Wednesday, May 23, 2007

May 23, 2007 Dyersburg, Tn

Today's ride was another short one, 42.59 miles, making a total of 629.96 miles for me in ten days of riding. I definitely feel stronger but am enjoying the sights and not trying to rush my rides. In other words my speed ins not getting any better.

Last night our guides told us the Henning, Tn was only 10 miles down the road. Henning is the home of Alex Haley (Roots). I had been told that touring the family home was a sight not to be missed. I think almost everyone decided to stop, especially since we only had 30 more miles to go.

When we arrived in town we saw this mural being painted on the side of a building. It talked about Alex Haley and someone called Jim Hickman. Greg do you know who Jim Hickman is??


We were told not to leave before 8:00 because the museum did not open until 9:00. Of course, we all got there only to find out it did not open until 10:00. Here are a couple of pictures of us waiting on the lawn of the Haley family home.



Then national historical registry sign in front of the home.

The Haley family home. It is a really nice home. The guide said Alex's grandfather owned the lumber mill in town and were the wealthiest black family in town. Alex's father went to Cornell and Alex was considered the black sheep in the family because he never completed college.

Alex's grave is on the front lawn of the house.


A quote by Alex placed below the bedroom. I think it is a beautiful thought.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Alex Haley has come up a few times recently in totally unrelated conversations...I was thinking of re-reading the book. Now that you've visited his house, I have to...I'm jealous! Congrats on over 600 miles!

Angela said...

Wow Mom! I can't believe you have biked over 600 miles in 10 days! That is AWESOME!!!

triathleteb said...

I love the quote!

Great job already riding so many miles. That is truly amazing. Did you know you could have ridden from Tucson to Canyonlands National Park in Utah? (They are 630 miles apart) Very impressive!

Btw, I think it is fairly obvious Jim Hickman is a MLB for the Baltimore Terrapins.