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 The birthplace of President Abraham Lincoln I woke up this morning thinking I had to get going to cover a lot of ground. But I stopped myself. The birth place of Abraham Lincoln was just minutes away. I could not be this close without visiting. I had read Bill Bryson’s less than enthusiastic description…but he basically hated everything he saw while driving through the USA so I didn’t feel it was a useful guide.
The birthplace park is small. There is a visitor center and a stone, monumental building that houses a log cabin. The cabin is supposed to represent the cabin that Lincoln grew up in. Unfortunately, the monument was closed for repairs, but the visitor center was interesting. The rain started as I got ready to leave the birthplace. The route would take me by the Lincoln homestead and another farm that Lincoln lived on as a child before the family moved to Illinois. The farm was in a little valley that was extremely picturesque. The steep hillsides came down onto a lush green field. If it had not been completely pouring rain I would have stopped for more than a couple minutes. Continue reading Day 72: Hodgenville to Bardstown, KY (November 9)
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 Welcome sign for Utah After a great breakfast cooked up by Pat, and some talk, I headed to the grocery store before hitting the road. The grocery store had small gala apples. I love that size despite it being a rarity in the USA to find apples that small. I bought four. I also bought orange Gatorade mix. First time I have seen any flavor other than lemon-lime in the one pound containers. I think that is a clever ploy by the stores to steer you to the more lucrative premixed drink.
Riding out of Vernal on the eastern end of town are all the oil field services companies. Considering these fields are not huge you can see what big business oil is. There was tons and tons of equipment and supplies. Acres of tanks and pipes and generators and prefab buildings. Pretty impressive. Continue reading Day 33: Vernal, UT to west of Elk Springs, CO (October 1)
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 The sun is about to set I am lying looking up at a dark clear sky where the milky way stretches from one side to the other.
A slow start to the day…I had eaten almost all my food requiring a trip to the Baker grocery store. I hoped they’d have something left after the last time I went there. They do not open until 10:00 and it was seven miles of down hill to get there. After getting some groceries, the plan was to head over eight miles to the Border Inn/Cafe/Slots/Gas station to get some lunch and a motel room. I have not slept well since Ely due to mattress woes. But all the rooms were booked for the long weekend. Still don’t know what the holiday is and when I left at 15:00 only about three of twenty rooms had cars outside. Seemed fishy. Plus, who’d want to stay there? Continue reading Day 24: Great Basin National Park, NV to King’s Canyon, UT (September 22)
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 The cirque from Wheeler Summit Road Today was a ‘rest day’ in the park. It was not much of a rest. I wanted to take the Wheeler scenic drive up to the top. That is 10 miles and 3000 vertical feet one way. I did not count the trip back as it was all downhill. the campsite is at about 7300′. I got going at about 09:15 and was up to the Maher viewpoint by 11:30. It is about 5.5 miles from the camp and is at 9000′ plus feet. I ate my lunch — always good because it makes the bike lighter. Then took a little nap since the noontime sun was beating down. Continue reading Day 23: Wheeler Summit in Great Basin National Park (September 21)
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 Ranger giving the tour of Lehman Cave Another late start after another terrible night’s sleep. Felt like I was up all night tossing and turning. After a quick breakfast I headed down to Baker to get some groceries for the two nights I planned on spending in Great Basin National Park. The thirteen miles of downhill were a good way to start the day. After a quick stop at the Great Basin NP visitor center to get some park info, I headed into Baker.
Baker is a three shop town or maybe a few more but only about three interested me — grocery store and cafes. Unfortunately one of the cafes was closed until next week and the other did not open until lunch time. So I went to the grocery store and felt like I was clearing them out. I bought the last chicken flavored ramen, pretzels, Doritos, cheesy rice & broccoli boil dinners, and single serve shredded wheat and raisin bran.
Continue reading Day 22: Sacramento Pass to Great Basin National Park, NV (September 20)
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