Friday at the Bay Creek Ranch Lodge Fri 6/19/2015

As forecast the rains have begun.  The rain started about noon and hasn't let up. It's now after six p.m. And water is still falling from the sky.  This is the same storm system that flooded Texas and Oklahoma. I hope it passes over us tonight and is clear tomorrow as I would like to make it to Carbondale by tomorrow evening. There's a bicycle shop there and I need to get that spoke replaced. As hard as the rain is coming down now and the length of time that it has been falling, I just really don't want to be out in it.

The horses don't seem to mind the rain.  Constantly eating.  Haven't seen them with their heads up all day.  They're just right outside the window.

Working on my blog and studying the maps.

Elizabethtown to Bay Creek Ranch Lodge near Simpson, IL Thu 6/18/2015

Boy, was I ever glad to arrive at this destination.  Nothing else available within reach.  There is a lodge and a restaurant here.  Only they've shut the restaurant down.  I was able to buy some provisions from their inventory and prepare the food myself in the lodge.  That worked out OK.  I'm the only guest here so I have the entire lodge to myself.

Chuck and Linda have been real nice and helpful

This is the lodge.  It's a large modular home made into a lodge.

They let me park my horse in the stall on the side porch.

Princeton to Elizabethtown, IL Wed 6/17/2015

     Took another scenic route today according to the bicycle map.  But all I saw was trees and asphalt.  I was glad to see the Ohio River, however.  Stayed at a very nice B&B named the Red Rose Inn.

Amish community here

The signs tell it all

Getting ready to roll onto the ferry

The tug that moves the ferry

The Ohio River looking upstream

My introduction to Illinois, an uphill climb.  So, what else is new?

I took this picture of a picture in a restaurant.  Conclusion:  This is how the town got it's name, Cave-in-Rock.

Beaver Dam to Princeton, KY Tue 6/16/2015

     Yesterday and today were both 70 mile days.  I'm feeling it, too.

Bridge over the river below

View of a Power Generating Station from the bridge above

The river running under the bridge above 

A big honking tractor and farm implement

Roadside flowers

Another cemetery.  They always seem well manicured

This is Curtis Scott.  No problem remembering his name since two of my sons are named Curtis and Scott.  He stopped me to talk with me and then told me to stop at the Ideal Market in the next town and there would be a large fountain drink waiting for me.  And there was.  Thanks, Curtis.

Roadside flowers form a nice front drop for the landscape beyond

Nature's intricate work

No seatbelt law enforcement in this town

I wonder what lies below the surface of this body of water.  Maybe a green monster.

I was in my motel room about 10 seconds when this downpour let loose.

Elizabethtown to Beaver Dam, KY Mon 6/15/2015

     I'm deviating from the bicycle route some more to gain some time and miles.  Most of the time it seems that the bicycle scenic route is laden with more steep hills than I enjoy.
     Two spokes bit the dust this morning.  I did get an earlier start this morning than usual.  When I got to Leitchfield and learned there was a bicycle shop there I was really relieved. While they were repairing the spokes I had lunch and got a haircut. The owners of the bike shop are really some wonderful people.  I thought they were under charging me for the repairs and when I told her to add $10 for a tip she replied, "absolutely not".

Now this farm looks like some kind of operation 

Rick and Joyce Embry who restored my bike to good working order

Rick and Joyce have had this bicycle shop in the same location for 40 years.  Great people.

Patrick Heffler.  79 years old and still riding

This is Dennis Buckles.  He passed me and then waited for me at his driveway with a bottle of cold water  and some energy boosters.  The energy boosters came in handy just a few miles further.  The cold water,  right then.

At the motel in Beaver Dam I met Josh Andrews and his girl friend Ms. Reynolds.  They were from Camp Verde.  Didn't get a picture of them when we visited, but I got one of their license plate as I left the next morning.

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Sunday in Elizabethtown, KY Sun 6/14/2015

Attended the Radcliff Ward.  A brother Hohn there, is retired from working at Fort Knox, is 78 and rides a 25 year old Schwinn bicycle.  He asked me how old I was and when I told him I was 76 he said he was 78.  I said "Why, you old man you".  We had a good laugh.

Elizabethtown and Radcliff Wards Meeting House

Bardstown to Elizabethtown, KY Sat 6/13/2015

Hay waiting for the baler

One down and many more to go

Water under the bridge

Up and over the hill they grow

Just waiting for rain.  No irrigation here

Same as above

Brewery in Bardstown

Lotta booze in they thar tanks

Met this man at a gas station (Convenience Store).  He was complementing me on what I was doing, this ride and all. I said "well let me thank you for your service to our country", and I pointed to his hat. He started to tear and choke up and he thanked me for acknowledging that. It was a touching moment.

This man is a retired military man and he and his wife Nancy were here in Elizabethtown watching their grandson play in a baseball tournament.  His name slipped my mind.

Lloyd Napier is one tall drink of water.  I told him I had crossed some bridges in eastern Kentucky that were named after some Napiers'  They were military people.  He said those bridges were named after his grandfather and uncles.

Finish the day with the banana split

And I did eat it all 888