We Survived a Weekend with Two Wheels and Minimal Luggage

The forecast of the first nice Spring weekend was enough to get us on the bike and "on the road again"! I'm not sure how accurate the local weathermen claim to be but they failed on the first half of this trip. Hoping that it would warm up a little, we started out late Saturday morning with a plan to see the country side via some back roads between home and southern Kentucky.

Our route took us through Corydon and across the Ohio River into Kentucky. Corydon is a cute little town (the original state capital of Indiana) but we only made a couple of stops there, for what else but food and a quilt shop! Culvers - one thing we miss about Wisconsin, they were everywhere! The closest one to us now is in Corydon and maybe that is a good thing because the frozen custard and butterburgers are not good for the waistlines!

One more quick stop at Hollyhock Quilt Shop where I picked up some fabric for a maternity sundress for DDIL. Hope she likes it (and hope I can get it done before their upcoming vacation)! But no sewing this weekend ! We wound our way through central Kentucky, across some pretty country (attention weathermen: it would have been prettier with the sun shining !). Parts were exactly what you would imagine Kentucky should look like with horse farms, pretty white fences and big houses. I am surprised that some of these photos actually turned out. I would slip off my heavy gloves and try to snap a picture with my numb fingers. Thank goodness I had the strap around my wrist, or my little Kodak might resemble roadkill! By the time we arrived in Bowling Green, it had only warmed up a few degrees. The GPS on the Harley will easily find the local HD dealerships (smart marketing !) so we stopped there to warm up with a cup of coffee. Evidently we had just missed a big Teddy Bear Ride with about eight hundred bikes participating. Bowling Green Harley-Davidson seems like a nice operation with a nice selection of clothing and lots of motorcycles on the showroom floor. As with other locations, I got the required photo for the scrapbook!

The lady at the front desk of our motel recommended Mariah's for dinner. Located in one of the oldest buildings in downtown Bowling Green (with additions) it was pretty good. (If I was doing restaurant reviews though, I'd probably only give it 3 stars out of 5.) Sorry J, no food photos this time! Today we definitely took the scenic route home. Promises of blue skies and warm temperatures finally came true! It was a beautiful day for a ride in the country. We took a break by stopping at the Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site and stretching our legs. If you are ever in the Hodgenville, KY area this is an interesting place. Abe Lincoln was born here at the Sinking Spring Farm.
You can walk right down to the "sinking spring". It was running a good stream today, especially with all the rain that they've had over the past few months. This year is the bicentennial of President Lincoln's birth but unfortunately the ceremony the community had planned this winter was postponed (or canceled?) due to a snow and ice storm.For most of the day, we had the roads pretty much to ourselves. We saw a lot of folks working out in their yards, mowing etc. One time we did have to slow a bit as we waited to pass this farmer but right when I took the picture, this big bus came around the corner. Luckily, narrow roads don't really bother D on the Harley! Can you see the old brick farmhouse on the left side of the road? We passed some nice old homes that probably had been built back in Civil War days.

I could have had a really nice photo of the Anderson County Courthouse in Lawrenceburg. One of the hazards of photography on the move, I don't get a second chance to take the picture when un-wanted automobiles approach from the other direction! Interesting architecture though. The trees are really beginning to blossom finally. I was hoping to get a picture of some of the fields of wild daffodils but wasn't quick or close enough for that.

All total, we rode over 475 miles this weekend! We proved to ourselves that we could spend a weekend with only two wheels and minimal luggage. D is ready for a longer trip and I think it might be okay if we could be assured of weather like today. I might need the lambswool cushion and a larger luggage pack for anything over two or three days. But we are both tired tonight! We might need to work up to longer trips by adding a day at a time!

I don't know if Beamer missed us or not. He's been left on his own several times this past month so maybe he's getting used to it though he was happy to go outside, spend some time on his patio chair and watch the birds.

Thanks for joining me on this travelogue! Have a nice week.