_Day 6 - 20 June - 190 miles
Raccoon Mountain - TVA
Craven House & Lookout Mountain
_The Parks
Ruby Falls is a magnificent underground waterfall which we passed up in favour of the challenging mountain road leading to the Craven House and Lookout Mountain, both significant battlefield monuments. The Road Chattanooga is a nightmare! Several times we stopped to find we were still on our route, only to find we had lost it when we thought we were doing ok. Shelley, Thom’s Softtail, needed oil after climbing Lookout Mountain. Eventually we found our way ... and an Autozone! We grabbed a quick bite at a Taco Bell then continued on to Etowah, where we stopped for coffee. Not good for me to not have coffee for so many hours, weak coffee at that! Lodging With the clarity of 20-20 hindsight we should have turned there and gone into Tellico Plains. The State Park I had us headed for was a day use area - no camping. We rode in circles looking for information or a place until Thom realized I was out of it when I almost dropped Rosie at a stop. We were close to a Motor Inn in Madisonville TN, which I thought was too expensive and wouldn’t take our credit cards. He correctly insisted. I was shaking. When I give up cigarettes my blood sugar crashes and the long days riding were catching up. It was at 83, well below fasting limits. He went out and brought me what food and snacks he could find. I’m glad he’s along. He may very well have saved my life by making me stop! |