Day 1 - Heading East through Tennessee

Day1 Rainy View, originally uploaded by Gail S.

We started our Fall Bike Trip on a soggy day during a soggy month. You know it's going to be bad when the Weather Channel does a special report about flash flood warnings in Pulaski, Tennessee...right on our route for the day.

I hate to admit that yesterday Sid almost had me convinced to take the trip in our Prius (which gets better gas mileage than the motorcycle does). I said, "How do we take our Fall 2009 Bike Trip - WITHOUT the bike?" He said, "We take the car and we don't get wet!" Two hours later when I was mentally ready to pack the car, he changed his mind with the rationale that we have been wet before.

So, we donned our rain suits and took off on our Honda 1800 VTX Retro with matching trailer attached to the back of the bike. It was raining periodically, so I kept the camera tucked inside my rain jacket. Thus, I missed the photos of some of the riders on the Trail of Tears Motorcycle Ride. They were heading from Chattanooga to Florence, Alabama. Sid noticed that most of them weren't wearing rain suits. Now that's a soggy ride!

See Rock City Barn, Mt. Prospect, Tennessee, originally uploaded by Gail S.

We passed three Rock City barns today. Because of the rain, I was able to capture only this one...an elusive barn in a curve behind a big tree, just outside of Mt. Prospect, Tennessee. Sid promised me we would come back to photograph the one between Waynesboro and Lawrenceburg. I've never managed to get a photo of it, but have passed it so many times. I told him I would remember that promise.

We made it to Winchester, Tennessee, where we found the town square...and a motel at the edge of Tims Ford Lake. We met bikers from Florida on their way to Bowling Green, Kentucky. They rode for 9 hours today. Wow!

Well, I must finish planning our route tomorrow to Sweetwater, Tennessee. Keep us in your thoughts...think dry weather, please.