August 8, 2017
to Cumberland City: up and down in the Tennessee hills
“Smell that oak” Patrick says every time, yes...every... time a loaded logging truck passes us. There are many loaded and unloaded trucks on the road today. The fresh cut oak smells nice.
Very different weather greets us this morning. The skies are clear, it is cool and a light wind is blowing from the north. The continental breakfast at the motel is pathetic, but it gets us on the road. We have about seven miles to go to the Loretta Lynn Ranch, where we intended to camp last night. It looks like a big place, but except for Loretta’s sister’s store across the street no restaurants.
Many ups and downs today, we counted ten on the elevation graph and that’s pretty much what we experience. None are overly steep, just unrelenting hills through seemingly endless hardwood forests.
We find a small cafe in Waverly and witness some small town religious strife. Two young guys, pastors’ judging by the topic of their discussion, are talking about upcoming events in their church over a cup of coffee. Behind them sits an older couple having their breakfast. When the old guy goes back to use the restroom the white haired lady gets up and accosts the two younger guys. We don’t get the whole message, but the jest of her antics is that their church is not the right one and they are going to hell. Her church is the only way to heaven. The Taliban at work. We look at each other and keep our heads down. Had she known what we are all about we would be in big trouble. After the pastors and the old couple have left the waitress apologizes and explains that even though this is a small community with many churches they mostly along.
At a major junction we stop and have a Subway sandwich, the smokestacks from the Cumberland Coal (the sign calls it “fossil”) Power Plant are visible from a long ways away and belching huge plumes of smoke. We had expected to shop for dinner in Cumberland City, but there is no grocery store. Just past the town though there is a gas station that has some groceries and cold beer. That’s all we need. When we arrive at Elk Harbor Campground they also have a small store, beer, and a restaurant that stops serving at three. There is a bit of a hiccup when the friendly owner explains that for some reason per Tennessee State rules, tent sites are only rented for two nights. He might have been pulling our leg, but he seemed sincere. After some back-and-forth he registers us for two nights, but only has us pay for one.
The campground is not really set-up for tenters, the shower is a single enclosure in the back of the laundromat. RV’rs do not need a bathhouse. But it works for us. There is Wi-Fi for a while until it crashes; we have shade and a nice site for the tent. Life is good with a cold six-pack of patriotic style Budweiser cans. Must be that they are now Belgium owned.
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Today's ride: 75 km (47 miles)
Total: 36,883 km (22,904 miles)
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