Leaping out of Metropolis in a Single Bound

Our stay at Harrah's was very nice and the accommodations was probably the best we had. Not being a particularly busy night we were stuck eating at their version of a diner. Priceline did a good job.

I am sucker for these historical signs and when I have to pass them I get this empty feeling, so I grabbed this one for no particular reason other than it was there. The sign does mention Father Marquette. He has a whole state park centered around him in Michigan as well. Guy must have been a LD rider.

Glad this guy was out in the field. MeAsWe is quite sensitive to these guys and can spot and smell them a mile away.

This is US 45 heading from Illinois to Kentucky. It was one long grated bridge.

We grabbed a ton of BBQ places today, something like 12 of em. This was the first one. The rest can be seen HERE.

We hit the road for The Land Between the Lakes. Highway 453 runs down the center of this area and is a really nice ride. We rode to the entrance of the Bison range, however motorcycles are not permitted. This was true out west as well. Bison can be mean son of bitches.

I didn't realize that Kentucky and the area once was home to Elk and Bison in big numbers. I figured this was a Dakota, Wyoming, Montana thing.

Crossed into Tennessee while still in the Land Between the Lakes

Not too far away is Fort Donelson National Battlefield. This shored up Tennessee for our National Park Tour. We spun around the park abit. This is where Ulysses S Grant established himself and earned the rank of major general.

At one of our stops MeAsWe spotted this guy

Grabbed another BBQ place, but this one will also satisfy the It's a Small World sidedish

Just over the border this cow got loose and was roaming the streets of Gutherie, KY

This sat right outside a BBQ joint and was an easy pick

After dilly dallying around we headed for Mammouth Cave. It was my guess we were not going to make the VC before closing. This will be the second time we have been to Mammouth Cave too late to tour the caves.

The roads leading out of Mammouth Cave heading east are beautiful.

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As we came out from under the canopy, we found ourselves in Amish farmland.

We stopped purposely to grab a scenic shot of a barn and the FJR. The horse and buggy just happened along and I snapped off the shot. Just a little up the road I slowed for another scenic shot. We were riding the right side of the road, right at a bend, planning to stop. Bounding around the corner, crossing the line well into the other lane, comes the red Ford Fiesta. All of this went into slow motion mode. I saw the kids face when he spotted us and immediately he hit the breaks. His front left tire began to fold under the car and I am sure the right wheel was off the ground between the force of the breaking and the force of just being into the curve. I would have swore he was going to flip the car, however I figured he would have rolled up into the bank and then flipped, which would have put us out of harms way. MeAsWe didn't have quite the same calculation as me and grabbed my arms about mid upper arm. Something was coming across the intercom, however I was not concentrating on what was being said. With her grabbing and pulling my arms into my body, essentially eliminated my ability to steer the bike any longer. It was over in probably 10 15 seconds. MeAsWe was noticeably shaken, I am sure the guy in the Fiesta has some stuff in his pants and me was happy to gain control back over the bike.

Not to neglect the USA Tour we stopped in Sonora, KY

Sun starting to set we headed into Danville, KY.

I have been saying we have been very successful with Priceline.com. To keep the world in balance there has to be some failures as well. The Super 8 Danville was the failure. The night before, I just couldn't make a hit on a hotel with a reduced priced. In frustration I just booked the Super 8 at the Priceline price. We have stayed at Super 8's many times and you get what you pay for. This one kinda of stands out. MeAsWe was laughing hysterically in the bathroom so I had to see what was up. She pointed to the shower head. There was a face cloth tightly wrapped around the shower head. I figured that didn't belong there so I untied and unwrapped it. Well, I was so wrong. The face cloth was the shower diffuser and was the owners fix to his/her problem. Give me a break a shower head at Walmart is what $8. Well this rendered the shower totally useless unless you wanted a hole blasted through you. Yes they had outstanding water pressure. Then there was the fix to the door and doorknob. And that's the rest of the story.