A pre-sunrise start was realized today, which is now 6:48am. Temperatures were moderate with lots of clouds (71 degrees to start, then up to 88 degrees by noon). There was 4,700 feet of climbing today, which is substantial. But, there is typically a reward for climbs. The prize is a refreshing downhill run. A few of the downhills were especially fun to include some curves reaching 30+ mph speeds without pedaling. As I topped a short climb, there were three Westbounders waiting on me. Felix, Matthias, and Jonas are from Frankfurt, Germany. They had started in New York, travelled to Virginia and were heading to San Francisco via the TransAm route to Pueblo, CO. They were inquisitive about the road ahead and we discussed the dog issues. As they had just “offered some therapy” to a couple “Knights of Terror” a short distance back, they probably will not be interested in chasing me. Jonas is getting married next year (Congratulations!). They were great guys and I wish we could have had more time to visit, but we all had agendas to keep, so we parted company.
Have I mentioned the observation about the churches in the area? Well, it is not exaggeration to say Kentucky has at least one, or more churches ever mile (no joke). As for the denomination, I would estimate 98% of the churches are Baptist. I have no idea of the weekly attendance, but there are lots of churches! There seem to be some variation in Baptist denominations (i.e. Freewill, Regular, Old Regular, Missionary, Independent).
Constructed and operated by the US Army Corp of Engineers, Buckhorn Lake Campground was the stop for the night. When I arrived, the troops had not set up yet. They had passed me 20 miles ago, so I was wondering what went wrong. Well, they had got turned around and went a number of miles beyond the park and had to double back. It worked out fine, as I could do the setting up for a change. It was a very nice camp with paved roads and great restroom facilities. Not very busy, as the campground host told us the kids started back to school on August 7th. Due to the winding and hilly road combined with lots of snow in the winter, the schools start early anticipating a lot of days off.
It rained most of the afternoon, which further cooled off the air. By the time we turned in for the night a fog was setting in and the temperature was in the 60’s. It looks like a fog delay is in store for tomorrow morning.
Some Mountain Views
Felix, Jonas, and Matthias are good guys! All the best to them!
Our campsite was next to a small river.
Hey Tim!
ReplyDeleteSo cool, we just found the blog of our meeting! So great! Thanks for the good wishes! We are right now entering the state of kansas... We hope that you and your wife are doing great and we are sure that in a few days you can celebrate a great achievement! :-)
Greetings and best wishes,
Matthias, Felix and Jonas
P.s.: maybe you could send me that picture of us three? Jonaspogo(at)aol.com ! Thanks in advance!