Monday Day 30 - Henry Horton State Park TN to Lynchburg TN - 40 miles

It was overcast this morning when I awoke. I was hoping to get an early start, but I forgot to set my alarm and it was warm and cozy in my sleeping roll. Sometime during the night I was visited by some furry creature who ate up my whole bag of cheese puffs !!

I rode around the Horton State Park on the way out, stopping at the ruins of an old saw mill. I was wondering who Henry Horton was. Turns out he was a lawyer and he married the daughter of the couple who owned the old sawmill. He went into politics and was Govenor of Tennessee from 1927-1933.

I headed out of the park, east on Hwy 270 into a headwind. I was hoping to find a diner for breakfast, but no luck.

By the time I turned south on Hwy 41A - 16, I had started to see a LOT of chicken-hauling tractor trailers, the kind with open cages stacked about 20 high. After one of these pass you, either coming or going, it takes about two minutes of breathing chicken poop before the air clears. I bet I had 30 of these rigs pass me on the road today. A lady told me there's a big Tyson chicken processing plant nearby in Shelbyville, so these trucks are always running around up here.

I stopped at an Arby's restaurant in Shelbyville for a quick early lunch ( no chicken ! ). It was a little after 11:00 and I was hoping to get to the Jack Daniels Distillery by noon or 1:00.

On the way out of Shelbyville, the sky started getting darker and darker. Time to find a barn to hide in, for the second time on this trip ! I found a nice semi-abandoned shed with a bunch of broken down riding mowers.

There was a little thunder and lightening, and lots of rain, but it wasn't near as bad as the last storm I sat out on the way to Louisiana MO.

That reminds me of a funny story. After the big Louisiana MO storm last week, I pedaled into a gas station to get some Gatorade and peanuts. I was talking to a farmer in overalls, and he was asking me the usual questions, where you from, where you going, etc. As he was leaving, he said to me: "Your Momma didn't raise an idiot, just a darn fool!" I sure couldn't argue with him about that !!

Today's rain started to let up after about 30 minutes, so I put on my rain jacket, turned on my blinkey lights, and headed south towards Lynchburg on Hwy 82. First my clear sunglasses broke, then it started raining harder, and then I couldn't see because the rain was washing the sunscreen into my eyes.

I had to stop several times to wipe off my forehead and eyes with Mr. Chuckles, since I didn't have any rag or handkerchief. The road started getting narrow and curvy and hilly, with only a small speed bump shoulder. I should have taken shelter someplace, but there were no stores or barns to be found. Besides, I was on a mission, to make it to Jack Daniels before the tours end at 4:00.

It was a long, tough ride, but I made it to the distillery at 2:30 and I took the 3:00 tour. They put on a fun tour and I highly recommend stopping by if you are in the area. Just remember to bring a small bottle of No. 7 in case you want a taste afterwards.

After the tour, I got to go into the special "Tennessee Squire" room to hang out, and they gave me and Mr. Chuckles a special gift set of commemorative glasses.

As a Tennessee Squire, I own a square foot ( or inch? ) of land somewhere in the hollow, so I asked them if it was alright if I camped out on my land tonight. They laughed and said the land they gave away to the Squires is so steep you can't even walk on it.

So I headed south, and checked into the Lynchburg Motel, with a bunch of other soaking wet bikers ( the Harley type ).

Tomorrow is going to be a sad day. I'm heading west to meet up with my ride back to Tallahassee. Boo Hoo, why can't I just keep on riding on and on and on ...

Oh yeah, now I remember, I gotta work to save up for the NEXT big trip !