Thanks Western Kentucky

Honestly, there really isn't much to report today.  We had a really, really pleasant day riding along in western Kentucky.  

Western Kentucky has really been a very nice surprise.  First, I didn't know how pretty the area is.  I have never really traveled extensively in this area of Kentucky, other than simply passing through, likely on an Interstate.  Compared with so many states we've been through, it is so green!  The farms of western Kentucky are just so incredibly blessed with what must be perfect growing conditions.  I have never seen so much corn and soybeans crammed into so many fields.  I hope the farmers in this area are doing well, and that their crops continue to flourish.  The other surprise, and I don't know why I'm surprised, but the people of Kentucky have been the absolutely, hands-down, nicest folks we have encountered on this trip.  Not like some other states where we've had encounters with nice people, and then have been yelled at from pickup trucks.  No, everyone has been so kind and nice, ever since we hit the beach of this state from Illinois.  I have no idea if this will continue through central and eastern Kentucky, but I can say that the folks here in western have been terrific.  The other thing I didn't expect, is how neat and clean everything has been here.  We rode all day today, and never have I seen so many people mowing their lawns.  It seems everywhere the farms and houses are well taken-care-of, clean and neat.  Even mobile homes were clean and well managed.  Not like most of what we've seen coast-to-almost-coast, where poor families have tons of trash, cars, and refuse in their yards.  Western Kentucky is neat.

Our accommodations at the Sebree First Baptist Church hostel

The riding today was really just very nice.  We started the day early because we expected pretty warm temperatures.  After all, it is summer, and we're in a southern(ish) state, but we just wanted to get out quickly.  We left the fantastic Sebree First Baptist Church Hostel early this morning, and headed on over to the Sebree Dairy Bar again, this time for breakfast.  We had French toast and coffee, and both were very good.  Unfortunately, like at McDonald's, we had to eat this from the parking lot.  I can say this that when this trip is over, I look forward to eating a majority of my meals, perhaps all of them, from the comforts of a table and chair.  In any case, we left out early and just had a good morning, rolling through the fields of corn and soy beans, making slow but steady progress.  Our plan was to eat perhaps 2/3 through the day, but we made very good time.  We stopped in at a convenience store in Utica, and got our usual Gatorade (red today).  Surprisingly, the signs on the store, and the people inside, were all wearing masks.  This hasn't been the case in so many places, but the proprietor here wasn't taking any guff from anyone. Her sign said if you weren't wearing a mask, don't bother coming in.  She meant it.  We rolled on, and found that it was still early at about the place we were going to stop for lunch, so we kept moving.  We ended up stopping for lunch at Fordsville, which was 53 miles into the day, and it wasn't even 11:30 yet.  We stopped in at Jack's Place, a Marathon station in Fordsville.  We bought some sodas, and they were nice enough to let us eat at their inside table.  Given the heat, this little bit of kindness gives us a good break that's as refreshing as those Subway sandwiches we brought.  Nothing against Subway, but I don't want to eat another one after this trip, for a long, long time.  

We set out again, knowing we only had 17 miles to go.  Again, because the terrain was friendly, and the hills were never too steep, we made the time well.  We stopped at another gas station convenience store for a chocolate milk (they had no ice cream).  This was located only about 2 miles from the Lodge at Rough River Dam Resort State Park.  Since we had arrived at about 2, and the rooms wouldn't be ready until 4, they sent us down to the pool where we could (literally) cool our heels for a while.  We did so, enjoying the cool water and downing the leftover lunches we had with us.  

The pool, overlooking the lake, at Rough River Dam

We spent most of the time trying to figure out where we are going next.  The problem has been that we have planned some of our days around lodging, to find out that the hotel, or in this case, 2 separate bed&breakfasts, were both closed.  I assume that with the Covid, B&B's would have an especially hard time opening up.  Most hotels won't do breakfasts, so the B&B would really just be a B, which might be confusing.  In any case, this has forced us to look for shortcuts riding straight on busier highways, in order to make it farther.  Our plans now are to ride about 94 miles tomorrow (a lot with the hills and heat) to make Springfield, where a real hotel is located. Then on to Berea Friday night (another 85-90 miles) and then on to Hazard(?)  We haven't figured it all out yet.

The bikes, parked outside our room at the Lodge

So, by the time we actually checked in we were quite relaxed, but a bit hungry.  We had dinner at the Lodge dining room, which was actually really nice, and after doing take-out for the past few days' meals, quite relaxing to sit inside.  Back to the room, and after a really nice FaceTime call with Tessie, it is off to bed for another early start tomorrow morning for what could be a long, long day.

Sorry for the lack of photos today, but there really wasn't much to see.  I took a couple of the State Park.