Berea, Kentucky, to Booneville, Kentucky -- 61 miles

We woke at 5:45 am and left at 7 am, saying goodbye to Mary, the innkeeper, on our way out. About 5 miles outside of town, we hit lots of morning fog, and had to stop and wait for the fog to clear. We took the Murphys Ford shortcut to save about 7 miles and skip some hills. At the end of the road, we made a wrong turn and went a couple miles out of our way – the shortcut still saved us about 5 miles. We stopped at a house and asked to fill our water bottles from their pump. We spoke to Ruby and Darvel Barrett, and Jesse Metcalf about our trip. Ruby & Darvel told us that many more bikers used to go past their house in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. We ate our lunch at a picnic area in the town of Vincent. 

We spoke to one of the National Guardsmen who also had stopped there. He said they were out looking for marijuana crops and cutting them down. They use helicopters and ground vehicles to spot and collect the illegal crops. He said they’ve assisted the state police in 73 arrests since June 1st! He said that sometimes the owners set booby traps around their crop – the worst one was a rattlesnake tied to the base of a plant! We were amused to see their dune buggy-type vehicle, piled high with marijuana plants, and later wished that we had taken a photo! 

We got to Booneville by 3 pm and checked into the Goodman Motel. When we went out to get something to eat, the sky was cloudy and it began pouring rain. The rain stopped after just 15 minutes, and the air turned humid. We enjoyed filling, homemade food at Dooley’s Diner. We stopped at the local grocery, where the shelves were sparsely stocked. When Lenny asked the owner how he was doing, he replied that business was not good and the prospects did not look good for the future. Lenny made a few phone calls from the pay phone, then we watched TV before bedtime.