Heading down to Kentucky

The plan for this trip was that there was no plan. Even though a 4-day ride was on the schedule for a couple of months, we just didn’t have enough time to figure out any good dirt roads to ride in Kentucky prior to this trip. We chose Kentucky because of the large area that the Daniel Boone National Forest occupies and where there is forest, there are forest roads.

The Daniel Boone National Forest runs from the northern to the southern part of the state and is generally rugged and characterized by steep slopes, sandstone arches, and canyon-like hollows and valleys. It encompasses over 699,575 acres of land managed by the USDA Forest Service.



Early Friday evening with the bikes loaded on the trailer, we headed for Kentucky. The traffic was moving slow and the construction on I-294/80/65 wasn’t helping us to get there any faster. A couple hours later in Indiana we stopped to grab some dinner. A couple more hours later we pulled over, Mike inflated the air mattress in the back of the 4runner and we decided to get some shut eye, we were both too tired to drive after a full day at work.

Illinois is getting another transplant

This was a very busy weekend because this weekend Mike was moving to Chicagoland. On Friday night I flew to New Orleans, Louisiana. On Saturday I helped Mike finish packing and we also visited with his friends and family for a bit. And today we drove to Chicago with all his stuff.



Mike's favorite donut shop in Lafayette, LA



My donut holes



Mike's Toyota with all his stuff outside of Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers in Mississippi



Our lunch, the best chicken fingers in the world



So moist



And the secret sauce

We left Lafayette, LA today about 7:30AM and after driving just shy of 1,000 miles we made it to Chicago around 11PM.

Houston, Texas

I was flying back to Chicago this afternoon, so we stayed around Houston. We both like Aquariums, so we wanted to check out the one in Houston. All I have to say is unless you are 5 years old or have small kids, don’t waste your money.



Aquarium in Houston



Cool fish lights



Poor tiger trapped in such a small place

















A diver talking about the fish and stuff



In front of one of the bigger displays



Lunch at Raising Cane's

The best part of the day was lunch. Mike talks about this Raising Cane’s place that started up in Louisiana. Best chicken fingers in the world. I love chicken fingers and they had a Raising Cane’s in Houston, so that’s where we had lunch. They were the best chicken fingers I’ve ever had.

Astros Minute Maid Park in downtown Houston

Downtown Houston

Kemah, Texas

I flew in to Houston last night. Mike drove in from Louisiana to meet me. Chicago to Houston flights seem to be much cheaper then Chicago to New Orleans flights. When you’re long distance dating and flying a lot, price is everything. So here we are in Houston again, we here in February as well.

For something interesting to do we decided to drive to Kemah today. Seems like a tourist trap but heck, we’re tourist today.

It was a beautiful day and I couldn’t help but notice all the bikes on the road. I wish I could ride, but being a regular tourist isn’t all that bad and it was warm here.



Fred Hartman bridge is the longest cable-stayed bridge in Texas, it's 2.5 miles long

Before arriving in Kemah and not going too much of the way, we stopped first to see San Jacinto Monument, it marks the location where Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1836. At 570 feet tall, the San Jacinto Monument is the world's tallest monument tower.



Waiting for the ferry to the monument







Mike and I at the monument





San Jacinto Monument

We went ahead and did the tour of the San Jacinto Monument, the views from the top were great, but there was nothing else to see really, we only stayed up there for 10 minutes.



View from the top of San Jacinto Monument

See that ship down below in the water, we went there next, thats the Battleship Texas



Battleship Texas

We didn't do a tour of the battleship, we were hungry and wanted to get to Kemah to get some lunch.



Lunch at Landry's in Kemah on the boardwalk



Artichoke dip



Mike ordered bacon covered shrimp



Shrimp etouffee for me

Landry’s was a nice restaurant with a great view of the water, but unfortunately the food wasn’t all that great. Mike makes a way better shrimp etouffee. After lunch we walked the whole board walk and got some ice cream. We left Kemah as the sun was setting.



Kemah light



Arts and crafts for sale



Anna the mermaid



I love monkeys



Kemah Boardwalk



Another light in Kemah



Those are pretty big wind chimes







Sales cat