Today I rode as a passenger on a work trip, and enjoyed taking in the sights along US Highway 79, which runs diagonally northeast/southwest through the Land Between the Lakes recreation area. The highway begins in Round Rock, Texas, and ends in Russellville, Kentucky, but we just experienced the 60-mile stretch between Paris and Clarksville. During our drive, we crossed Kentucky Lake and the Cumberland River, passing a variety of funky home-cooking restaurants, BBQ rib joints, bait and tackle stores, gift shops, ancient cemeteries, produce stands, antique shops and various roadside attractions, including a humongous fiberglass chicken and catfish. I also got to see Paris' 70-foot-tall Eiffel Tower replica. I saw a wild turkey along the roadside, an indigo bunting on a telephone wire, plus meadowlarks, barn swallows and red-winged blackbirds. I also saw what appeared to be an albino raccoon, unfortunately deceased along the roadside.

Someday I would like to go back to Paris with Scott and spend some time at the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge.