Mountain tops and valleys

We slept in this morning, starting our trip to Bowling Green, KY at 9am. Mike plotted today's route, starting on Route 119 south, turning onto 23 north, and then onto 80 heading southwest. The road twisted up and down through the Allegheny Mountains. We gazed at green trees that cover every surface and incredibly steep local roads that wind in and out of the hills. Tall, rocky cliffs hugged the road and a few times we caught sight of coal mining operations.

We followed the signs for 80 off the main highway, and were treated to a narrow 2-lane road that wound along the bottom of the mountains, twisting its way through green, wet trees covered with kudzu. Every mile or so we'd pass a small group of homes and a church, but never an actual town. Finally we found a town as we turned into Hyden and ate lunch at the local Subway where the man at the counter told us the area was under a tornado watch for the rest of the day.

kudzu-covered trees and shrubs

The morning was the best part of today, as we spent the rest of the day on 4-lane parkways that took us from the steep hills of West Virginia into the open, rolling farmland of southern Kentucky. We rode through a few small rain storms, but when the sky turned black and we saw lightning, we pulled off the highway onto a side road and ended up at a family grocery store. The store was closed, but the owner let us park the bike and shelter under the awning, and even gave us a can of soda. Mike spent the time petting their cat, and after 30 minutes we were back on the road.

We rode 370 miles today, met friendly people, and missed the worst of the storms. Tomorrow we keep traveling west, toward the Mississippi.