Day 20 - New Haven, Kentucky to White Mills, Kentucky

Tuesday May 10,2016 34.8 miles(56.0 km)

After a great night of sleep at the Sherwood Inn, I felt ready to go on this planned short day.  I had looked at the sky and though cloudy it didn't look so bad.  I stopped by the Subway restaurant to get a quick breakfast, as I was pedaling the block or so to get there I noticed the sky get very dark quickly.  As I walk in the rain starts.  I stayed in the Subway drinking coffee and eating my breakfast sandwich for about 40 minutes waiting for the rain to slow down some which it finally did.

This day was a day about Abraham Lincoln and his early life in Kentucky.  The first reminder of his early life in Kentucky I came across was the historical marker near where his first formal education began.

Lincoln's First School Historical Marker

My next stop was Lincoln Boyhood Home at Knob Creek, an location managed by the National Park Service as part of the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park.  On the site is the Lincoln Tavern built in the 1920s as the boyhood home became a tourist attraction and the reconstructed cabin pictured below.  The home at Knob Creek is the first home that Abraham Lincoln remembered.  He lived at Knob Creek from age 2 to age 6.

Reconstructed Boyhood Home

My next stop was downtown Hodgenville, Kentucky where in the town square they have two statues of Abraham Lincoln, ones as a young boy reading a book while sitting on a stump with his dog next to him and the other as President of the United States.

Young Abraham Lincoln

President Abraham Lincoln

Also while in Hodgenville I stopped by the Sweet Shoppe for a couple of chocolate chip cookies and a very large pecan turtle candy, all were very good.

My next stop was at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park.  The park is located at what was Sinking Springs Farm where Lincoln was born February 12, 1809.  At the park is a large memorial building on the top of the hill where the Lincoln's had their home.  Inside the memorial is a reproduction of what the Lincoln home may have looked like.

Memorial Building

Symbolic Lincoln Birthplace

Also at the park in Sinking Spring, the namesake for the Lincoln farm and probably the source of the first water that a young Abraham Lincoln would have drank.

Sinking Spring

During the day I rode through mostly farmland with horses and cattle.  The cows often just stand and watch be pass.  Makes me wonder what they are thinking, "Oh there goes another stupid cyclist" or something to that effect.

Watchful Cows

The horses pictured below I saw from a distance as I was riding up and they kept watching me.  I stopped by their pasture and they were on the other side.  I called out to them and they came trotting over to me.  They were quite friendly and I pet them both.

Friendly Horse

Friendly Horse

Fortunately the day was planned as a short ride as the afternoon progressed the skies grew darker and soon my phone sounded off an alert of a tornado warning.  At the time I was about 2 miles from my destination.  I rode those two miles a very quick pace.  During that time three drivers stopped to let me know of the bad weather that was on the way.  I pulled into the White Mills Volunteer Fire Station and got hold of my contact and was given the information on how to access the building.  I was safely inside when the storm hit.  The storm was worse further to the north than it was at the station but was furious enough that I was glad I was spending the night inside.  It stormed on and off through the night.