Wow, what a day. We started in Tennessee, rode some in Kentucky and finished in Missouri. Today's mileage was somewhere around 79 miles. I forgot to start the Garmin when we first started riding and forgot to turn it off when we took a ferry across the Mississippi. It was longer than scheduled because Edith and I took a wrong turn at Reelfoot Lake and had to backtrack to the Visitor's Center. My total mileage is now 741 miles. Today's pace was was over 14.5 mph. Now I have to admit that was aided by a tail wind that was pretty strong.
The first stop we made after Edith and I corrected our navigation error was the Visitor's Center at Reelfoot lake. To explain Reelfoot Lake I am going to copy a handout I got there.
"Reelfoot Lake is a by-product of the 'New Madrid Earthquakes.' A series of 1,874 recorded tremors centered generally about 70 miles southwest of the lake, took place from December 16, 1811, until March 8, 1812. The 'hard shock' came at 3 AM Friday, February 7, 1812. These shocks could be felt over an area of one millions square miles from Canada to the eastern seaboard and New Orleans. When the savage tremors subsided, Reelfoot Lake was born and thirty to fifty thousand square miles of land had undergone vast topographical changes, most of which are visible today."
While at the visitor's center we were able to see this baby barn owl being cared for by park staff. Yes it is real.
The first of our two state crossings today
Then we took a Ferry across the Mississippi River to Missouri.
Bikes and bikers on the Ferry.
And finally our fifth state of the trip.
Much of our biking these first two weeks has been along the Mississippi River Trail. These signs are along the road.
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"Good luck on your trip, I love you Grandma" (from Little Bub)
"Happy bike ride Grandma" (from Big Bub)
The lake pictures were a big hit. They were fascinated by the fact that it was created by tremors not that long ago. I think they understood the geological phenomenon better than I do...
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