It’s our end-of-the-2010-riding-season road trip to…
– cue drum roll, please –
Kentucky.
Motorcycle traveling is unlike regular travel. With regular travel, be it by car, bus, train, plane or camel, one typically identifies some cool places to visit and then finds the fastest, most-convenient way to get there. Two-wheeled travel is often more about the ride than the destination. We hardly ever take the most-direct route. We pretty much always prefer rural routes over interstate highways. Especially if said rural routes wind through the mountains.
Why Kentucky?
Well, Hell. Why not? According to Wikipedia, Kentucky is “home to the highest per capita number of deer and turkey in the United States, the largest free-ranging elk herd east of Montana, AND the nation’s most productive coalfield.” Plus, it’s known for thoroughbred horses, horse racing, bourbon distilleries, bluegrass music, automobile manufacturing, tobacco and college basketball.
Need I say more?
Okay, how about this for a really compelling reason.
I chose Kentucky because it’s a state I haven’t been to. Plus, it’s the heart of Appalachia. And we’ll get to see the real Cumberland Gap. Real as opposed to Cumberland, Maryland, which I used to think of as the Cumberland Gap, but which is really the Cumberland Narrows.
As if those aren’t enough reasons, there’s also this… I’ve been wanting to explore southern West Virginia a bit more. We’ve ridden through before. But this time we’ll be spending a little more time poking around.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time plotting a route that should have us traversing a lot of roads that look like this…
Roads like that are what make this so much fun.
We’ll get to add another national park to our list of places visited. AND a cool Kentucky state park. We’ll be doing some other fun stuff, too. But I can’t give it all away here.
There’s one place I’m hoping will really tickle Hubby. I’m the trip planner, remember? I don’t always share the details in advance. Usually because he doesn’t really want to know.
I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures to share here, okay? I may even be able to do some posts from the road.
For now, though, I have a ton of WORK to get done. So, TTFN!
Great trip! Lucky you!
I’ve always wanted to ride to that part of the country. Haven’t yet. It’s sure to be wonderful. Please post a trip-report afterward so we can live vicariously through your adventure. 🙂
I definitely missed your talent on You Capture today but I’m excited for you on your upcoming trip. I’ve never been a motorcycle enthusiast BUT I can see how it would be a very free and relaxed way to travel. And I love that you take the by-roads instead of the interstates. For years I griped about not seeing anything when we travel but now I’ve gotten caught up in the “lets hurry and get there” mindset. (Usually we’re heading for one of the kids’ houses.)
I’ll be looking forward to the amazing pictures that I know you’ll share!
Oh! And, go ahead and look up my youngest daughter in Louisville. lol
Oh, how exciting!
The Nada Tunnel is pretty nifty. And the ride up on the chairlift at Natural Bridge is pretty exciting if you’re scared of heights 😉
There is some really nice riding through the Daniel Boone National Forest. I hope you both have an excellent time. I cant wait to see the pics!
Thanks Fuzzy. I haven’t told Hubby about Nada or Natural Bridge. I’m really looking forward to seeing them both. We’re actually spending a night at that state park, so hopefully we’ll have time to see it all. It won’t be the Alps, though. 🙂
Sounds like a fun trip – have fun, you deserve it!! I’m looking forward to lots and lots of pictures (though maybe not quite as many as the hundreds of our Crete trip Mike accidentally saw. :-))