We all slept great last night but I was up at 5:00am and ready for breakfast soon after. I got an early start because I had lost a bet and had to do an extra 25 miles today!!!

While the other were eating breakfast . . . I was on the road my 8:00am. Had to wait for it to warm up!!!

We have not seen much wildlife on this trip but along the way this morning, in the early light, I saw this mother and her does feeding along the edge of a field.

These were some very curious looking geologic features I saw along the way . . . maybe someone out there knows what they are??

In twenty miles I was to the Alabama state line and stopped to commemorate the moment with a photo of Traci TREK.

Caught between two states . . . which way to go!!!!

Not only were we biking along a National Parkway but we were also passing through a National Heritage Area today . . .

Soon the boys tied up with me at the Tennessee River where we crossed the highest bridge we would cross on this trip.

Lets roll and try to beat the rain!!!

We rolled across the landscape through Alabama on our 57 mile route today. Rain predicted at 1:00pm and we were hoping it would hold off. No stopping for lunch today . . .

. . . so BillyB had packed enough in his jersey for all of us!!!!

Another very interesting landmark we stopped at the Bear Creek Indian Mound . . . it was, well, . . . BIG!

Another state line  today as we cross into Mississippi. We will ride the rest of the trip in Mississippi.

Soon we had finished the ride but not before the rains started. We cycled through sprinkles and light showers for the last 5 miles of the ride. Cold and chilly we decided to van to Florence for lunch. Since the start of  the ride we have seen exit signs off the Trace for  Florence, so we thought that was the place for lunch. We were staying in Belmont tonight and from the looks of it on the map, Florence might be a better lunch menu.

After hitting a ‘packaged goods’ store we headed across the street to Logan’s Roadhouse, which is very similar to a Texas Roadhouse. We chomped away on peanuts, through the shells on the floor, drank beer and waited for our wet gear to dry.

After much discussion, we had to ask Toby our waiter which state we were in TN, AL or MS????? Ended up we were in MS!!!  We explained our whole ride to him and how we were so enamored to see what Florence had to offer that we had driven 45 miles to have lunch there after our ride. He laughed and told us we were not in Florence  . . . but Muscle Shoals, AL !!!! We had stopped at the first ‘packaged goods’ store we found and thought it was in Florence. Florence was another five miles down the road, So . . .  after all of our efforts, we never got to Florence. Next trip!!!!

We had a great lunch, that stretched into about 2 hours of eating and drinking, warming up AND drying out. TommyH had the special that had only been on the menu for two days . . .

. . .  a smoked turkey leg.

He was hungry and it only took about 20 minutes and this was the result. The Horror . . . The Horror!!!

BillyB had a ‘small steak and baked potato’ but was still hungry so decided to have a ‘small’ dessert!!!

You may think he is asking God for forgiveness but he is really trying to channel with his wife, Marci, who is a nutritionist!!!!

Yippeeee!!!!

Billy has been trying to eat healthy, though. This was his breakfast from the other day . . . he acquired a taste for bacon during his career as a firefighter . . .

. . . but he does do a good job of countering the ’ying’ with the ‘yan’!!!

We finally had eaten, drunken and desserted, as well as dried out, so it was time to say goodbye to Toby and  Sara from the Logan Roadhouse and head back to the Belmont, and the Belmont Hotel, our home for the night.

The City of Belmont population is under 2,000 and they are currently many, many yard signs posted around town regarding allowing liquor or not. The referendum is being held November 3, so we will be checking on the outcome.

The Belmont Hotel is a stately Grand Dame of a place and we had a great time talking to the manager Gary.

Almost too good of a place  for our unruly group. Gary encouraged us to wheel our wet bikes right through the foyer onto the back room for storage. So we did!!