Day 56: The Kentucky Derby

Today was our last in Kentucky as we took to the road 72 miles to Huntington, West Virginia. The ride this morning reminded me of our second day in Skykomish, WA; it was overcast and misty out. The terrain was on a secondary highway that was lush in trees, grass, and overgrown plants. The ride today was very pretty until we jumped back onto the main interstate. This route is known at Push America as the “Kentucky Derby Day” because of all the dogs that chase you while riding. I don’t think there is a fence law in Kentucky so the dogs around here in the country roam free and can be vicious. They would bark at us and run with us until finally giving up, some of them only within inches of our wheels which was a little scary.

Everyone had a good ride today as we arrived at the Holiday Inn for lodging. Huntington is near Marshall College, a featured movie that shows a tragedy involving their football team in the seventies. For lunch a few of us ate at the famous burger joint Five Men, which had very good burgers and fries. After unpacking and showering we headed to our friendship visit at a local park with the Mountain State Center for Independent Living. They set up funding and help for people with disabilities to live on their own whether that be in a wheelchair or with a mental disability. They sponsored dinner with a catered meal from a local BBQ restaurant. I talked with some of the sponsors and learned a lot about who they were and why they joined that organization. They had a local radio station at the visit playing their live music and talking about Push America the whole time we were there. They interviewed a few of us and encouraged donations over the radio.

After dinner Sloan, Wallis and I lifted in the weight room and later Josh, Sean, and I went out for an hour and talked about how the Journey is going. Tomorrow we only have a 50 mile day, it should be fun as we head into the mountains around here.