Miles 4 Melanoma

We were surprised to find that most of the hunters at the camp site got an earlier start than we did this morning; the only people remaining when we left were some folks in an RV (who had left their generator running all night). We had a quick bagel and and banana for breakfast, but intended to find some more substantial breakfast at the first available town along the route.

The town of Ammons appeared to be a Mennonite community; there was not distinct downtown area or any businesses, just a few houses and a church. The next town, about 20 miles into the ride, was Cloverport, but the only restaurant in town was closed because it was Labor Day. We desperately needed to at least refill our water bottles; the only thing available at first was a pop machine in town, so we both got a coule of Cokes. Further out on the edge of town, there was another machine with bottled water, so we stocked up some more there.

The next town was Hawesville, about 10 miles later. Since it was situated more on the main highway, more businesses were open. We stopped in a grocery store to ask about breakfast, and they recommended we try Irby’s Restaurant in town. We called the restaurant first to make sure they were open, and we headed in. It was just the kind of place we were looking for–good home cooking and friendly atmosphere. The manager remarked that she had been seeing a lot of cyclists coming through in the past year; we explained that it was probably because of the new Underground Railroad Bicycle Route.

In order to take a more direct route and avoid some hills, we stayed on the main Highway 60 instead of the UGRR as we left Hawesville and worked our way to Owensboro. In town, we started looking for a place to stay, and after making some phone calls, settled on the Windy Hollow Campground. This was about 9 miles south of town, which was good, since we intended to make our way further south anyway. The route was pretty easy flat from town to the campground, until the very last quarter-mile right before we got there, which was the steepest hill of the day.

The owner at the check-in booth gave us a break on the nightly campsite rate ($20 instead of $25). They had a snack bar and swimming lake, and they were just getting ready to close both for the season, so we made it just in time. We really wanted a snack, and the only thing they had was Gatorade and corn dogs; Ray reluctantly agreed to both. Then we took a quick dip in the lake before setting up our tents, cooking our dinner, and turning in for the night.

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