Day 5: Beauty All Around

June 10, 2021

Sonora to Cave City

Day 5 the siblings are getting back together.

I didn’t feel as well this morning as I did last night when I went to bed but that improved as the day went on. I had the car packed, with Cay’s help, and was on the road and headed for Cave City by 7:45. The 3+ hour drive was pretty uneventful…I listened to my book and took in the beautiful country side, I’m going to miss all this green when I go back to CA. I arrived at the Wigwam Village No. 2 around 11:00 EST but what I didn’t realize was that I was now on Central Time and check in wasn’t until 3:00, so I had some time to kill.

I called Peter to find out where he was and after a few wrong turns, on my part, I finally found him as he came across the Green River ferry, in the pouring rain. We decided to meet at the Mammoth Cave Visitors Center, where Peter had some ice cream and then we went for a short hike down to the cave entrance and beyond.

Peter was about 12 miles from the destination so I headed back toward town to check out restaurants in the area. We met back up at the Wigwam Village No. 2 around 2:00. We were greeted by the owner Keith, who had done quite a bit of cycle touring in the past, and we spent a fair amount of time talking with him. He gave us a short history of the Wigwam Villages which was very interesting and we were very impressed with Keith and Meghan’s desire to restore the No. 2 village. They’ve done a nice job so far, our room is great. I’m so glad to be here to share this experience with Peter who, by the way, had an amazing ride today.

Peter left Sonora around 7:00 EST and after a meager breakfast, by Peter’s standards, he was on his way. Peter was enthralled with the beauty of the country side today and particularly liked the way the clouds and mist added to that beauty. We had decided, when planning this adventure, that we would get off the main Trans American Trail temporarily and ride the Mammoth Cave loop. This made navigation a little trickier for Peter today because it wasn’t marked with the 76 signage. Speaking of signage, the main tail for the Trans American Bike Trail is so well marked, at least what we’ve seen so far, a cyclist could navigate without a map. The Trans American Trail goes from ocean to ocean (Virginia to Oregon or vice versa) and because it was started in 1976 the signs display a bike and the number 76. We’re guessing most cyclist who are riding across our beautiful country probably stick to the main trail and don’t take the Mammoth Cave loop, which is an extra 70 miles and that may attribute to his not seeing other cyclist today. However, he found plenty of people to talk to along the way.

Peter’s favorite stops for the day were the Amish owned sawmill and Amish village were he had a great brunch and an interesting conversation with an 80+ year old cyclist who, in his hay day, raced in Chicago. The sun was shining when Peter went in to the store to eat so he proceeded to lather on the sunscreen. Once he finished his food and conversation he headed outside and found the clouds had burst open. For the next hour Peter traveled in the rain, which conveniently stop once he arrived at the Mammoth Cave Visitors Center where we met.

After settling into our tepee we worked on our journal for a while then it was off to Bucky Bee’s BBQ. After dinner we decided to take another short hike to work off some of our dinner which also included a scenic drive through the park.

It was a great day that ended with us sitting around a campfire reminiscing.