On Saturday, August 8th, Ralph and I headed to do some errands on our bicycles. We went to Hobby Lobby, Panera Bread for coffee and a break, Kirchhoff's for lunch and then Walmart to pick up a few groceries.
At Kirchhoff's, Ralph got a delicious cranberry walnut chicken salad sandwich and I enjoyed a wonderful Reuben. We just love Kirchhoff's, we get a sweet when we stop in for our morning coffee break or lunch on the way home at the end of our ride. I will hate to leave Paduka.
It was a fun day and we got a good work out of 27 miles!
On Sunday, August 9th, we just relaxed with the exception of taking our truck to the self serve car wash. Poor truck has not been washed since May. That is unusual for us but there for a while we just couldn't get out of the rainy weather and tomorrow they are calling for more but I just can't take this truck being so dirty for another day. I think there was stuff growing inside the wheel wells.
Monday, August 10th became a lazy day. I love lazy days, I just wish we had more of them! It had been thundering and lightning through the night. That has always been one of my favorite sounds because it's so cozy and we get to cuddle during storms and that is what we did all day long!
Tuesday, August 11th, we were on the bicycles by 8 a.m! We headed to Etcetera Coffeehouse, another coffee shop that was north of the town in Paducah and it is in a quaint neighborhood. It is also known as "ETC". I just love the outdoor seating in this quaint neighborhood.
As we were sitting down catching a breather, many folks came up to us to say "Good Morning" and ask how our ride is going. How nice is that? No one is a stranger at the ETC Coffee Shop. The staff is super nice too at both the ETC locations. The other location we go to is inside the Kirchhoff's Bakery.
A couple walking across the street and came up to us and shook our hands and introduced themselves to us. We met Sam and Laura from Edmund, Oklahoma near Oklahoma City. They were passing through Paducah on the way back home and stayed at the Egg and I which is a B & B just across the street.
We got talking about bicycling, Sam is an avid long distance bicyclists and does Century Cycling Rides. Century rides are 100 miles or more! He is getting ready to do a Century Ride called the "Hotter' N Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls, Texas. It is an annual ride there that is held every August.
The professional racers ride the 100-mile road race and there is anywhere from 10,000 to 14,000 riders that participate each year making the Hotter'N Hell Hundred the largest sanctioned century bicycle ride in the U.S.
The outside tables were filled up so we asked them to join us at our table and they gladly accepted. We went in and placed our order. Last time we got a gourmet Asiago Cheese bagel and this time we got a toasted jalapeno cheese bagel with cream cheese and a mug of hazel nut coffee.
While inside we saw a wave from Kevin. He was the fella who also is a cyclists and a "local" that we met last week while here. We told him to grab a chair and join us outside, so he did.
We had a wonderful morning just chatting away, laughing and carrying on, but sadly we all had to head our separate directions but not before I took a picture for remembrance. I was a fun morning.
Several buildings around Paducah and several surrounding towns participate in Quilt Block Trail.
The project was started by Donna Sue Groves, a field representative for Ohio Arts Council. She decided she wanted a quilt square painted on her barn to honor her mother, a lifelong quilter. Donna Sue shared her idea with friends in the community who offered their help. They decided if they were going to paint one quilt square on a barn, they might as well paint twenty and create a driving tour to attract tourists to their rural community.
Well a quilt trail is now through towns in Kentucky and I hope to get to see several more as we travel. They are just beautiful and add a nice touch to the countryside.
We stopped at Shooter's Supply and in the parking lot was this hot rod.
Our last stop was to Bike World. A nice shop full of bicycle accessories and the employees are top notch in helping me with the selection of getting a new bike helmet. I also got a pair of gel padded bike gloves.
Our helmets are over 10 years old and need to be replaced. I tried on several and of course liked the most expensive one. It fit my head shape and felt the best. The one I tried was a demo and they did not have a large in bright yellow, so it is on order. I ride with a florescent vest and a bright head light that flashes and can be seen a long way. I want to be seen so that is why I wanted a bright yellow helmet.
Don't worry, Ralph went on a shopping spree himself with a new pair of bicycle shoes. Eventually he will get a new helmet.
It was a fun day and we did 24 miles. My bike gloves felt great. No more numbness and tingling in my hands during a long ride!
On Wednesday, August 12 we took the bikes across the Ohio River into Illinois. We parked at the Tunnel Hill State Trail Center at Vienna Station in Vienna, Illinois.
This is a "Rails to Trails" multi-use path for walkers, and cyclists. At one time it was a railroad track and throughout the United States, disused tracks are being converted into a multi-use paths.
This particular Rails to Trails went from Karnak, Illinois to Harrisburg, Illinois for a total of 45 miles and is mostly shaded. There are a total of 23 trestle bridges ranging from 45' to 450'. The grade ranges from 2 to 3% and the direction we headed was up the grade so on the way back it would be easy peddling.
I am glad I saw this little guy. I would have been upset if I had run him over. With the shade he was a little hard to see at first and he wasn't moving when I first spotted him. I had though it was a stick and we watched him for a minute and he just froze. It was only after we went past him and went a short distance did he move off the trail.
About 10 miles up the trail we made it to Tunnel Hill. The namesake of this trail use to be a 800 ft. long tunnel but in 1929 it collapsed and this landmark was shortened by 300 ft. so now it is 543 ft. We have good lights on our bikes and we needed them to go through the tunnel.
We stopped at all the bridges to take in the view. I have to get new hiking shorts and smaller shirts, they are kind of baggie. I don't have to unbutton my shorts to take them on or off.
On the way back we stopped at a little bungalow style house with a large front porch
just about 100 ft. off the trail in Sandburn Junction. There was a little greenhouse there too and these were the only 2 structures I saw at this little Sandburn Junction crossing.
There were a couple of picnic tables out side with a water hydrant and porta-john. We went inside this cute little bungalow-general store to see what they had.
There was water, soda, ice cream, candy, and locally homemade BBQ sauces, jams and jellies. There was a price list there along with a coffee can. It was on the honor system and you put your money in the coffee can. I bought jalapeno jelly and apple BBQ sauce and Ralph got his Klondike bar.
There was even fishing bait for the fisherman in one of the refrigerators.
There was a book to sign your name and where you were from. I added a nice note and thanked them for having a nice little place for us hikers and bikers.
We headed back to the Tunnel Hill Visitor Center where they had lots of covered picnic pavilions and there we enjoyed the packed lunch we brought with us. We had a good workout of about 20 miles.
In the distance I saw a monument so I went over to check it out. I found out it was a monument dedicated to the Native Americans.
From Wikipedia: The Trail of Tears was a series of forced relocations of Native American nations in the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830. From 1830 to 1850 they removed members of the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw nations from their ancestral homelands in the southeastern U.S. to an area west of the Mississippi River that had been designated as Indian Territory.
Men, women and children were forced to walk over 1,000 miles and suffered from exposure in extremely cold weather conditions, inadequate clothing, malnutrition, fatal disease and starvation while en route and many died before reaching their various destinations. One out of 4 died on the forced march.
To walk the Trail of Tears it took 6 months. This area of southern Illinois is where many Native Americans just froze to death. There was little or no food and no wood to build fires. Snow was deep and rivers were frozen solid and there was no shelter. So many died in this area of Vienna, Illinois and their bodies were just thrown in unmarked shallow graves.
Here is the Trail of Tears monument with the flags circling the totem pole. Each flag represents a Native American tribe that marched along the Trail of Tears. A plaque below explained about each carving on the totem pole.
I read a lot about this on the Internet and it was just disgusting on what the Government did to the Native Americans and are still doing.
On the way back home we passed the exit for Metropolis. The Home of Superman. They have a statue of him in the town.
We found ourselves in a 5 mile stop and go traffic jam on the highway and everyone was being rerouted because the highway was closed. So we got off at that exit and came home a different way. We saw the vehicle and we knew it was a fatal. We couldn't even tell what kind of vehicle it was. It looked like it had been put in a junk yard crusher.
The accident made the evening news and we found out that a 20 plus year old young man from Florida was driving along in the fast lane in a Subaru Outback and ran in the back of a tractor trailer that was slowing down because of road construction on the highway. Signs had been posted miles before, warning of the slow down.
Well our new way home took as to the town of Brookport, Illinois. This town is on one side of the Ohio River and Paducah is on the other side of the Ohio River. All I can say it was a thrill ride crossing this bridge for sure.
The bridge is just over a mile at 5,386 ft. and it was built in 1929. It is described as a ten-span, steel deck (grate) "narrow" two-lane truss bridge. As you can see there is no shoulder and how narrow the lanes are. We have a 1 ton dual wheeled truck and we had about 6 inches between our dually fender and the bridge rail.
The speed limit thank goodness was 25 mph. Ralph had to keep a good hold on the wheel because the steel slotted deck kept pulling the truck to the right. When there was another vehicle coming from the opposite direction, I just held my breath figuring our side mirrors would touch. Eventually Ralph pulled his side mirror in.
The Ohio River.
Look closely in the small convex mirror and you can see how close our dually fender was to the bridge railing. The impatient idiot behind us was not happy doing the speed limit and tail gated us the entire way. He quickly passed us when we got off the bridge.
When Ralph did a shooting competition last week, one of the fellas told us, "If you want a thrill, drive your truck or ride you bicycle across the Brookport Bridge". We told him we already did and won't be doing that ever again!
Until next time...............Happy Trails to all our friends!
