This day could be largely summed up as blue skies and great cycling, biscuits and bacon and eggs for breakfast (thanks, Noel!), some stops at sites that included Meriwether Lewis’s grave, more great cycling and blue skies, many lovely creeks, some hard conversations with my traveling partner about being more present in the moment and not worrying about the plans for eight days from now, laughing with our new friend Carlos, some more great cycling, and then a diversion into Florence, Alabama, where we rode in white-knuckled highway conditions and then had cold drinks at the marina where we were seated by a young guy wearing an NPR t-shirt, followed by getting cleaned up at our hotel and walking downtown for a lovely meal at an amazing bistro named Odette’s that nearly brought us to tears because they had a kale salad AND asparagus on the menu.
Off to Muscle Shoals in the morning to see several studios, and then we are back on the Trace and heading to a cabin at Tishmingo State Park.
Confluence 
“I see the moon, and the moon sees me.”
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Lisa, what was in Odette’s kale salad? We again have signed up for a weekly CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box of vegetables. This year’s starts up in a couple of weeks. Last year and the year before we got a lot of kale. It seemed too tough for us. Judith ended up steaming it and serving it with a dash of vinegar, as she does with beet greens and chard. Today, BTW, she got some nice looking asparagus at Aldi’s.
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Could you give ME the talk about being in the moment? 😊 It sounds like another day in paradise; what a gift.
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This whole trip has been that challenge for me, i’m getting there with the help of my Zen master biking partner
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Massage the kale before using in salad and it won’t be tough.
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Remember what John Lennon said….. “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making plans “.
So true….
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Great to see your progress!
Looking forward to Spoon and a Surly beer when you get back.
We are leaving for our relatively dinky bike trip on Monday – thanks for the inspiration!
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Safe travels! And that concert and Surly can’t come soon enough…!
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Glad to see you back on schedule and enjoying great scenery and mostly great trails. I enjoy traveling with you from my rocking chair.
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Ahh!! I wondered if you might get to Hohenwald!! That’s where Sara worked at the Elephant Sanctuary and where Parker was born and then rescued by me. I always thought that town was cute but mysterious. Jodi Picoult’s book Leaving Time was inspired by events in the elephant sanctuary’s history. Because I had the scoop already from Sara, I really enjoyed reading that book. Safe travels.
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Linda, I was wondering why the town name seemed so familiar…! Weirdly, there were a lot of promotional brochures where were staying, but there was no mention of the elephant sanctuary.
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You guys are visiting my old state! You’ve got this trip almost all wrapped up, you both deserve a (few?) Vieux Carre(s) in New Orleans. And a long rest!
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