A Three Hour Tour

After a morning full of vacuuming, carpet shampooering and cleaning up this disaster:



(Tycho, who loves to knock things down, destroyed one of Brad's terrariums.) I HAD to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

I decided today to find a new favorite route (they all become favorites, so why have just one?) and headed out towards Jonesborough. Equipped with both my DSLR and iPhone, I still managed to take very few photos. :/ Once I'm out there peddling I just don't want to stop! And that's just what I did today. I Started out on Boones Creek rd, which has a bike lane that doesn't last for long. It might be 3-4 miles, if that. Then it just ends at an intersection. On the opposite side of the intersection, where the bike lane would be, there is just a lane wide paved shoulder that is unmarked as to what it's usage may be. So that's where I rode. The road is a two lane highway at this point with very few passing zones, a 45-55mph speed limit and lots of hills making it difficult for drivers to see any oncoming traffic. But it's a lovely ride. Several guys in trucks honked and waved, several people in cars gawked. Always fun to be the weird girl on a bike. :)

I got almost to the "Historic" part of Jonesborough when I spotted a road to my left that called my name. So I went for it. I didn't even bother to check the name of the road. It turned out to be a narrow, unlined little back country road. Several small farms and a tiny little neighborhood. A couple little county churches. It probably would be a beautiful street to ride down spring through summer, but today, even with the sun shinning it wasn't much to see.




But curiosity had me, so I kept going and suddenly found myself at an intersection that I knew!




I used to take this road out to the donkey farm! I've always loved the view from the top of this hill.

So I decided to take a detour and go visit the donkeys.










Then I found out that a lady I know who lives about two miles from the farm had bought two of the donkeys. So I rode over to her farm to visit for a bit.







Chessie and Rocky have settled in quite nicely into their new home. And are SPOILED ROTTEN, like every donkey should be. :)

About this time I was getting a bit tired, and knew that laundry and dishes awaited me, so I headed home. When I left my house, around 1:00pm, it was about 47F. I had on jeans, knee high wool socks, converse sneakers, long sleeved shirt, tweed blazer and mittens. Jonesborough is down in a hole and about 10F colder. Everything on me was fine except my feet! I could barely feel them by time I got home. So note to self, NO canvas sneakers this time of year, even if it's warm when I leave home. :)