30
July 2010
We started the day with a relatively short run over to the Abraham
Lincoln birthplace, stopping for gas just before getting to the park
itself.
The site was pretty in the early morning, with speckled sunshine
lighting the path to the replica cabin (which we didn't bother to
examine). The stamp was enough, with a couple of pictures to
commemorate the stop.
For some reason, I've been intrigued by Mammoth Cave--the name, I
guess. Boyd says "You've seen one cave, you've seen them all!" I don't
think that's true, but I won't be able to prove it from this visit. The
site was pretty well mobbed on a Friday morning, with folks queued up
for a bus ride to somewhere; we wended our way through the throng to
the stamp station and marked our passports.
I screwed up leaving the park, and took a left curve when I should have
taken a right bend; I thought that road would hook up to where we
wanted to go, but no--we had to make a U-turn and go back. I hate it
when that happens; it's hard to pretend "I meant to do that!"
And I did it again an hour later--I was momentarily distracted by
something shiny, missed a turn and went a couple of miles down a
limited access road before an exit provided a spot to turn around. Good
thing that one was there, the "Next exit 17 miles" sign showed how bad
it could have been.
Back into Tennessee, where we crossed our eastbound path in
Clarksville, coincidentally stopping for gas almost exactly at the
intersection where the routes crossed. Then a stop at another Civil War
battlefield, Fort Donelson..
.
...before making our way onto I-40, where we spent the final miserable
hour of the day, and where we'll mostly be for the next (couple of?)
day(s).
I'd set the day's destination at a motel ~400 miles from the start,
without paying too much attention to where it was. It's in West
Memphis, AR, just over the state line from the more famous Tennessee
one. Not much in the way of amenities visible from the balcony, so
dinner in a nearby Waffle House while our laundry was in the dryer.
States: Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas
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