape housing shops, restaurants and cafes. The sea wall hundreds of feet of murals. Locals and tourists were hanging out by the river for the evening glow. The bridge is spectacular. We ate cajun food at Broussards, a very busy joint.