Land Between the Lakes and on to Louisville

I spotted this area on a map as I looked for ideal stops on this trip. It's a huge National Recreation Area, a long, narrow strip of land sandwiched between two long, narrow lakes. When we got there and read some of the signs and saw some of the exhibits at the visitor center, we learned that it was actually two rivers, but that people decided to rearrange things and turn them into lakes surrounding the land. You cross a big, new bridge to reach the area. The area is several miles across and maybe 50 or 60 miles long. There's a major road across the middle, a major road down the length of it, and several minor roads wandering around the two narrow sides of the lengthwise road.When we arrived, the weather was still pretty gloomy, so we went to the visitor center, picked up a few maps and lists, chatted with the woman at the desk, and decided to drive through the elk & bison prairie area. We would not have been allowed there on bicycles (or motorcycles). It's a large fenced area where the bison and elk roam around. There's a road loop of about 3 1/2 miles you an drive while looking and listening for the big animals. We had a good look at quite a few elk. No bison. But a flock of turkeys, and a lot of bluebirds flitting around.

We actually didn't stay in the area - I don't think there is any indoor lodging there - but there is a large and beautiful state park on the eastern edge, Barkley State Park, so we stayed at the lodge there. The lodge was fine, a bit worn around the edges, more like summer camp than a hotel. You cross another modern bridge to leave the Land Between the Lakes to get to it; we crossed that bridge quite a few times.

Our first morning was chilly - 37 degrees. Brrr. I really wanted to do a bird walk, and one of the guys at the visitor center had recommended a loop trail around Honker Lake. So we set off right after breakfast all bundled up in whatever warm clothes we could pull together, and spent the morning walking slowly around the lake trail. It is mostly in the trees, but it emerges in the middle onto a dam across the lake which you cross before wandering back through the woods. We spent quite a bit of time on that bit. I was keeping an eBird list (Cornell offers an app to record the birds you see at any given location, and so develops a huge data base of actual bird populations). At home, I can use the checklists and their recent history to double check what I think I am seeing; here, well, birding and reporting don't seem to happen much. I am often finding that birds have not been reported in the area before. And that makes me second guess my ID - until I realize that some of the unreported birds include house sparrows (really, is there anywhere you don't find those? Not at Land Between the Lakes!) and white pelicans, which are impossible to miss.

Once we had finished the walk, we went to the visitor center to get the bikes out and ride across the island and over the two bridges. I love bridges. The same guy who had directed us to Honker Lake had told me there is a paved bike/pedestrian trail across the island that also crosses the bridges  and that it goes right past the visitor center. This time, he was wrong. There is a trail, but it is NOT all paved! Some people walking a dog looked at us doubtfully and said, well, maybe, but it'll be pretty rough at times. I tried for about a quarter of a mile, and gave up. We rode the main road and figured we would find a way to get over to the bike path when we got close to the bridge. That worked fine. The man road is fast, but there is a huge shoulder and there was not much traffic. I once counted almost a full minute between cars. We rode over the west bridge and back. Bruce went back to the visitor center - didn't care about riding the other bridge - and I kept going & met him at the east end. 

Our big ride day was the next day. We wanted to do a big exploration of the area, so we reviewed the map. It outdoes Google by actually identifying which roads are paved! So we had a head start in deciding which route to take. Only the map lied a lot. The very first road we meant to turn onto from the lengthwise main road was very rough gravel. New plan. We did find that the next road was paved. It wandered around on the east side of the land. It never really got to the lake, which disappointed me a bit, but it was a really lovely little road, well paved and virtually empty. It was sort of hilly, too, which seemed to make the ride easier??? Maybe it's just more what we are used to; maybe it's that you put out a little burst of energy to get up the slope, then rest as you barrel down the other side? None of the climbs lasted for more than 2-3 tenths of a mile. Anyway, it was idyllic. We managed to ride to the southern entrance to the park, and turn back on the big center road to ride back to the car.

Yesterday we checked out, but decided we would like to use our free time to wander around the lodge looking at birds and plants and the lake, and get in the car a bit later. So we did, then drove to Louisville.

Bruce had very kindly found me an ice cream stop along the way. We went a bit off the fastest route to Louisville, but not more than a few extra minutes. We were not sure it would be open on Columbus Day, but it was. We were the only people there at the time. I got talking to the woman who runs it, asking her about where to go, what to see, as we wander through her state. She loved Land Between the Lakes. Our conversation wandered and - I don't remember exactly how it came up - she began to talk about the daughter she had lost to brain cancer. As you can imagine, that led to a much longer talk. The shop was named after her daughter who had died at age 11, only 14 months after her diagnosis. As sad as the stories I read every day on the brain tumor forum I follow may be, and many of them are really rough, I cannot imagine anything worse than losing a child. She clearly wanted to talk about it, so we chatted for about a half hour. One of the things I love about bike travelling (ok, so we were in the car this time, but it's the same principle) is meeting people and talking ad learning more about everyone. But this one was extraordinary. I am glad to have met her.

We realized along the way that Louisville is actually in the eastern time zone. I wonder why Kentucky and Indiana have the wandering line that puts bits of them in eastern time, others in Central? It is not a straight line at all.  Anyway, we arrived here and will be here for two nights. Today we plan to ride along the river and cross the two bridges that have bike paths - actually one is entirely for bikes and walkers. So I will add Indiana, my fourth state of the trip, today!

We like Louisville so far. It's an attractive city with public art exhibits everywhere and a friendly but distinctly urban atmosphere. We'll see how it does as  cycling city.