Day 9
The gas station in the second picture was 2 miles from our campsite, and had WIFI, so I was able to send the journal entries I'd typed offline in our camp. Nice little store. The river in the two pictures farther down is the Tennessee River, which we crossed about halfway through Alabama.
It was 44 degrees this morning but warmed up quickly when the sun came up. I cooked breakfast on my little stove this morning, using some of the shredded potatoes and eggs I dehydrated myself back home before I left. They came out wonderful. The potatoes didn't brown much (I fried them in Olive oil) but were perfect. The eggs has a slightly sponge-cake texture but were absolutely delicious! Kind of like an omelet. I believe I had added a little too much egg to the water when I mixed it. I poured the reconstituted eggs into the frying pan and flipped them like a pancake when it was ready. It was a great breakfast! We packed up camp and headed north on up the Trace, stopping at a gas station so my riding companion could get a cup of coffee to go with that granola bar! In about 5 miles or so we crossed into Alabama and followed Bear Creek for a while. It's a lovely stream, amazingly clear and fast-moving for this part of the country, and cut a winding path between ridges. Some of the hills we went over were cut between stone outcroppings. Mostly we were either on ridge tops or along bottoms, but there were a few lengthy climbs. There wasn't much wind today, and it was up around 80 again, not a cloud in the sky. We have been so blessed with beautiful weather, though the cold mornings recently leave something to be desired! Around 1:00 we got to the Tennessee River and planned to camp at a free camping area on it's bank. We decided to pedal 5 miles off the Trace to the town of Cherokee and see what was there. It was an interesting drive in that we passed actual houses and farms and fields, instead of just trees and grass. But along with that came dogs! Two chased us from one house and one chased us from another house a mile down the road! We outran them but they sure can fast! The town of Cherokee is a really nice little town with lots of trees and neat lots and well-kept littlehouses. It winds along the road for a couple miles until you come to a small downtown. Not much there, but they did have a Dollar General store and a couple of gas stations. There was a sad-looking little building that said "Family Dining", and a lit-up sign said "Open", so we went in, and found ourselves back in the 1960s, or at least with the same tables and chairs they probably had then, and maybe about 8 of them, at that! The two gals running the place were so nice. I ordered today's special, which was chicken & stuffing, mashed potatoes (they call them "creamed potatoes" down here),green beans, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, all the pop I wanted to drink, and a piece of pie (I had Chocolate Meringue), all for $8.00. It was some mighty good eating! I was able to walk when we left there, and even pedal my bike, thankful I had an elastic waist on my shorts! I bought a Sunday Paper and we headed back out to the river and the Traceand set up camp. It was 3:00 by then. I leisurely read the paper and watched the cars and motorcycles come and go from the rest rooms. This is kind of a wayside/picnic area, but bicyclists can camp here, free. There were dozens and dozens of motorcycles today, up and down the Trace. Good day for it. This evening I washed up in the restroom (it had hot water!) and washed out some laundry, which I draped over my bicycle. It's wonderfully warm tonight, and I hope it stays that way! We rode 43.4 miles today, kind of a short day. We're about to enter the hills of Tennessee...Lord, help us!
The gas station in the second picture was 2 miles from our campsite, and had WIFI, so I was able to send the journal entries I'd typed offline in our camp. Nice little store. The river in the two pictures farther down is the Tennessee River, which we crossed about halfway through Alabama.
It was 44 degrees this morning but warmed up quickly when the sun came up. I cooked breakfast on my little stove this morning, using some of the shredded potatoes and eggs I dehydrated myself back home before I left. They came out wonderful. The potatoes didn't brown much (I fried them in Olive oil) but were perfect. The eggs has a slightly sponge-cake texture but were absolutely delicious! Kind of like an omelet. I believe I had added a little too much egg to the water when I mixed it. I poured the reconstituted eggs into the frying pan and flipped them like a pancake when it was ready. It was a great breakfast! We packed up camp and headed north on up the Trace, stopping at a gas station so my riding companion could get a cup of coffee to go with that granola bar! In about 5 miles or so we crossed into Alabama and followed Bear Creek for a while. It's a lovely stream, amazingly clear and fast-moving for this part of the country, and cut a winding path between ridges. Some of the hills we went over were cut between stone outcroppings. Mostly we were either on ridge tops or along bottoms, but there were a few lengthy climbs. There wasn't much wind today, and it was up around 80 again, not a cloud in the sky. We have been so blessed with beautiful weather, though the cold mornings recently leave something to be desired! Around 1:00 we got to the Tennessee River and planned to camp at a free camping area on it's bank. We decided to pedal 5 miles off the Trace to the town of Cherokee and see what was there. It was an interesting drive in that we passed actual houses and farms and fields, instead of just trees and grass. But along with that came dogs! Two chased us from one house and one chased us from another house a mile down the road! We outran them but they sure can fast! The town of Cherokee is a really nice little town with lots of trees and neat lots and well-kept littlehouses. It winds along the road for a couple miles until you come to a small downtown. Not much there, but they did have a Dollar General store and a couple of gas stations. There was a sad-looking little building that said "Family Dining", and a lit-up sign said "Open", so we went in, and found ourselves back in the 1960s, or at least with the same tables and chairs they probably had then, and maybe about 8 of them, at that! The two gals running the place were so nice. I ordered today's special, which was chicken & stuffing, mashed potatoes (they call them "creamed potatoes" down here),green beans, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, all the pop I wanted to drink, and a piece of pie (I had Chocolate Meringue), all for $8.00. It was some mighty good eating! I was able to walk when we left there, and even pedal my bike, thankful I had an elastic waist on my shorts! I bought a Sunday Paper and we headed back out to the river and the Traceand set up camp. It was 3:00 by then. I leisurely read the paper and watched the cars and motorcycles come and go from the rest rooms. This is kind of a wayside/picnic area, but bicyclists can camp here, free. There were dozens and dozens of motorcycles today, up and down the Trace. Good day for it. This evening I washed up in the restroom (it had hot water!) and washed out some laundry, which I draped over my bicycle. It's wonderfully warm tonight, and I hope it stays that way! We rode 43.4 miles today, kind of a short day. We're about to enter the hills of Tennessee...Lord, help us!
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