Day 1: 4/18/21; Home to Mousetail Landing State Park, TN

 With both my daughters and my son-in-law now all living in Kansas, would there be a better reason to ride my bicycle to Kansas?  I think not.  So a couple of weeks ago, I began organizing a route and making plans to bike to Kansas to see them. Lisa will drive to Kansás with her dad and will meet me there in about a week and a half.

Lisa and I said our goodbyes, and I pulled out at about 6 a.m. because I was planning a high mileage day today.  

Below are pics from today's sunrise, the Elk River, and some nice North Alabama country scenery.

I entered into Tennessee and was primarily on quiet country roads with some calming views.  My route took me over/beside several small creeks/branches.

But you know you've really chosen a good bike route when the road goes through the creek.

Right where the road crossed the 2 creeks pictured above was this neat country church.

There was even an old rickety bridge (pic below) right beside the church that crossed the creek pictured above that ran across the road.  I don't think it has been used in awhile, but I wonder how much it was used years ago.

From the homemade sign below, it is obvious that part of my route today was on the Trans America Trail (TAT).  The TAT is a 5000 mile back roads, primarily unpaved, motorcycle route across the U.S.  

My route took me near Lawrenceburg, TN, and the former Crockett Mill.

I rode about 5 miles on the Natchez Trace Parkway, and exited the parkway at the Meriwether Lewis monument (pics below).

The only towns I actually bike's through today we're Minor Hill, TN, Hoenwald, TN, and Linden, TN.  Below are some pics from around Linden.

I made it to Mousetail Landing State Park, my home for the night.  

The pic below accurately depicts the last about 3 tenths of a mile to my campsite.

Total miles today:  107.4