2014 Bowling Green motorcycle trip
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August 16
I awoke this morning feeling more rested than I have been in a while. I was also something else. C-c-c-cold. We had cranked the temperature down last night and it was now 63*. I set it back to 70* so it wouldn't freeze Donna to death.
We're meeting at 8:30 for breakfast. Free breakfast. When we were here last time the breakfast area was busy and it was today, too. John & Debby had came down a little early and they were almost finished. I'm not a big breakfast person so I got a couple boiled eggs. Donna got sausage and toast with peanut butter on it. I like to tease her about her peanut butter toast. Yuck!
 We have a full day planned. The first of which is riding the Duncan Hines Scenic Byway. I enjoy scenic tours and this one, at 82 miles, is very reasonable.
 As we cleared the city on US31 the pavement turned to crap. It looks like one of these days they are going to repave the road and they have shaved most of the current asphalt. I dislike this type of pavement. The rest of the roads were in excellent condition.
 The route is well marked with 'scenic byway' signs. Just when you think you might have strayed from the route one of these signs will appear.
 Since I live in the country the route didn't seem as scenic as much as it was peaceful. There were nice, scenic views like this one occasionally.
Nolan Dam. Another nice thing about this route is the pulloffs. They are large, flat, and can be seen far enough ahead for safe stopping.
 We were about halfway done with the route and there were a couple requests for a bathroom break. This store claimed to have "everything you need". Everything but a restroom.
 A little farther down the road we stopped at Fork's Country Store. This was a great little store! Besides having the normal country store groceries and supplies they had tons of nic nacs for the girls to look at and the prices were really low. They had great sweet tea. John found a really nice cell phone case. This is one of those nice places to stop and hang out for awhile. A must stop for the tour. From here we headed into the Mammoth Cave National Park. We passed a sign saying that state road maintenance ended there. We were fearing the road would turn to chuckholes or gravel but the park road was in even better shape. They were tree-lined with a speed limit of 35 mph. A nice peaceful drive.
 Soon we were at the highlight of the route...a ferry crossing of the Green River. It's free and quick. Drive on and about a minute later drive off. This was my first ferry crossing on a bike.
 When this road ended we turned right onto the Mammoth Cave Parkway. It reminded me of the Blue Ridge Parkway...45mph speed limit and all.
 We pulled over at another overlook and met the Fettermen's who live near us in Williams, IN. It's a small world.
 
Tikes on a trike. We also met an oriental family who were bicycling in the park. Their boys took turns sitting on John's trike. Kids seem to be fascinated by the big trike and John is happy to accomodate them.
 We were cruising down the parkway when John requested a pullover. Somehow a big, juicy bug had missed John and kamikazied into Debby. That's always good for a chuckle. You can see the cellphone case John got at the country store. From here the scenic route leaves the park. It heads south through some small towns and farmlands in the shadow of I-65. It eventually meets up with US31 and back to Bowling Green. We give the Duncan Hines Scenic (Peaceful) Byway eight thumbs up.
 Our next point of interest was on the north side of Bowling Green at the Riverview Mansion. This was one of the better mansion tours we have taken. Pictures were allowed and the tour included all rooms and floors of the house. Our guide, Daniel, brought a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm to the tour.
 An interesting feature of the mansion is it has two 'fronts'...one for arrival by land and one for arrival by the river. The river was dammed many years ago so it is not prominent like it once was. Now it is more like a creek and not visible from the mansion.
 By now it was mid-afternoon and it had been a while since breakfast. We didn't want a big lunch since Debby is fixing chicken & noodles for later. We decided to revisit the Subway on the square. It is one of the nicest Subways we have been to. After lunch we paid a return visit to one of the nearby stores the girls liked. We bought a squirrel feeder in here last time. The squirrels don't use it but the birds sure do. Donna smelled a lot of candles but didn't get anything this time.
 The last place on the agenda today is the Historic Rail Park and Train Museum. I'm a big train nerd so I was excited to check it out. Guided tours are given on the train setting outside. The baggage cart next to the railcar hides a stairway.
John at the controls of the F-unit. The tour starts in the locomotive and works towards the rear. The engines and generators have been removed from the locomotive and displays take their place. The locomotive was kind of stuffy. Next is the mail car. It was really interesting to see how mail was sorted and delivered back in the day...very labor intensive.
Beauty and the beast. Next was a dining car and a couple different types of berthing cars. I enjoyed the simplicity of the bunks and kitchen areas. No electronics or modern technology. While we were touring the train a couple freight trains passed by. One each way.
 Donna tried out one of the berthing bunks. She said it was more comfortable than she expected it to be. After the official tour John and I explored a couple other cars they have. One was an old hospital car. The other was gutted and undergoing renovation.
 They have a huge HO scale layout in the main building. I was looking at it when I heard a noise. Another freight train! I got outside just in time to watch it pass by.
 It was near closing time when we left the train depot. Time to head back to the hotel. The bikes were buttoned down for the night and we went back to our rooms to clean up and relax for awhile. I sat at the computer and came up with four different routes home: A - I-65I'll let the others decide which route we'd take. According to Streets & Trips they are all within 12 minutes of each other. Around 7pm we met by the pool. Debby and Donna went next door to Walgreens and did some shopping. When they returned we decided on a route (C was chosen) and feasted on Debby's marvelous chicken and noodles. I had about a plate more than I should have...but it was delicious. We gave our leftovers to the desk clerk. It was a lot better than the mac'n'cheese he had planned to eat. Later Donna and I (mostly Donna) did laundry and some pre-packing. I put Route C into the GPS. Tomorrow we head home. The weather today had been warm and overcast. Tomorrow there is a good chance of rain.
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