Marion, KY to Cave-in-Rock, IL

After our record mileage day on Friday, we gave ourselves a break and slept in.  After everyone was awake we took a group photo in the morning.

Before we got on our way, Pastor Wayne treated us all to breakfast at another Church a few blocks away that was having a fundraiser for Cancer.

We got on the road around 11:00am, which was the latest we’ve ever gotten started.  It was already hot and we were still a little fatigued from the previous day.  We joked around about only getting across the Ohio river and quitting for the day.  Our travels today took us through scenic Amish country.

We then crossed the Ohio River on the Ferry and entered the third state of the trip: Illinois!

Once on the Illinois side we stopped to check out a vender in the parking lot.  Phil bought a bandanna to help with sweat and we both bought a cold beverage.  We then headed a block up the street to a cafe to cool off.  Linda got some ice cream and ate her sandwich.

Alex caught up with us and met us at the cafe.  He let us know a couple of touring cyclists were waiting for the next ferry on the Kentucky side.  When they came across we recognized them as the girls we had met at Little Dave’s just a few days before.  They were staying the night here at Cave-In-Rock.  They told us we’d be welcome to camp with them if we chose to stay in town that night.

Alex was going to go on, so we wished each other well and we decided to camp at Cave in Rock due to the heat.

We attracted a lot of attention with our bikes as we always seem to do.  We met some folks outside the Cafe.

We met up with the girls up at the campground.  They had already set up their tent and we were able to share a site with them.  It was only $10 per site for bicyclists, so we only paid $5 to camp.

We struck up conversation with the Campground hosts, Lyndal and Daisy.  They ended up making dinner for us!  It was a treat.  Thank you Lyndal and Daisy!!!

As we were getting ready to go to sleep, another touring cyclists showed up and he stayed at the site as well.  Philipp is from Germany. We chatted for a bit and then went to bed.

Utica, KY to Marion, KY

Our morning started with listening to some worship music that Alex was playing on his phone.  We were getting ready to leave when Alex asked if he could pray for us and we were happy to accept.  We then left with the assumtion that Alex would soon catch up to us on the road.

We got an early start to try and beat the heat.  We were going to try and attempt not only our longest day so far, 71 miles, but also our longest ride by a significant amount.

Early into our ride we met a local road cyclist whom was riding toward us.  We chatted for a bit and then he wished us the best on our trip.  (Sorry we do not remember your name – comment with it if you read this post)

We made our first stop at Smith’s Super Saver market in Beech Grove, KY.  The wonderful ladies there made us awesome sandwiches that we took to go.  They got a kick out of Linda’s Jersey because of the “Please Don’t Hit Me” statement on the back.  One of the ladies wanted one as she had recently been injured by a vehicle pulling up to the gas pump.  She has a great attitude toward the driver whom hit her and she even feels bad for him because now everyone screams and runs when he comes around!

First store on the left when you come into town, just before the hardware store: 305 Beech Grove Street, Calhoun, KY 42327

We continued on and then stopped for a break in Sebree, KY at the First Baptist Church and Cross Country Cyclist Hostel.

The day was very hot and humid like so many other days have been.  By the time we got to Dixon, KY we were looking for somewhere to cool off.  We saw the town library and community center and went inside.  We were hoping to find a place with a shower or a hose to cool off.  The library/community center did not have either so we biked another block to the fire station which was not open.  In the mean time, we sat on a bench in front of the fire station and ate our lunch.

Phil saw a hair salon across the street and had an idea!  Linda was due for a haircut anyway.  Linda would get to cool off when the woman washed her hair with COOL water and Phil would also use the sink to spray his head with COOL water!!!

The hair dresser and owner, Pam, told us she has a lot of touring cyclists who come in and she lets them just relax in the air conditioning.  In addition, she had a wall that we could sign as well!

After Linda got her hair cut and we both cooled off, we started off again.  As we entered Clay, KY, we saw a cyclist in a parking lot taking a break.  The cyclist, John Deuel, also had his wife with him whom was driving a support vehicle.

John, a cycling enthusiast and community leader, created Pedaling For A Cleaner America, a cross-country Bicycle Touring campaign to bring together people who love to ride with their communities to prevent litter and keep the place we cycle clean and beautiful. John will cycle from San Diego to Virginia Beach to raise awareness among cyclists and their communities about litter prevention on our country’s roadways.

Phil had actually heard of his trip  from a man whom he met at the National Bike Summit in D.C.

Linda saw an ice cream shop across the street and decided to get a small cup.  The store was called “Main Street Shoppes” and also had cute little gifts.  Clay was our last town until we hit Marion.

Later in the afternoon the sky became dark and a storm was brewing.  we thought it might rain soon.  We saw a Church with a pavillion and headed for it.  Soon after we took cover under the pavillion, the clouds unloaded and it rained very hard.  There was also thunder and lightning but we were safe.

There was a water faucet and electricity at the pavillion.  We charged our phones and Phil took a “shower” at the faucet.

Alex texted us while we were there to let us know he had made it to Clay before the downpour.

After the rain cleared up, we continued on to Marion.  Four Miles outside of Marion, Alex caught up with us and we battled the last few hills together.  We found the Church easily and Alex had called the pastor ahead so the door was left open for us.  It took us sometime to find the shower, but it was of course the last place we looked.  It had been built between the men and woman’s bathroom in the utility closet.

Ironically, Linda had received a recommendation from a customer at the salon in Dixon to eat at the Main Street Italian Grill in Marion.  So after we all got a shower, we walked a few blocks to the restaurant.

The food was absolutely amazing and the staff was awesome!!!

Falls Of Rough, KY to Utica, KY

We packed up easily in the morning and went back to Little Dave’s for breakfast.  We then drove to the Whitesville Post Office to pick up Phil’s shoes.  We got there about a half hour before the post office opened.  We found a grocery store a block away so we stocked up on some groceries.  Fresh fruit is sometimes hard to come by so Linda ended up eating a whole pint of blueberries within that half hour.

After picking up the shoes, we drove the rest of the way to Owensboro to the rental car facility.  There we loaded the bikes and got changed back into our riding gear.  The bike shop was only about a mile and a half away.  We arrived at Breck’s Bicycle shop and met Adam, one of their awesome bike techs.  Adam fixed Phil’s shoes which was tricky and tuned up his bicycle all for a great price.

1728 Sweeney St.  Owensboro, KY 42303

As a bonus, right next door to Breck’s is Gene’s Health Food store.  They had plenty of gluten free options for Linda and they also had a small cafe.  Phil and Linda enjoyed the amazing soup they had as well as a delicious smoothie!

We then biked about ten miles south to Utica, KY.  There was a nice bike trail going out of town we met up with and then a wide shoulder on the road after that.  However, as we headed farther out of town the shoulder disappeared.  We found the road to be too busy and dangerous to stay on so we detoured onto a small country road.  This new route added a few more miles to our trip but added peace of mind.  We rode past many crop fields and could count on one hand the number of cars that passed us.

We arrived at the Utica Fire Station where we stayed for the night.  We stocked up on groceries at the Food Mart and Dollar General near the fire station.

The fire station was very nice and had a large community room with a  full kitchen, a shower, and even washer and dryer to do our laundry!

After a few hours of relaxing we were convinced we would be by ourselves.  However, just as the sun started to go down we saw two cyclists and a motorcycle pull into the fire station.  One cyclist had touring bags but the other did not.  The cyclist without any gear had seen the touring cyclist and had helped him find his way to the Fire Station.  The motorcyclist was a volunteer fire fighter and wanted to make sure we all got in and settled okay.

We introduced ourselves to our new friend Alex who had started at Breaks Interstate Park and was on his way to San Francisco.  We were the first touring cyclists that Alex met since he started his journey!

We all hung out for a bit and then went to bed.

Springfield, KY to Falls of Rough, KY

We had an interesting night camping in the park.  Earlier that day a family had a picnic at the pavillion and all night long a few raccoons were helping themselves to the leftovers.  We woke up early and wished each other a Happy Anniversary before getting on the road again.

We arrived in Bardstown, KY and found the closest breakfast place to eat.  Some of the staff were talking about this “Falls of Rough” river they had been tubing on over the weekend.  Phil really wanted to go swimming.  We were still a couple of days away and we were feeling pretty tired from the heat.

We started brainstorming some ideas of what to do for our anniversary.  We decided being hot, sweaty and miserable would be the wrong way to go.  Linda looked up rental car facilities and found an Enterprise Rent-A-Car facility right in Bardstown.  We quickly developed a plan to rent a vehicle in Bardstown and drop it off the next day in Owensboro, KY.  This idea had a few benefits.  Phil had some issues with his shoes and pedals and his new shoes were waiting for us at a post office in Whitesville in between Bardstown and Owensboro.  Plus, Owensboro had a bike shop where we could get Phil’s pedals removed and the new pedals installed and get tune-ups as well.

We arrived at Enterprise and they hooked us up with a cargo van and for anniversary special pricing!  The cargo van was huge and fit the bikes and all of our gear easy!

After we got on our way, our first stop was Lincoln’s Birthplace.  We found out that the birthplace is legit, but the actual log cabin structure could not have been the birthplace of Lincoln because they did testing on the logs and they were to young to be Lincoln’s log cabin.

The cave and spring where the Lincoln family got their water.  It was very cool down there.

By the time we arrived at the town of Falls Of Rough were hungry for lunch.  About a hundred yards off route was Little Dave’s restaurant.  We met two young women there who were doing a two week bicycle tour.  While we were there we asked the staff about the different campgrounds and lodging options in the area.  They recommended Axtel Campground.  Since we had the rental van we decided to drive around the lake after lunch and check out all the campgrounds.  We decided on Axtel Campground.

The private campground had a nice beach area and Linda was very happy to go for a little swim.

After cooling off at the beach and getting showers we headed back to Little Dave’s for dinner and to work on our blog since they had WiFi.  We also washed our laundry across the street at the laundromat.  We stayed until the restaurant closed and then headed back to the campground.

We set up our bed in the van instead of getting out our tent!  It was nice to have the Cargo Van.  We had a wonderful anniversary.

Burgin, KY to Springfield, KY

We stopped for breakfast after a brief ride from the campground.

This shop is across the street from the restaurant.

Later we saw a Coca Cola fridge on a porch and thought it was a store but there was no sign.  It turns out that it is more of a locals kinda store.

We arrived at Lincoln Homestead State park and found ourselves with little real food.  We asked a man mowing the lawn if there was a convience store near by or any place with food.  He recommended checking at the Lincoln Homestead Golf Course Pro Shop just up the road.  They had prepared sandwiches, candy bars and ice-cream!  They had bathrooms and cold showers as well.  Linda took a cold shower while Phil opted for a wash cloth shower.  We then rested in their employee break room waiting for the heat of the day to pass.  There was a storm brewing so after a few hours we decided to bike back down to the park and tent under the pavilion.

Berea, KY to Burgin, KY

We ended our day at the Chimney Rock RV Park & Campground on beautiful Herrington Lake

McKee, KY to Berea, KY

Big Hill KY Welcome Center:  We happened to show up during the Grand Opening of the Welcome Center.  They had artists displaying and selling their crafts as well.  A very nice woman and one of the artisans, Devonna Hisel, gave Linda one of her handmade sewing needle cushions as a gift.

As we approached Berea, we were walking our bikes on the sidewalk up the hill into town.  We struck up a conversation with a gentleman having a yard sale.  We told him that we were biking across America and gave him one of our cards.  He asked if we were looking for sponsors.  We said we were doing the ride for fun and did not need sponsors.  The very nice man gave us a donation anyway and we were blown away.  His thoughtfulness and generosity was very appreciated!

Before heading to the campground where we were staying the night, we stopped at the shops next to the Boone Tavern Hotel in town.  Linda got some fudge and then we went to the Berea Coffee and Tea shop and got some lunch.  They even had gluten-free bread so Linda could get a sandwich too!

When we arrived at the campground, we noticed some kind of swinging contraption thing set up in the field.  We learned that a family circus called the Kent Family Magic Circus stays there in between gigs.  We met most of the family and got to see the young girls practicing on the silk.  Check them out at http://www.kentfamilymagiccircus.com

We had a visitor at our campsite, A.K.A the pavillion.

On Sunday our very good friend Linder came to see us at the campground!  We hungout for a bit and had lunch.  It was so nice to see you Linder!!!!

Buckhorn, KY to McKee, KY

After we left the campground we ate breakfast at the same place we stopped for lunch the previous day.

Phil getting a quick haircut in Booneville

We met a couple from San Francisco traveling eastbound.

“It-z Bit-z Biker Break” before climbing a big hill

We stopped for dinner at the Hometown Market before checking into a motel in McKee.  They have really good food here!

A few miles back we passed a hand made sign that was nailed to a tree next to a mailbox.  The sign stated how far it was to Berea and San Francisco.  We neglected to stop and take a picture of the sign.

Ironically, we met this man at the restaurant.  He is the brother of the man whose house we passed with the sign at the mailbox.  Small town.

Hazard, KY to Buckhorn, KY

We left Hazard with the goal of making it to Booneville, KY.

Stop to rest and get ice-cream cones!

Log Cathedral in Buckhorn Kentucky

Lunch break in Buckhorn KY

After lunch we checked out the campground nearby.  It was very hot out so we decided to stay at the campground for the night.

Hindman, KY to Hazard, KY

Our host David had prepared a wonderful breakfast for all twenty or so cyclists that had stayed the night!

David had got very little sleep in the last few days so we helped him clean up after breakfast which he appreciated.  We were the last to leave the Historical Society in the morning.  It was only a 20 mile ride to Hazard but the temperature was high by the time we got started.

As we came upon the outskirts of town we saw a McDonald’s and stopped to rest and cool off.  We enjoyed listening to the Christian radio station that they had on while we shared a milkshake.

Then we headed to our hotel for the night which was just a few miles away.  There was a grocery store and an Applebee’s right across the parking lot.

We took a rest day in Hazard. We needed it.