Day 12 - Lookout, Kentucky(!)

Days later, finally text:

Day 12 was the day I made it to Kentucky. I was a bit culture shocked. It started in south western Virginia and continued in Kentucky: Poverty most people wouldn't expect in the US. I had seen the poor side of this country before, but I didn't expect such a rapid change in that area. It came within a few miles: Trailers everywhere, at least one old rotten car in most of the yards, besides cars the yards were filled with all kinds of trash, tires, etc. There were no "standardized" trash cans, instead they had all typed of containers by the side of the roads to put their trash in: bath tubs, shopping carts, cages... Some had just piled up their trash bags, who knows if they ever get picked up?

Again: I've never seen so many rotten cars before. I could have funded my trip just by one mile's worth of roadside metal. Would have taken some time though, most of them were covered under plants.

The majority of the businesses was closed and for sale. At a gas station I watched people searching trash cans for something valuable. Believe it or not, but one of them drove away in a car!

I didn't take pictures in that area so I can just try to give you an idea how it looked like. But I'm sure one can't imagine without having been there.

It was pretty depressing, frankly said.

Back to nice things: after some climbing I reached Breaks Interstate Park. I was  pretty surprised when I checked out a lookout and found a massive canyon (see pics). I didn't expect something like that in the east! Learned that it's called the "Grand Canyon of the South" and it's the deepest gorge east of the Mississippi River. More information: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaks_Interstate_Park

The pictures of the canyon should give you a good idea where I was riding trough the last days. Ridge after ridge, valley after valley... 

From the top today's last climb I had a long downhill trough a rugged river valley, crossed the Kentucky state line and pedaled the last few miles to the "Freeda Harris Baptist Center". I had no idea about the place. Turned out to be a good choice. Gym, kitchen, showers, restrooms, WiFi - what a luxury!

Cyclists met today: 3, all eastbound. Two of them coming from San Francisco.