Saturday, August 27, 2022

Day 79-A Rather Lengthy, But Mostly Unremarkable Ride in Kentucky

Wow, it felt good to sleep in a bed last night! So good, that we are sleeping in beds again tonight! Actually, it has more to do with no camping being available. 

We left Mumfordville at 6:30. We had 68 miles to do, and we lost an hour again. 

Foggy sunrise. 

We had to complete the Mammoth Cave Loop Alternate first. I was really glad there was a USBR 76 sign at the turn because I might have missed it (kind of snuck up on me). It was a rather nondescript road. A lot of these Kentucky roads have been very rural roads, sometimes seeming to be badly more than one lane wide. Of course, they are also pretty quiet too. 

If you zoom in, you can see Doug in the distance (I had to pee).

There were numerous farms, and this cool twin barn place. 

Still a little foggy. 

Todays ride seemed to be mostly through a couple of valleys. There were more open areas (meaning full sun) than we’ve had lately. There were still hills, but nothing too steep. 

At about 26 miles, I saw this coming. 

Can you see it? Yes, it’s a gas station and the New Hope Country Market (I hope you weren’t hoping for something more exciting)! Everyday, we look at the map to see how many convenience store opportunities we have for the day. For me, in the heat and humidity, it helps me decide if I should carry extra water. We are also not carrying much food (except breakfast which we mostly still cook our own-except if we are in a hotel that has breakfast). So, we get food at these stores. The New Hope (that’s the nearby town) Country Market had a variety of grill food and sandwiches freshly cooked or made. Most of the convenience stores have tables to sit at, so we get a break too. 

After New Hope, we went through the town of Loretto. As we were approaching the town, i could see these massive buildings. 





I had no idea what they were. There was no razor wire fence, so probably not a prison. As we got toward the end of them, we think we discovered what they were. There was a tank that had a picture of a whiskey bottle that said “Makers Mark Whiskey”. So, we think it was a big distillery. After all, we are in whiskey country (Jim Beam is not far from here). 

Later we went by this Catholic Church. There must have been a wedding (or funeral, I suppose), because there were lots of cars, and more cars turning in. 

Looks like a castle. 

We finally pulled into Springfield. We are staying at the Springfield Inn. It’s on the level of a Super 8. I think the poor girl running the front desk was all by herself. She was also cleaning rooms. In our room, the beds were somewhat hastily made, but the room appeared to have been cleaned…we think. One good thing is there is laundry here, so we were able to wash our sweaty clothes. 

We got dinner at the grocery store deli counter. As we were walking back, we caught the sunset. 


Tomorrow we should be back in our tents…but for tonight, I’m going to enjoy this bed!






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