Tennessee Studs & Studette

This morning we woke with sleepy eyes at 5:30 am to try to cheat the heat.  I must say it was another rough night for sleeping. The campground was nice and shaded and was cooler than the night before but there was a dog that barked literally all night. It never quit.  The Cicadas were so loud you would have thought the sound was piped in.  The mosquitoes were ferocious!  It was crazy.  

The good news was we were able to do laundry and the showers were really nice.

We had our usual bowl of cereal and toast and the guys left the lot by 6:50 am.  It was just getting light out. I stayed behind and made the sandwiches and cleaned up camp.  Then off I went to find to the guys.  They had really moved along and by the time I caught them they had already gone 27 miles.  The roads were smooth and not much wind.  The guys got to the Tennessee border around 9:30 am.

  Then about 10:30 I decided to ride because I know I do NOT do well in the heat.  So Terry and I took off down the road and it was nice and flat.  The vegetation has really started to change.  The fields are no longer corn and soybeans but cotton fields and Milo (Like a corn stalk with seeds on the top).  Wild Hibiscus flowers grow wild in the ditches and Kudzu vines are invading the landscape and killing the trees.  

As you see in the photos the Kudzu is extremely invasive.  It blankets everything in it's path.  The Trees take on forms that look like creatures.  This is a Japanese arrowroot that is killing the landscape.  

I also want to say that our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of  Lou Ann Allen.

Terry and I then got up on a levee road it where it was flat and fast.  We had a tail wind so were really able to put some miles behind us.  The heat did then take it's toll on me so I dropped off and gave the bike back to Dave.  

Dave and Terry then took on the last 40 miles in the heat of the day and it was super hilly.  It was truly the back roads of Tennessee.  The heat was truly brutal!  They did however get a little break from the sun on the back stretch.   The days total distance was 115 miles with an average speed of 17.1 miles per hour.  This is the best average we have had on the whole trip.  The wicked heat was a big incentive today.  They rolled into Ripley TN. about 3:30 and we are Hoteling it tonight.  AHHHHH Air conditioning!   We had Chinese for dinner it was nice to change it up.

Tomorrow we are heading to West Memphis AK. and are going to meet up with Roger Vos and his family for dinner.  Then he is going to ride with us on Sunday morning for a few hours.  That will be fun.  We have not had any guest riders since Iowa. 

Thanks to all who have posted comments as it is fun for us to read everyday too.  Please sign your name to the post so we know who you are.  Hello to the loonies up in Itasca thanks for checking in on us and posting a comment.

 A big shout out to Michele & Kristi at the Y and hope the members are up for the challenge.  Turn up the heat in the lobby so they can really feel the heat like we are.  No one likes to suffer alone!

Good Night from Hillbilly Junction!

Terry, Dave & Julie