Some Busier Roads, But Still Pretty

Monday night, it got cold -- 40 degrees. Well, that may not sound cold to you, but keep in mind that I've been in southwest Florida for a year.

Fortunately, I had a new sleeping bag that was good to 30 degrees. That, and a good pair of wool socks, and I was fine all night.

It took me a bit longer than it should have to break camp in the morning, however. Fingers don't work as well when they're cold, and I found myself just being ... well, deliberate with stuff. It was after 9 am when I finally left Standing Stone State Park and got on Hwy 52.

It's a busy road, but has a decent shoulder. They've rumble-stripped it, so the shoulder ain't what it used to be, but it goes the way I needed to go.

I got a little turned around in Livingston, since my GPS wanted me to head straight towards Kentucky and I wanted to stop in McDonald's. It wasn't like I needed another breakfast yet, but I did want to use their wifi to post the previous day's blog. The diversion netted me a few bonus miles, but I had plenty of time.

Taking Hwy 111 north, I was once again on the shoulder of a busy road. Once or twice I was able to cut over to some more quiet lanes, although the dogs came out to play. I also got off to see beautiful downtown Byrdstown.

Then it was back to 111, which I stayed on to just past the river.

Here, I was able to take one nasty harsh climb, which eventually led to Old Kentucky Road. Any road with "Old" in it is usually good.

Unfortunately, I soon has to get back on US-127, which has no shoulder and lots of truck traffic through Albany. I stopped at McDonald's there for lunch (all I could find), and got groceries for that night's dinner and the next morning's breakfast. The road was a little less busy after I got through town, but certainly still pretty.

Soon, I was crossing over Wolf Creek Dam, which is huge. They're doing some kind of expansion or replacement on the far side, and had huge machines at work there which I had never seen before.

I stopped on the top to get a picture of the spillway. I kept expecting to see Richard Kimball come flying past.

The view down from the dam was pretty good, too.

My late start, extra time at various McDonalds's, and lolly-gagging was making me run out of time, however. It was after 4 pm when I finally got to the entrance to the park, and the signs showed that I had five miles to get to the campground. Fortunately, they were pretty miles.

I got a pretty good campsite -- close to the bath house and fairly level -- and was set up before night fell. Instead of going to the lodge for dinner, I cooked the can of soup that I had bought in Albany, and sat up reading for a while. The night was warmer, and very comfortable. In the distance, I could hear coyotes yipping, and watched bats swooping around the streetlights to catch insects. Besides me, there were only RVs camping there, and they all turned in pretty early.