Biking the Trace, Days 7-9

Day 7 cycling

Another thunderstorm last night. Still drippy this morning so we decided on a shortened ride and staying here another night instead of packing up wet stuff. May not have helped, the thunder is rumbling around already tonight. Dad and I dropped the rest of them off then left my car at Cypress Creek, the end of our ride today. He took me back to the Colbert Ferry, just before the bridge over the Tennessee River. I met up with them and on we went eventually crossing from Alabama into Tennessee. 

There were some pretty good uphills today which meant some awesome downhills. Today's scenery was a lot of open fields, some corn fields, and lots of woods (that were really wet). We finished in good time and had lunch at Cypress Creek then we drove over to Shiloh National Battlefield. We watched the movie in the Visitor Center and listened to a talk by a park ranger about Civil War era medicine. Both were interesting. The ranger talk gave a different perspective on surgical and battlefield medicine from that time period than we'd previously heard. After that, it was off to a catfish dinner and back to the campground.

Day 8 cycling

Thankfully the thunder gave us warning.  There were storms last night then they cleared out. We got up (early as usual) and started packing up a few things while Dad started on breakfast. While I finished my piece of French toast I heard the first clap of distant thunder. Breakfast was abandoned and we rushed to get the tent down and packed up while it was mostly dry. Got that done while breakfast was rained on; we had more trouble getting the rest of our stuff packed up dry. We didn't have much time before the rain rolled in yet again.

I took another day to let the heat rash heal (it was worse the second time around) and what a good choice it was! I was hoping to find a Sprint store to get a new phone, but no luck. There must not be one within 200 miles of here. Instead I drove down to Florence to find some wi-fi. Good day off because it poured again. Another 60ish mile day for the riders. Lots of up and downhill again, welcome to Tennessee!

I picked up Sarah when she was done riding and we went to the Meriwether Lewis area. Besides there being a campground there, there's also the grave of Meriwether Lewis and the remains of the stand where he died on his way to Washington. Back when the Trace was active, a stand was a rest stop with a place to eat and sleep. I walked around on some of the trails nearby while we were waiting for the rest of the gang to get to that area.

a compass rose showing the places important in Meriwether Lewis' life

the memorial at Meriwether Lewis' gravesite

The finish line for the day was at a really cool waterfalls, actually there were two or three there. We hiked around to see them. There was one part that looked like it was a path down, but I wasn't sure. I went over to ones further over and as I was coming back saw a man in flip-flops coming up the path I wasn't sure about. I asked him if it was worth it to go down and he said it was; he also said that it wasn't as slippery as it looked. He was right on both counts, totally  worth it and if you stayed on the rocks and off the mud it wasn't slippery at all.

 

We ended up in a motel for the night. After riding in the rain again, showers were a necessity. Also, sleeping in the tent during yet another thunderstorm was not appealing (of course there was no rain last night).

Day 9 cycling

Last day on the trail! We did it! Whitney and Nan rode the whole thing, the rest of us some shorter amount. It was a 50 mile day, lots of up and down through rolling fields and forest. We saw lots of turkeys today and a few deer. Sarah and I took a break in the middle to move the car (and missed the downpour). We rode 27 miles this morning then met the gang for the last 12 miles.

Whitney and GE reading one of the roadside signs

the road stretching out ahead of us

Sarah chilling while we wait out the storm and for the rest of the riders

the family at the finish line!!

At the end of the ride, we stopped at the Loveless Cafe. Then it was off to the last campground of the trip. We're at the Edgar Evins (TN) State Park. This is the craziest campground we've ever been to! All the campsites are on cantilevered decks; the campground is on the side of a mountain. There's plenty of space on the deck for a picnic table, our tent, and the car. You could fit a small camper or pop-up on these.

our "deck campsite"

Heading home tomorrow!

June 12

No rain last night but it looked like it was coming again. It was drippy from rain earlier in the day though. It was another muggy, humid night, not the best for sleeping in a tent. We woke up early and started packing up. The tent ended up in the trash. After years of good service, the leaks made it not worth keeping any longer.

It was pretty driving out of Tennessee this morning, there was fog settling down in the valleys. It reminded me of the hollows in West Virginia. We had some off and on rain showers on the drive. This has been one of the wettest vacations we've ever taken.