Day 11

Found out that the park closed their laundry room nearly a year ago.  I will write a review on trip adviser about this as it is still on their maps and website.  So a trip into a small town called Bismarck to attend to the laundry.  Kevin cycled 27 km around the park. Another very warm day here in the 30's C. A short walk along the lake shore in front of our site and enjoyed the view.

Day 10

We started golf at 7:30 am in an effort to beat the heat. Reaching in the low 30'sC these last few days. Once again DeGray State Park Golf course has challenging raised tee blocks and greens.

We have a fabulous large campsite here

 

This is the view

After supper we sat and watched three deer wonder along the lake edge.

Day 9

This is our first time in Arkansas and found tree lined highways and many crop farms similar to home. DeGray State Park is on a large lake.

Traveled 340km    Gas $2.20 gal

Day 8

The campsite at the SP is small but quite nice. Lots of shaded sites and is very peaceful. Today we went to Memphis and cycled on Mud Island which is a large sandbar in the Mississippi river with mostly recreational use land and one nice area of houses and condominiums. We put on about 17 km cycling along the river. To reach the island we actually had to take our bikes in an elevator and then ride across a sky bridge.  The island also has a scaled replica of part of the Mississippi river with very interesting educational posts along it.

Then off to Beale St for beer and ribs. Then we went to the Cotton Exchange museum. Admission for seniors (us) is $9 and worth the price. Learned a lot about the cotton industry over the last few centuries and were surprised that working and living conditions continued to remain poor until the latter half of the twentieth century.

Day 6 & 7

Day 6 & 7:

We left Kentucky Horse Park and headed to Nashville for a quick overnight. We would definitely stay at KHP again.

Traveled 421 km. Gas: $2.04 per gal

Nashville to T.O. Fuller State Park near Memphis. The park is adjacent to the Chucalissa Village that is now an archaeological site.  It is worth the visit. The center has an array of artifacts and does a good job of describing what the village was like in the 14th century. 

 There are only building mounds left now but the exhibit has built some structures that are likely what was present when the site was abandoned 500 years ago.

Kevin felt he is handy with wood but probably would not be able to repair this canoe!!

Traveled  310 km. Gas: $2.10 gal

Day 5

Explored the Kentucky Horse Park on foot this morning,  We enjoyed watching some jumping competition taking place in the Rolex Stadium.  This sign was just outside an old cemetery situated on the grounds.  After reading this and thinking about it for a minute, we figured that neither of us would do well 200 years ago!!!

In the afternoon we golfed at Connemara Golf Course.  This course was once a goat farm and we are convinced possibly mountain goats as it was very hilly with many raised tee blocks and greens making for a challenging play. We did not know in advance that that this course was owned by the Brewery we had toured yesterday so were able to enjoy some of the oak barrel aged beer again.

Day 4

There is a very nice bike trail from the campground to Lexington.  It is paved all the way and is about 13 km each way.  A very scenic way to see the county side.

We are in the heart of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.  So today we toured Town Branch Brewery and Distillery.  Having beer aged in oak barrels gives it quiet a unique flavor.  The pic below is part of a mural at the distillery summarizing the timeline relating to beer..........along with notable quotes from famous people regarding the benefits of this particular beverage.  

For those of you now enjoying your Pumpkin Spice Lattes Sandra now prefers the following type.

Our first evening of wind and a few sprinkles.

Day 3

Today's route. 

Once we entered Kentucky the beautiful rolling hills began.  We reached Kentucky Horse Park Campground by 11:30.  Set up camp and enjoyed our site.  Very nice campground with lots of large shade trees.  We went for a cycle ride over to the Kentucky Horse Park and found this nice tribute to Secretariat.

Traveled 250 km.

Day 2

Sunny warm day reaching 25C.  Over 100kms of today's travel was through construction .  Very narrow lanes and heavy truck traffic. Once again a Walmart stay.

 Traveled 403 km                     Gas $2.04 per gal.

Day 2 route

310 to Yuma Day 1

310 to Yuma. We are hoping for many adventures with none of the gun slinging of the movie. Our first picture is of our planned route. We expect to travel 11,000 km in 80 days. This is our first venture of this length. Not true snowbirds as we leave home when the weather is still warm and will be home for the winter skiing. Day 1's route takes us from Collingwood ON to Fort Gratiot MI. Along the route we saw many farm fields in their fall state of golden hay being bailed and soya bean plants turning rust in color. Crossing the boarder went very smoothly. We spent this night at Walmart as stacking up with groceries that we cannot carry across the boarder is a must.  Walmart camping is convenient for the nights between consecutive long travel days.  Helpful hint:  we use allstays.com for walmart information.

304 km travelled                              Gas $2.40 gal.

Day 1 route.