2013 Bardstown Motorycle trip
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August 22
Every year we try to do a long weekend trip or two later in the summer. It's nice to get away on the bikes for a few days. John & Debby have been building a new house. Donna & I have been doing some house remodeling. Everyone is ready to relax.
We had initially thought about a trip to Bardstown during the Bourbon Festival but apparently so had a lot of other people as all the hotels were booked. We decided to go in late August instead. Even then there weren't a lot of choices of places to stay in the area. We decided to stay at the Springfield Inn in Springfield, KY. It was the same place we stayed at in 2011.
 Bedford, IN. 17:30, initial mileage 68,440 - As we often do on our short trips we decided to leave on Thursday evening. Donna had everything packed so when we got home from work we loaded up the bike and headed to John & Debby's. We used our street bag. John is pulling his trailer.
 A few weeks after Mike brought his Goldwing home from Georgia he had hit a groundhog or something on the way home from work. It had cracked his chrome lower front cowling. Last weekend he hit a small deer coming home from Louisville which had cracked it more. He noticed the cowling was a little tweaked and spent a few moments straightening it. Poor bike!
 A few minutes past 17:30 we were on the road. The radar shows small patches of rain here and there but it doesn't look like we'll get into any of it. The skies are cloudy which I like. Temps are in the low 80's with a little bit of humidity so it feels good on the bikes.
 We hadn't even gotten out of Lawrence County when we got behind a land yacht poking down the road. I'm not sure if he was lost or what, but a couple times he signaled a turn just to change his mind. Eventually he pulled over much to the joy of us and the dozen cars behind us.
 The farther south we went the nastier the skies looked. I was afraid we might get into some rain.
 Sellersburg, IN. 18:46, mileage 68,513 - The parking lot was wet when pulled into our traditional first stop but the rain seems to be staying ahead of us. I hope it stays that way.
 We got a few sprinkles enroute to our next destination but that was all the rain we experienced the whole trip.
 The last time we went to Springfield we had to search for a place to eat when we got there due to it being late. This time we decided to eat earlier and stopped at Famous Dave's in Clarksville. They had good sweet tea. When we came out we noticed some rain on the bikes. Giving into peer pressure I molested a hog.
 I don't know if it was the barbeque or the excitement of being on vacation but as we neared Louisville the black cherry Kurdziolek bike passed us and led all the way down I-65 to our KY-245 turnoff to Bardstown. Their helmets have flashing red lights in the back and Jerri's helmet looked like a beacon leading the way. Mike is fun to follow because he hauls ass.
 The ride to Bardstown was nice and relaxing as the sun went down behind us. The GPS took us on KY-245 around Bardstown. I'd never been that way before. Leaving Bardstown we got behind a white Sprinter van with North Carolina plates that was poking down the road. We joked it might be Mike and Frank from 'American Pickers'. When he finally turned off near Springfield we noticed it said "Express service" on the door. I don't think so! The GPS led us to the Springfield Inn. It was nice to get off the bikes and be at our destination after only 137 miles of riding. We all got rooms on the ground floor. Anytime you don't have to use an elevator it is nice. We parked in the back of the hotel where we could see our bikes. There were a couple Goldwings from Kansas parked at the side of the building. The rest of the evening was spent lounging and talking about places to visit while we were here. We'll visit some new places and revisit some familiar ones. Tomorrow my brother and his girlfriend are going on a weekend trip to...Kentucky. I chuckle as their trips seem to coincide with our's although we don't plan them that way. They are going farther south than we are.
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