2014-07-15: Day 20 Watching the Fire Department, McDaniels to Uticia, KY

Mileage Today: 60 miles Total Mileage: 977

If you pull out a map of western Kentucky, one with all the rural county roads and find the intersection of State Road 140 and US 431, you will find the tiny town of Utica, KY. (population = 400). Just east of that intersection about 50 yards is the Utica Volunteer Fire Department. That is where I am tonight. Typical of most fire stations, it has big doors, big trucks, and lots of hoses. What is not typical is that no one is here tonight; at least no one who knows anything about extinguishing a big fire. Jon, Teresa, and I are the only ones here. We are running the fire department for the town. This is a bit shocking since we just arrived a couple of hours ago and the biggest fire I have ever put out was in my oven when I broiled a piece of bread a bit too long. Hope there are no emergencies tonight because we did not receive any training and I’m not sure that my Oregon license would qualify me to drive a 35 foot fire truck. (Although it would be fun to try.) In all honesty if there is a call, it appears that this place would be quickly swarming with fire fighters. Their uniforms with everything in perfect position stand in a row next to the trucks, pants legs already in the boots. This fire station is a well-documented stop over for Trans American riders. In fact earlier when a fire fighter type was here, they told us they host between 200 and 300 cyclists each year in this facility. The definition of host in the case is - open it up and leave. Showers, bathrooms, electricity, and a full kitchen are all available for cyclists. Really, really, great hospitality here in Utica. We stopped two hours into our ride today in the town of Fordsville, KY at Mom’s Kitchen. It turns out “Mom” is Paula who asked us immediately to sign her log. Then she wanted a picture with both Jon and I. All we wanted was a couple of donuts. Seemed like a lot of fanfare. Turns out she is creating a bulletin board of all the riders that come into her shop this summer. She said her parents owned a grocery store in town back in 1976 when the original ride come through. She just really appreciates the cyclists who come through town each summer.