Days 1 & 2

After two days, I am in Little Rock, staying at the most simple of motels.

Saturday morning, Sam and I left Kensington Market in a light rain. I was in a bit of a fog, having had friends in for dinner the night before. A good hour on the road solves all problems. We weren't long to the border, after which we headed across the north end of Detroit before turning south for Toledo (home of one of America's great art galleries, you should know) and Dayton (the home of the Wright Brothers).

We ended the day just over the border in eastern Kentucky, where the Ohio river separates Kentucky from Indiana. We had wanted to stay at Big Bone Lick Park, a place famous for the finding of mammoth bones in the 19th century, brought there centuries earlier by the salt lick. They were full, so we paid for a site on a large lawn, by the river. It was a splendid place, with a light overcast and the sun setting behind the hills across the river. I retired to bed after losing a game of two handed Euchre.

The camp site was also downhill, so when the sky opened up at 5 am, things turned rather ugly. Talking from one tent to the other, Sam suggested we get up and ride, not least because we were exposed to the lightning. I was unpersuaded, until 7 am, when water began pooling ion our tents. I dressed completely in the tent and set to packing up. There was no point in bagging the wet tent, so I strapped it to the bike.

We escaped the site as quickly as possible, and had breakfast by the highway. Sam left for Ottawa (a mere 1250 kms!) and I left for Little Rock. I feared a complete day of rain, but truth to tell things dried up pretty quickly, save one bit of hard thunder showers.

Rather than ride through Memphis, I rode across the top of Kentucky, dipping into Tennessee before crossing the Mississippi into Missouri, and then into Arkansas.

Riding American highways on a Sunday is a great pleasure. There are wonderful divided highways winding across all these states, often with reasonably high speed limits. If you are willing to ride a touch over the limit, you can make fine time.

The ride down the Mississippi delta was hot, terribly so, reminding me what the big challenge of this ride will be. But I will take it over the rain.

This morning I leave for College Station, where I hope to get my tires changed out before leaving for Mexico Tuesday morning. It promises to be a long hot ride to get through northern Mexico in a day.

Keep looking ahead.