Dover, TN to Nashville, to Memphis, to Chicago. (Whew)

Good morning all, I'm back in Chicago now, actually Barrington, IL and this will be the last official entry in this blog, Muscatine to New Orleans. Once I decided the ride was over, I needed to figure out how to get from this small town in Tennessee, Dover, about 65 miles west and south of Nashville, back to Chicago. The train I had initially thought I would take from New Orleans to Chicago is routed through Memphis, but Memphis is about 150 miles west of Dover.

By the way, in either direction, it was hills, hills and more hills, so riding my bike, although an option, was not attractive. But if I had to ride, Nashville was a lot, lot closer to Dover than Memphis!

My plan then was to get myself a ride to Nashville, rent a SUV, drive to Memphis with all my gear, get a train ticket, pack up the bike and gear for storage on the train, return the car to the Memphis airport, get back to the station and come home. I asked the very nice lady that owned the motel in Dover where I had stayed overnight if she knew anyone in town with a pickup truck who might want to make a few bucks driving me up to Nashville. Turns out, she did, and I met Harry, recently discharged from the Army after serving 4 years.



This is Harry and his Mazda, not a pickup truck, but it worked with everything stored in the rear with rear seats folded down. We are at the side of the Sherton Hotel in downtown Nashville and you can just see the front tire of my bike off to the right. At this point, I am beginning to feel that this plan to evacuate Tennessee might work.

I'm going to post several pictures I had not been able to add the past few days due to restrictions in libraries and hotels about using outside graphics on their computers. I guess words are ok, but pictures not.



Friends and family have asked how much I ate and drank on this trip.  The picture above is an example of what I would drink in a day plus a couple of energy bars, my usual lunch. These containers were all full when I started out, except for the coke can, which I drank immediately upon arrival at the motel for the night. What are not shown are the two other cokes I drank at rest stops along the way that day. It would usually be at least 2 Gatorades plus additional bottles of water, all of which I carried on the bike.

The following story also relates to how I would eat most of the time. Breakfast would usually be either pancakes, waffles or if cooking myself, oatmeal.  Lunch would either be 1., a sandwich and a coke if I was lucky enough to come across a small town around lunch time, or 2., more often than not, a couple of energy bars eaten on some roadside where I would stop long enough to eat and rest a minute or two.

Dinner, on the same night as the picture taken above, was a walk past a MacDonald's, the only one I rode by the entire trip, towards the Mexican restaurant, also the only one I came upon on the entire trip, up the street about a mile.  I popped into the MacDonald's for a plain cheeseburger, then up to the restaurant for an immediate cold Corona, a humongous burrito with additional rice and beans, a second Corona and then a walk back to the motel!  And it was something like that almost every day!

I have already started being careful, even home less than 24 hours to be much more careful of what I eat as I will be no longer exercising nearly as strenuously.After a day on the road, 30 miles or 50, my appetite was ravenous! The view from my window in Nashville of the State Capitol Building.





Leaving Illinois, but quite a few more hard miles until I'm done for the day in Grand Rivers, KY. 



My home for the night at Grand Rivers, KY. The rooms were clean, the price was right, $44 for the night and by morning, every room was full and the parking lot filled with tricked out trucks pulling all manner of fishing boats loaded with equipment. It looked like a combination outdoor fishing, camping and auto show at the Convention Center in Chicago.

By 6:00 AM, most all the trucks and boats were gone to get a head start on the Memorial Day Bass fishing derbies held all over the lakes.



Main Street, Great Rivers, KY.  This picture taken about 7:00 AM after the departure of all the fishermen. It was the same though, the previous evening about 7:30 after the town had settled down for the evening. Like so many resort areas, business really gets cranking between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. This is just a day or two early as Memorial Day is still 5 days off.



Across the street from where I stayed, this garage. I could not tell which brand they featured but finally decided that rather than try to build a brand, they would just sell everything! Advertising Art at its finest!



This is just one of the channels between bodies of water created by the dams across the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. This recreation area is huge!



Looking down from above on the reason grown men and women spend thousands on a boat and all the gear that goes along with it.  Getting an early start on the Bass fishing derby.  Good luck!



And the beat goes on... 4th state on this adventure.

I mentioned in an earlier post that 27 women passed me going north on a trip from Mobile, Alabama to Niagra Falls on a tour replicating the path of the Underground Railroad. What is remarkable to me is that not one of those riders was under 50 and I'm told the oldest is 65!  Great work ladies!



This is Lois Schneider, riding as part of that group and doing so representing the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She was just delightful and full of enthusiasm for her ride. We promised each other we'd post a picture of each other on our respective blogs. If you care to read more about her journey and the Make-A-Wish foundation, you may do so at: http://www.ugrr.wordpress.com



And these.



3 of about 25 or 30 hard to see American Bison grazing in a field set aside to protect them. It is estimated that at one time, through the 1700's, there were 50 million buffalo grazing on the Western Plains of North America. They supported the Native American tribes that migrated north and south with the animals. These Native Americans never killed an animal where they didn't use every part of them for food, clothing, tools and shelter.

With time and the entry of settlers who thought the supply of animals inexhaustible, the number of buffalo had been reduced to just a few thousand! Today, thanks to conservationists and Federal and State breeding and protection programs there are an estimated 250,000 buffalo surviving, mostly in Montana and other western plains states. 

It is estimated though, that there were also thousands of these animals that ranged from Tennessee and Kentucky clear up the eastern seaboard. Far fewer than on the Great Plains.  This park contains just a few of what remains today of those eastern herds. Imagine having 50 million of something and in less than 50 years, slaughtering all but a few thousand.

What can be done about that today? Not much for the buffalo except to view these remaining few as an example of what we are doing to our environment if we are not careful with our natural resources.  The example is there for all to see. Those few buffalo in the picture above are a graphic example of our wastefull behavior when we are neither aware nor respectful of nature around us.

My last night away from home, my bike boxed up at the train station and my rental car turned in at the airport, I settled down in the neighborhood near the station at a litte shop which advertised Quiche and Cheesecake. It was all that was open; so on this night, grown men WOULD eat Quiche. 

What an adventure! It turns out to be one of the most popular specialty restaurants in downtown Memphis.  I met all kinds of really nice people who were curious about this guy with the bike packs at his feet - I could not check them until an hour before departure, which was 8:30 PM - dressed in yellow and sitting in a predominately black neighborhood in Memphis!

All were friendly, amazed at my journey, encouraging and interested. It was graduation night all over town and many, many families came to this shop for dessert and to sit outside and just enjoy the evening. I had a slice of ham and cheese Quiche and a slice of spinach and artichoke Quiche. More than enough for two people and absolutely delicious. I had no room for the cheesecake. I must go back to finish the meal sometime!  If you are ever near the train station on South Main Street in Memphis, search out this small little restaurant. You will not be disappointed.

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This is a picture, along with a couple others that follow, of the Lorraine Motel, just off South Main Street and literally just around the corner from where I had dinner while waiting for the train in Memphis.  It is the location where Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated so many years ago. It is now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum and is a living testament to the civil rights struggle in our recent history.



Just outside room 305, marked by that wreath, is where history was changed that day.



The National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, TN.

I first became aware of this museum on a road trip that my son Matthew, now in the Peace Corps, and I made several years ago. When I realized that I might be unexpectedly in Memphis on this trip, I hoped to be able to re-visit the museum. Because of time constraints, I did not get to, much to my disappointment.

I believed then, as I do now, the collection of pictures, video and life sized replications of Dr. King and his associates is a stark and necessary reminder of a dark chapter of the political and social history of our country. I do believe that every citizen of this country, old and new, ought to take the time to visit here and see what sacrifices were made in order to steer a new path in social justice.

I remember two things about the visit Matt and I made. A sense of shame at the conduct and circumstances surrounding the treatment of an entire segment of our population by another, while at the same time being treated courteously and respectfully while going through that building by those whose lives had been so damaged. It was an awesome experience and one I'll never forget.

So, why end this adventure on such a note? When I started I was not sure exactly why I was going off on this extended bike ride, only that it was something I wanted to do, have trained to do and felt compelled to complete. Along the way, I met dozens of wonderful strangers who helped me, guided me and treated me to a short place in their lives.  In that entire 3 week period I never felt that my safety was in jeopardy nor did I feel that I was being mistreated by a single person.

I saw some beautiful country along quiet country roads, spent time in little towns struggling to survive change, ate with total strangers who had only kind words of encouragement and in the end, although I did not get to New Orleans, felt as though I had accomplished all I had set out to do. And done it with excitement, grace and a sense of great adventure.

At the end of the day, we are all the same, whether in large cities or small towns. No matter what color, nationality, faith or gender. Words of encouragement from total strangers as well as friends and family back home kept me going, kept me fresh in looking for the human kindness in people and always reminded me that in its simplest terms, all we really want for ourselves is to be loved and respected, to be allowed to pursue our goals and to be able to realize our successes along the way. 

Go visit that museum. It's a good start towards realizing those aspirations.

Thanks everybody for following along and take good care.  I hope you had as much fun along the way as I did.