Tales of the Dragon

[emptysea]

TOD Continued:

April in Paris (and points south)

We took more time than expected for our morning ride, but it was worth every minute. We did, however, have to shorten our afternoon route which was to take us eastbound deep into Olympic State Forest in Kentucky before turning back west to our evening stop in Berea. But what would the new route be?? We figured we'd ask people, but apparently, the town of Paris, KY closes on Sundays and we didn't think the good folks at Hardee's would really know a good motorcycle route.

I have always promised that I would take Cheryl to Paris in April


In an effort to find out if anything besides the Hardee's was open, I encountered a gentleman who happened to be a photographer and he suggested that we take 627 to Winchester and then 89 south for a nice ride. What a surprise 89 turned out to be. 627 was beautiful with large equestrian estates lining both sides of the rolling highway. 89 was similar for a bit then it turned rural and a little more hilly for a bit. After, I think, Irvine, we were getting warm (it turned out to easily be the warmest day of our trip), so I stopped at this church so we could stretch and catch some shade.





Little did we know that we should have prayed at the church for safe passage through the next few miles of road. Almost as curvy and much more narrow than The Dragon, but at this point we didn't know that so we had to forge ahead. It was (what's that word again??) AWESOME!

It started out innocently enough... (that's Cheryl waving)


Then things got a little more interesting....




Turned out that this last leg was a great tune-up for the twists and turns coming up in a few days.

We arrived, a little disheveled, at the historic Boone Tavern & Hotel. This is a wonderful place to spend the night, if you're ever in the area. I was even able to find a quiet place to enjoy a cigar.





Rain was in the forecast for overnight and the next day. We set off to get a good night's night's sleep and hoping that we could stay dry for the ride to Clinton, TN and, hopefully, have a stop at Cumberland Falls State Park....(to be continued)