Day 17: Grand Rivers, KY

Houston this is wounded duck over.  We have found a friendly port here in Grand Rivers, Ky.  Unfortunately lost the communication (comm) link last night due to
an excessive pork chop and a long day in the saddle but knew that I would be holding steady here for one more day to again stop the wheels and cool the heels.  Plans to continue on to Paducah, Ky for the night were thankfully thwarted for the temperature was rising at the same rate that my smiling face was falling.  The Land between the Lakes recreation area turned out to be indeed beautiful, and wet, and chocked full of adventure.  The adventure continued to rise and fall over some beautiful countryside, however by the end of the afternoon was definitely looking for some fuel for both the nag and the duck.  Houston my intent was to ride on to Paducah for a potential bicycle shop target to get the ol' honey back in tip top shape, however as I took the lovely old gals advice from the northern welcome center, I rolled into find a barbecue spot, and found both the barbecue and bicycle shop next to one another here at grand rivers.  As it turns out this little haven on Lake Kentucky is like a blast into the past.  Like the movie "Big Fish" when he stumbles across the village in the middle of the forest all lit up with white lights, well Grand Rivers has the same tradition with similar old "western" store fronts and atmosphere.  A little lake town, actually two bodies of water straddle this little oasis, Grand Rivers is chalked full of friendlies including Veronica, whom immigrated from Hungary in 1986, runs the Grand Rivers Inn, and consequently gave Wounded Duck a 25% Bicycler's discount.  Had dinner last night at Patties 1800's settlement which was kind of like a miniature amusement/tourist park attached to the the locally famous restaurant where duck bit into the house specialty; a 2" thick Pork Chop.  It turned out to be both delicious and succulent with the juices flowing freely down my chinny chin chin, however I would argue the 2".  Perhaps it was 2" before throwing it on the cooker, but on the plate she looked more like 1 3/4" maybe 1 7/8", regardless the thing was uber yummy and went down with a baked potato the size of a watermelon and about two pitchers of water. 
 
It seems that's one of the biggest things to do while on this trip is downing gallons of water (and if I can get it a couple of lemon wedges for taste).  And it may sound odd but I'm absolutely loving it even if the wallet continues to cause Gatorade stock to rise at breakneck speeds (tip for everyone: by a couple of shares for it should definitely yield a 15% return by summer's end).  My body is completely drenched by 7:30 in the morning by the average 95% humidity and I feel spectacular.  While rolling through the wilderness area yesterday I found a little patch of grass under an oak tree for my morning breather flopping down, as I like to do, for a cool stretch with my bottle of water and took advantage of having a one-way chat with a local.  Just on the other side of the fence/ shaded flop down zone was one of a herd of about 50 buffalo thinking that our little spot was just as enjoyable as I.  Topics of conversation: asked him if he felt like getting a hair cut, how the kentucky blue grass went down, and if the heat made sleeping at night unbearable.  The big fella turned out not to be much of a talker but didn't seem to mind my inquisition. 

Stand by Houston for yesterday's hard count: 
Mileage: 57 miles
Time in the saddle and not in the shady drop zone talking to an uninterested buffalo: 4:51
People who offered up a couple of Cliff Bars and a couple of bottles of cold water at the Visitor's center whilst we talked about life and what is true: 7 (2 adult, 5 tikes)
Hills: some but not too many
States finished: 1 (not too sad to leave tennessee, nice people, great water pressure, but the drivers were not top notch)
hot tubs that were freshly cleaned out and filled up early this morning by my lovely hungarian inn keeper: 1
hours spent talking over coffee with aforementioned inn keeper about her and her daughter's trip to Iceland/ Greenland after graduating from Duke: 2
hours slept last night and today: many
Heat Index today: 104 degrees (another reason to take a day off)
and finally bikes freshly tuned up with new spongy handlebar grips and dialed in for the next 1000 miles or so: 1 nag

Time to take another nap and another soak in the tub houston. should be in Illinois by tomorrow- wounded duck out.