2012 Carrollton, KY motorcycle trip
Day 1
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Last summer the bike gang spent a nice weekend in Goshen, Indiana. John and Mike even came home with new bikes! This summer we planned a similar weekend trip to coincide with the craft fair at Amish Acres. However, a few days after we got back from our South Dakota trip John spent a couple weeks in the hospital with a mysterious disease that caused flu- and pneumonia-like symptoms. Because his recovery has been slow the trip to Goshen was cancelled.
Donna had made special work arrangements to have that weekend off so she wanted to go somewhere. As I thought of a good trip location the Madison, IN, area came to mind. The gang has been through the area in 2007, 2008, & 2011 and it always seemed like a good place to spend a weekend. Lots to see. Not that far away. River roads. Donna concurred so I started doing some trip planning. We decided to leave Thursday night and come home Sunday.
My original plan was to stay at the Schenck Mansion in Vevay. Donna would love it and Vevay is in a nice location. However, it was booked. Plan B is to find the Holiday Inn group of hotels since I get points for staying there. The HI Express in Madison was full. Must be something going on then. The one in Carrollton, KY, was available. I looked at bed & breakfasts in the area but I didn't find any that were appealing. I wouldn't mind staying at a nice little mom & pop motel but it's hard to find them on the internet. I ended up getting a room at the Carrollton HI Express.
We thought for awhile that my brother Monty and his girlfriend Stephanie might come with us, but he ended up doing jury duty that week. They might come down for a day or two. We'll just have to see how things play out.
Logistically I decided to not take my trailer and instead use my hitch rack and Castle Streetbag. It would also limit how much stuff Donna could buy. Ha! I had replaced the front tire on the Goldwing so it was good to go. I have also installed a Yaesu FTM-10R mobile radio but I haven't had time to program it.
August 2
 When we crossed into Jackson County I stopped to check the cargo and to deploy my camera.
 The bag seems to be riding fine. Donna forgot her tennis shoes and only has flip flops. We'll have to get her some shoes.
 I've already decided I don't like the mounting position of the Yaesu remote head. From my riding position it blocks part of the speedometer and the left turn signal indicator. I might put it on the left handlebar somewhere.
At Brownstown we took IN-250. It's a scenic road. No interstate for us.
The intersection with US31. From here we go south on US31 to Austin. There's not much traffic so it's fun riding. This lot always has a bunch of cars for being in the middle of nowhere.
I get to see this pretty smile all weekend.
Approaching Madison these smokestacks are visible for miles. They are almost 1000 feet tall and always impress me. It would be fun to rapel down them.
Downtown Madison, IN.
 They've had structural issues with the Ohio River bridge at Madison and it is now limited to 3 tons. What I didn't know was they are building a new bridge right next to the old one. They removed the approaches to the old bridge to make room for the new bridge and roadway. The replacement approaches for the old bridge veer 90 degrees east at both ends and are steep. There are cops at either end making sure traffic flows smoothly. In the picture you can see portions of the new bridge setting on barges.
 Immediately after crossing into Kentucky we headed east on KY-36. The river is almost always in view. There are some nice houses to look at.
Crossing over the Kentucky River and entering Carrollton over this blue steel bridge. 
 Two hours and 92 miles later we arrived at the Carrollton Holiday Inn Express. At first we didn't see it. They don't have a tall sign. We pulled into a Shell station to check the location when Donna spotted it. It was over a little hill. We unloaded the bike and checked in to room 322. In the blink of an eye Donna had the luggage unpacked...clothes in the dresser and bathroom stuff laid out around the sink. Between the two beds there were eight pillows and this made Donna happy. She likes pillows. She makes me laugh. I will laugh a lot this weekend.
 We went next door to KFC for supper. Their buffet looked suspect so we ordered off the menu.
 Afterwards we stopped in a little park area and enjoyed the cooling temperatures. There was a black cat lounging around but he wasn't too friendly and left. We decided to head to Madison in the morning and do some shopping. After that we might do some river riding. As we walked back to the hotel I heard a train whistle. Yes! We cleaned up and spent the rest of the evening watching TV and being lazy. For me, that includes getting the laptop set up and downloading pictures and GPS tracks. I checked out the railroad situation with Google maps. It looks like the track that passes thru Carrollton is a long spur that services some industry east of here.
I left the alarm clock at home. We'd get up when we got up. Good night, Sweetheart!
92 miles. Click here for our next day's adventure. |
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