5 Sept. 2012  Charlotte NC to Harlan KY

the weather reports all said rain between Charlotte and Harlan.  Said goodbye to David at 0830 and got on the road.  Everything was going fine and got around Charlotte no problem and onto 29 west.  Then my navigator somehow got me on I-85 and pretty soon I started seeing signs for Spartanburg and I knew my daughter Sam would be pissed if I showed up a month early so I stopped and did a restart on the GPS and Alice got me going again in the right direction.  As I went through TN and into KY we were in so real mountainous territory.  When I entered TN, I was actually in the clouds and had a few rain drops but nothing serious.  Alice doesn't do real well through forests with high cliffs on both sides and she took me on a ride.  At one point she got me on a one lane dirt road for 20 miles.  I saw places that I don't think God has seen yet.  It was so bad, I almost followed some cows into a barn before I realized where I was.  I finally got back to hard surface roads and made it to Harlan.  It was a great ride and the scenery was beautiful.  I traveled through parts of the Pisgah National Forest and up and down steep hills and switchbacks.

6 Sept 2012  Harlan to Bowling Green KY

I checked the weather first thing and was expecting to get rained on.  For the first couple hours in the mountains it was looking pretty bad but it never did rain and by 1100 the sun was out and it was a pretty day.  As I traveled south I went through the Daniel Boone National Forest.  It was beautiful but I kept seeing signs for deer crossings so I was being very cautious.  When out of the woods walked a black bear with two cubs.  I stopped and let her proceed on her way with out any interference from me.  Naturally the camera was in the trailer so I missed that opportunity.  The remainder of the trip was uneventful but long.

7 Sept 2012  Bowling Green to Poplar Bluffs MO

Seems like everything went wrong this morning.  Either I didn't set it correctly or it didn't work but the alarm didn't go off at 0600 like planned.  I woke up at 0740 and had to hustle packing up and getting breakfast before leaving.  It was a perfect morning weatherwise.  Temp was 77 and humidity was 55% but it was a long trip today so I had to do some hustling.  What a difference between eastern and western KY.  East is mountainous and west is rolling hills and farm land.  It was beautiful country and some really big farms.  Passed a few Amish communities.  I was not aware that they raised tobacco in KY but saw a lot of it.  There were times when I didn't see a car for 15 to 20 minutes and it was just so peaceful riding down these two lane highways.  Anyone who doesn't believe in God needs to spend a day riding these highways.  And I'd like to get that dirtbag Obama out here for a ride to let him see that man was responsible for building these great farms and successful businesses and not the government.  I crossed the Mississippi river at Cairo Il and it took me back to Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.  I didn't see any paddle wheelers but I did see an awful lot of barges waiting to be moved.
When I got into Sikeston MO I was told that I had to stop by Lamberts Cafe for a meal so I did.  It's very large and from the outside makes you think of a Cracker Barrel.  But inside it's entirely different.  You sit at your table and order a drink, no booze.  You order and while you are waiting you will see a couple of guys hollering..."Hot rolls" and if you raise your hand he will toss you one, sometimes from 20 feet and with great accuracy.  Other gals are walking around offering spoonfuls of fried Okra, or fried potato's or apple butter and molasses for the hot roll.  The food and the atmosphere was great.
I got back on the road after that meal and it started looking like rain clouds were building and I still had 70 miles to go to Poplar Bluffs so I put the pedal to the metal and I made it to the Holiday Inn before the rain hit.  It was  another good day on the road and a cold beer sure tasted good at the end of the ride.  I did take a couple of pictures and was going to download them tonight but alas, I left the connector from the camera to the computer in the trailer so I'll have to get them tomorrow.  At least I am now caught up.