Day Forty One - 4 States today - Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana & Ohio

We got another nice early start today - on the road at 6:43 AM. It was a cool 61 degrees, but just a few miles down the road we ran into some heavy low fog and the temps dropped into the mid 50's. The dampness of the fog made it feel colder than it was but our gear was adequate.

Day 41 Track

We started out heading south on US-27 headed for he Tennessee border. We would cut right through the Daniel Boone National Forest on Hwy 438 which was a very twisty road. It was posted 35 MPH and the early part was thickly settled so we had to keep the speeds down at first. After a while it was less congested and we got some good running in. At one point as I came around a curve there was a chicken standing right in the middle of my lane. He didn't budge a bit as I swerved around him, nor even as Larry came around on the other side! A little further I came up on two dogs on the edge of the road. One was laying down and the other was walking next to him. They both looked hard at me as I went by, and the dog laying down got up and made a half hearted attempt to chase Larry as he went by. After that fun, we turned onto I-75 southbound for the Tennessee border which we needed for the I've Been Everywhere Man Tour.

I've Been Everywhere Man - Tennessee

Right after crossing into Tennessee, we got off  on US-20W and ran down into the town of Jellico which we needed for the I've Been Everywhere Man Tour. We first went to the post office, but it was another where there was no city or state name listed. Plan B was the police station which did list the city name which was all we needed for this one.

I've Been Everywhere Man - Jellico

From Jellico, we would reverse direction and head back north, but we decided to take an early coffee break to give the fog a chance to lift. You can see some of the fog in the Tennessee border photo. It did lift somewhat, at least the sky was a little brighter and it was a couple of degrees warmer. It would be a long haul to our next checkpoint - Boston, IN for the I've Been Everywhere Man Tour. It would be 255 miles! We did run some secondary roads, but it would be more interstate 75 than anything else. We ran clear back up through Kentucky and into Indiana before we broke for lunch. It was here that I noticed that my bike was leaking coolant onto the ground. I checked the level and added some, but this problem is getting worse and threatens completing the trip. We got of I-75 and onto IN-1 and then IN-101 and ran up these secondary roads to get into Boston, IN where we took this photo.

I've Been Everywhere Man - Boston

From Boston, we headed north into Richmond where we turned east on 121 and crossed over into Ohio. We continued on into New Paris and then got on some "really back roads" to get us over to the post office in Eldorado for the I've Been Everywhere Man Tour. I mean these roads were through and between corn fields on narrow roads with names like "Paul McKee Rd", and "B road". Somehow we did come out to the post office and got our photos. We got in here at 1:30 PM.

I've Been Everywhere Man - Eldorado

From Boston we would jump onto  I-75 again for the final leg of the day up into Dayton. We originally planned on going to the hotel and then getting the downtown Dayton checkpoints early tomorrow morning, but since we got in so early we opted to go for them this afternoon. First up was the Fifth Third Field, home of the minor league team Dayton Dragons for the Baseball Tour.

Baseball Tour - Fifth Third Field (Dayton, OH)

From ther we headed over to the Dayton Post office, but the first one we went to had a sign - CLOSED - and no city or state listed on it. We searched for the next nearest one and found it .3 miles away. It was open but the lettering for the name was in small print on the doors inside the vestibule. We took two photos, one from away showing the post office insignia and the vestibule, and then the other a close-up of the door with the city/state names on it. While running around here in town I did have my temperature gauge showing elevated engine temps so I was shutting it off at red lights.

I've Been Everywhere Man - Dayton

Close-up showing Dayton OH on the post office door from above photo

From here we headed on over to the hotel and checked in. I looked closely at my bike and it was still leaking coolant, so the problem is getting worse and we really needed to consider what to do next. Once checked in, I looked up Honda Dealers and found one 16 miles north of our hotel. It was even better that they were open today (most are closed on Sundays and Mondays). I called and spoke to the service manager and explained my situation. He assured me that they would do their very best to get me fixed up if I came in tomorrow morning. Larry and I discussed the options and decided that I would go get the bike serviced while he rides on the scheduled route tomorrow. With a little luck, I'll get fixed up and either catch up with him tomorrow or the following day. I will miss some checkpoints, but will still complete the tours, just with fewer points than planned.

With that decided, we went to the Cracker Barrel next door for dinner.

Today's Stats: 405.1 miles in 9:32 elapsed time, 7:43 saddle time.