Jul
17
We awoke this morning to the sound of rain on the tent and neither of us wanted to get up. Luckily it died down about half an hour later and we packed up and headed out into the Kentucky hills.
The clouds cleared and the sun came out, but we were still having a rough day. We were hitting tons of steep hills and we somehow missed a turn at some point and climbed a huge hill, realized we had made a mistake and rode back down, only to find that the road were were supposed to take was just as long and even steeper. The roads were in pretty rough condition and to top it all off we got a phone call from a woman accusing us of stealing a campsite last night… we never even went to a campsite! So weird.
Then it started pouring and thundering. But the good news at that point was that the day couldn’t get much worse. In fact, it quickly got much better. We stopped at a little corner grocery in a town of 75 and Alan grabbed this great portrait of one of the owners.
As the rain started letting up we rode by a house with a couple outside on their porch. The man shouted something to us and we pulled over to chat. We asked them for an interview and they agreed and invited us inside. They insisted on drying our clothes (and gave us clothes to wear in the meantime) and gave a great interview. By the time we left their place the rain had stopped completely and a good 15 mph wind had picked up from the WSW (a tailwind for us) and we clipped along at a nice pace in our dry clothes to the town of Maysville, KY. We planned to camp in the city park at Maysville, but as we rode into town we passed a Best Western and decided it wouldn’t hurt to stop. The manager was so friendly and excited about our project. He donated a room for the evening and so tonight we get good showers and beds! Tomorrow morning we’ll hit up the continental breakfast before crossing the Ohio river one last time and entering Ohio!
Jul
16
This morning we woke up super early and headed down the mountain into Madison, IN. Madison is a really cute town with some little shops and restaurants. We grabbed some quick breakfast and searched for a good interview. We found two- at the Senior Center downtown Madison. We interviewed two women who volunteer there and they were really nice. They offered us some coffee to help us over the hills we’d be encountering as we headed over the Ohio and back into Kentucky. We declined, but were fascinated to hear one of their stories about growing up in a town we were headed into. She told us growing up her family made Moonshine, had no electricity or running water and that she was named after her father’s ex-girlfriend. Needless to say, we were excited to check out this part of Kentucky.
Turned out it looked quite a bit like our previous route through Kentucky. Lots of beautiful farms and rolling hills with steep and curvy little back roads. We met two little girls who tried to get us to take one of their two free kittens but we thought better of it and kept pedaling.
Eventually we found out way to Dry Ridge, Kentucky and the local fire department let us set up behind their building. 
We’ve got a great view over the town park from our little hill and we’re sure to sleep well tonight from all the ones we had to climb to get here! Tomorrow? We’re gonna make a try to Ohio. It’ll be a huge day of riding what look to be some very steep hills, but we think it’s worth a shot.
Jul
14
Last night we ended up not having any internet, but here’s a brief rundown of the day’s events:
We woke up in Hawesville, grumpy and tired from the day before. We headed into the town and fueled up on coffee and eggs at the local diner before hitting the road. All day we passed these beautiful fields of tobacco growing on the rolling hills of this area.
We rode all day and finally hit Brandenburg. It was a town of 2000, and had several huge churches but none of them were interested in letting us camp there. We finally found the police station and they told us we could throw our tent up “in the back of the town park. But make sure you go way back”. Okaaay… We headed down to the park and noticed the spectacular sunset over the Ohio.
We were grabbing a few photos when I met another woman who was also photographing the sunset. She turned out to be from Vermont and was in Kentucky visiting a friend who also is from Vermont. I grew up in Vermont so we got to chatting about it and to make a long story short, her friend invited us up to his house for the evening. We gratefully accepted- thrilled at the prospect of having running water, a bathroom and a bed for the night!
We rode up the few miles to his house and where were were made to feel right at home! Allen and Shirley cooked us some dinner while we showered and by the time we all got done chatting and eating it was nearly midnight! We collapsed into bed and fell asleep right away in the cool of the house.
Jul
13
Yesterday was quite an adventure. It would take forever to narrate through it, so I’ll just give you an outline of the day:
9am- After breakfast we leave Henderson and get lost four times trying to get out of city limits (poorly signed roads).
2:00- Finally roll into Owensboro after taking two more wrong turns on the way. Eat pizza for lunch. Realize there is nowhere to stay in Owensboro and decide to push another 25 miles to Lewisport.
3:00- As we leave Owensboro, we realize a big storm is coming. The sky is getting darker and darker…
3:45- Caught in a downpour. No one is at the church or firehouse in Yelvington so we stand under the firehouse overhang and wait for it to pass.
4:00- Still thundering and lightning. A little boy runs over to us and tells us his friend’s mom said we could come over. We do.
5:00- We leave Tammy’s house. She has given us drinks and towels and we chatted and watched “Dirty Jobs” with her two boys until the thunder and lightning let up.
5:30- The thunder starts up again and Alan’s tire blows. We find a house off the road and knock on the door. Ronnie Ray answers and agrees to let us use his overhand to change the tire. Thunder continues but the lightning has stopped so we keep riding.
6:00- We roll into Lewisport. We talk to a local police officer and he suggests we take route 60 six miles to Hawesville where there is a county park we can camp in. We take his advice and ride it.
8:30- We finally find the park. We’ve been riding for an hour and a half on the highway shoulder in the dark. The shoulder is gravel/pavement/dirt/grass and slick from the rain. I fall. Alan falls. Our good spirits have worn thin and we’re very ready to get off the road. We turn onto the park road.
9:30- After riding up some major hills in the dark we find the camping area. We start unpacking the bags and cooking dinner. It starts pouring again. We frantically put up the tent in the rain and crawl in. We are tired and wet and very, very glad that the day is over.
10:00- Sleep.
Midnight- Some animal wakes us up by puking outside our tent for about 15 minutes.
7:00am- We wake up and decide to get some coffee before doing it all over again today!
Jul
10
This morning we woke up a little tight from yesterday’s ride, but otherwise feeling pretty good as we crossed the Ohio River on the ferry.
We had been warned about two main things going into Kentucky: steep hills and loose dogs. Loose dogs are a big issue when you tour through certain parts of the USA. Something about bicycles tends to make them want to chase, and sometimes the dogs can be very aggressive. Even when they aren’t aggressive though, it’s dangerous for both the cyclists and the dogs when they run out after you. They often nip at your feet which can be pretty scary and make you loose your balance, swerve or run them over! Anyway, we carry a handy tool called the Dazer which was given to us by some really great folks ways back in St. Augustine, Florida and it works pretty well! It emits a very high frequency noise that they seem to dislike and 9 times out of 10 it stops them cold.
We saw a few loose dogs today, but they were all pretty laid back. Here’s a little guy who caught up with us when I dropped my chain. Turned out all he really wanted as a good scratch between the ears. 
Anyway, we made it 65 miles to Henderson, KY and are camping out, hoping the rain will hold off… tomorrow, more Kentucky and more hills!