Day 23 Cave-in-Rock, Il - Hardinsburg, K

Day 23 Cave-in-Rock, Illinois - Hardinsburg, KY Lake House

Miles 104
Turtle rescued from the road - 1
Designated 1 Mile marker for the small country road - 6

We had our overnight accommodations at Cave-In-Rock State Park. As Vela has noted, it is not Cave-in-the-Rock, but its just Cave-in-Rock. Interesting. It felt good to be in the room by 7pm. Good Rest time. Wednesday will be our day off. Time to get caught up. Sleep. Emails. Paying Bills.

Glenn had mentioned that we needed to send out a Constant Contact letter update about our progress with #ConversationsCoasttoCoast and also a brief blurb about the Camino merger with Avant Ministries. so, I started work on the email. And also I needed to finish my blog, however, my photos from my phone were not linking up to my MacBook Pro. So, I gave up on my blog and continued with my CC letter. At 9pm, I called it quits and went to bed.

During the middle of the night, Glenn got up to bring the large big grey box that is attached to the front, and bring it in from the downpour of rain. It had been thunder and lightning. I didn't hear a thing through the night. You sleep really good when you are tired.

I woke up at 4:00 or 4:30am to finish my letter and to finish try to finish my blog. I figured out that I needed to send my photos in an email format and then download them and finally attaching them to the blog. Yeah, I figured that out.

Glenn had most of the van packed up by 6:30am. It started to rain as we were packing up. The plan was to have luggage out by the van at 6:15, and packed up and leaving by 6:45, and we would have b'fast down at the local diner at 7:00am. Glenn had the door shut to the van at 6:40am. Yeah, 5 minutes early.

Then we needed to wait for Neil. Each morning, Neil and the camera crew videotape a short snippet. I'm not sure if it is for Facebook, or for the church on Sunday or for the documentary. And I"m not sure what the topic is. I assume it is probably what he is feeling at the time, or looking at the challenges for the day's ride would be, or if it is a recap of the folks he had conversations with. Normally we are doing last minute packing while the film crew is having a short interview with Neil.

We drove to Cave-in-Rock restaurant called Rose Kozy Kitchen. The one and only restaurant in town. Once we got there, there was a big round table with about 5 men laughing loudly. And I saw 2 other tables full. Neil asked if we could just go across the ferry and get a McDonald's at the next time. Jeff and I walked outside to check our internet and see what other options we had. I knew there were no other options. This is rural America. And crossing over to Kentucky, the closest town was 35 minutes away. And was there a McDonald's there? And how long would we have to wait for the ferry?

Everyone ordered at the restaurant. And we waited. I walked outside to take some photos of this quaint little town. I noticed old brightly painted bicycles that were at the intersections. Most of them had fresh flowers in the baskets. I talked with Millie who was watering the flowers. She told me that she was from this small town of 350, grew up here, moved away, and has now retired. She loved it here. She volunteers on the board. Watering can in her hand, she was going around to each bicycle to water the roses and daisies.

I started talking with an elderly lady in the restaurant and she expounded on the fact that each of the brightly painted bicycles represented a disease. To fight for the disease. Red would be heart disease. Yellow would be for liver disease and Purple would be for Alzheimer disease.

The breakfast wasn't all that good. And even last night, we were all laughing about the cheese slices that were placed on the omelets. That just doesn't work. Glenn was up at the register counter and one of the older men was standing in line. Glenn said "Hey, you go ahead, don't wait for me!" and the man's response was "I don't have to pay. I own the ferry here in town." Glenn immediately struck up a conversation with him and then proceeded to introduce him to Neil. This would make a great conversation.

Unfortunately, the camera crew guys had just ordered and were now on the clock. Neil met Lonnie and they walked over to his office. How cool is that? Glenn meets the owner of the Ferry that goes across the Ohio River from Illinois to Kentucky. I didn't even know there were Ferry operating still in the US besides those to like Galveston Island or maybe the North Carolina islands, etc.

Neil was finished and ready to go. We got the next ferry. As the #CC2C were riding the ferry they talked with a guy that mentioned going to the Tabernacle just 1 mile off the road, was well worth it. It was a tough ride, with several steep hill and curves but we enjoyed the special location and learning the history of the place. Great photo op

Source: Aunt Jane's Underground Tabernacle

The Aunt Jane Underdown Tabernacle located on Aunt Jane Tabernacle Road about 12 miles from Marion on Highway 91 North.
This shed is the only other one in the county beside the Hurricane Camp meeting shed at Hurricane Church.

Jane Underdown, or Aunt Jane as everyone called her left the denominational church in 1905 after hearing a message of holiness from a Church of God minister. She started inviting circuit riding Church of God ministers to hold services in her home.

Every summer the traveling evangelists would come to her house and she would conduct services there. The Shed grew out of a need for the group to have a place to worship. The shed was built in 1927, with hand-cut and hand-hewn posts, hand-sawed boards for pews, pulpit and platform with a tin roof. Two outhouses served as toilet facilities, lanterns hung on posts and shaded coal oil lamps sat on post stands and the pulpit.

This shed represented hard work and sacrifice on the part of poor but dedicated people. People came from miles around on foot, horseback, buggies, and wagons. There was lots of singing, shouting and long services. The meetings were always held in the last two weeks of July. On the last Sunday of the revival, there would be tables set up under the trees and a covered dish dinner would close the services for that year.

Services aren't held here every year now, but periodically they will be held for several nights.

We continued along the route. We were in Amish country. I also noticed a sign for Tobacco at a store in Marion, KY. Going all along these back roads, you see beautifully manicured lawns, cows grazing on the open field and corn stalks coming out of the ground. The bicycle team stopped at a local Amish farm that had a store. We could not take photos of the Amish people, but we could take photos of their home and property.

Inside the store, it was filled with essential items for the community. There was linen, washrags, calendars, German Bibles, baby blankets, crayons, grammar books, and even nursing bars. I noticed the simple dresses and shirts were hanging out on the clothesline.

We passed a lumber mill and at one point on the gravel road, we approached a horse and buggy. He didn't stop. The scenery kept changing as the cyclists would go through deep forest and then break out into sprawling farmland.

For lunch, we stopped in Clay, Kentucky. Again, one restaurant in town. This was a pretty cool restaurant as the decor was all about the University of Kentucky and their sports stuff and about bears and wooden animals. Glenn and I shared a meal and for dessert, we shared a peach ice cream waffle cone. The waitress was great and she sure had that southern accent going on. I just remember that the sweet tea was very very sweet. Wes kept asking for 1/2 sweet tea and 1/2 regular and then it would say, "No, let's go with 3/4 regular and 1/4 sweet". Still pretty sweet.

As we pulled out of one gas station in Sebree, KY for a potty stop, we were told to "hold back". The code word for: "Don't get in our way while we are filming". The cyclists were having a conversation with a man who was a former minister, now divorced and with 3 children. Since we were not moving, I took the opportunity to write some stuff in my log book, gas milage, and places we ate and the places we stopped. I also get a file in my "notes" of the people we talk to.

Our next stop was to meet at the Gas station in Utica - one of Neil's college buddies. I think his name was Jim. Again the film crew was filming the exchange. Of course, he was wearing his LSU shirt. And he had some fudge to give us. I didn't hear much of the conversation, as this was time for me to stretch my legs - I try to walk a bit while the Van is stopped. Plus it was a good time for a "potty break".

I struck up a conversation with Angela who was sitting in the convenience store/restaurant looking out the window wondering what the commotion was all about. After taking a look at the dirty bathroom, I decided to "hold it to the next stop", I talked with her about #ConversationsCoasttoCoast. Soon her husband or friend sat down with pizza in his hand and started talking to me. He explained the unfortunate importance of this current intersection. KKK involvement. Hmmm, very interesting. I asked if Neil had time, would he mind talking to him. He said sure.

I talked with Jon, the film/documentary guy and he thought that would be interesting to do. Next thing I knew, Steve was in the parking lot with us and was very adamant about the KKK. Neil walked up to Steve and the conversation started. The conversation started about the KKK and how it is still very much alive here in the south. He then talked about how he was abused in the Catholic church back when he was young that he had to swear NOT to tell anyone. So, you can imagine the trauma, hurt and difficult past he has had to carry with him all these 40+ years. It was very painful to hear.

After this conversation was finished, we continued down the road. The cyclists wanted to get in 100 miles for the day. Again the rolling hills and curvey lanes.

It was 6:30pm, we were still miles from our Lake House. I looked up on the map and thought, "Man, I need to find a place for these cyclists to eat! And to eat now". Fortunately, Fordsville was about 10 miles ahead. And fortunately, I had cell phone coverage and googled "restaurants in Fordsville". The Diner came up. What, another small town diner? Great! I called to double check they were opened. And I reserved a table for 9.

I then radioed this information to Wes, who passed it on to the 2 cyclists. Once we parked at the Diner, Glenn loaded the 3 bicycles, they asked for several beach towels to wipe the dripping sweat off of them. They quickly changed their clothes and walked into the diner to order. I told Vela Glenn and I would go to the local Dollar Store and get a few breakfast supplies items. Knowing that we had about 1/2 hour drive to the Lake House and that it would be dark once we arrived, this was a great option.

Glenn filled up with gasoline and I walked across the street to the Dollar Store. Bread, Milk, Eggs, Butter, Bacon. Done.

I got back to the Diner and the rest of the group's food hadn't even been served. Interesting. But I guess that is part of the experience of the diner. Slow and take your time.

We arrived in Hardinsburg, Kentucky at the Lake House, where we have Wednesday as our Day Off. Everyone settled into their room. I think we all took showers, even if you were not riding a bike.

This has been a long Blog entry. And again Glenn normally proofreads them, but with all the stuff that goes on each day, Glenn isn't doing that. So I apologize in advance if the wording isn't correct.Read more