Day One to Rochester, NY

Just a short post to let everyone know we're okay. It was a rough day from the start. For whatever reason I couldn't sleep and finally managed to get 3 1/2 hours before getting up at 7 am....to rain, lots of rain.

We ate, got the bikes loaded under the awning and geared up best as we could. We hit the road at 9:15 (CT) after stopping for gas. We had no idea that it was going downhill from there. Our route today was all back roads, twisty mountain roads with little room for error. We made two stops. The first was at a McDonald's around noon (ET). It was pouring, we were dripping and getting cold.

My jacket that I had carefully waterproofed twice, was soaked and that meant my two layers underneath were also soaked...at least the sleeves. I always carry a spare long-sleeved shirt in my saddlebags so I changed into that. My fleece and neck buff dried fairly well under the bathroom hand drier. Stu did the same with some of his gear.

Since my jacket wasn't keeping me dry, I layered my Harley rain jacket underneath, not wanting to trap in the wet from the outer jacket. I got a pair of disposable gloves that I layered underneath my not working so well rain gloves.

The rain lessened, we were warmer and we headed off again. We stopped around two at The Bread of Life Cafe in Liberty, KY. We were both chilled to the bone, Stu's boots had soaked through, I was shivering and couldn't feel my hands. We needed to dry out, warm up and eat...not necessarily in that order.

The waitress brought us a bath towel to dry off a bit and then I put it on the floor under my jacket to catch the water pooling there. The coffee was hot and plentiful, the food was good and the service excellent. Stu got two plastic shopping bags and put them over dry socks inside his wet boots. We both dug out dry gloves and I added my denim jacket under my other layers.

Let's see...camisole top, long sleeved tee, lightweight denim jacket, fleece windbreaker topped with my rain jacket. The original textile jacket was now rolled up and fastened with a cargo net to my luggage. Since the temperature was dropping and the jacket was soaked through, it was acting like a refrigeration layer. Brrrr.....

The rain was almost gone but the temperatures continued to drop. By the time we found a hotel in Nicholasville (Holiday Inn Express), it was down to 49 degrees and we were done for the night.

Gear is now spread all over the room, drying out. We're warmed up, full of hot coffee and resting. Aleve....take me away! Tomorrow is another day, less rain but cooler temperatures. We both dug our electric gear out of our saddlebags...hopefully we'll have a LOT less rain.

We had hoped to make 300 miles today and tomorrow, making Thursday an easy 150 miles. Didn't happen...made 135 miles today. Weather will determine if we can make it up tomorrow. Once we hit the interstate system we can make better time.

Oh, funny moment of the day....Stu and I standing in the foyer of the restaurant with him balancing on one leg, changing into dry socks and a guy stops to talk about the trike and how his wife wants one. Had to smile....

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu