Day 10, July 13-Mousetail Landing State Park to Saltillo, TN

34.16 miles. N 35.30 X W88.13.

We again got a late start from the state park and biked down to Linden to Fat Man’s Convenience Store and Restaurant for breakfast. Within 2 miles of the restaurant, my chain dropped off into the frame again and bent the chain…but this time we were ready, or should I say Spokewrench was ready. He put some of his wrenching skills to work and had us back on the road in 20 minutes. Great job, Spokewrench! We biked on to Decatorville, TN to the Decator County Library. We asked about and were given permission to use the wireless system there. I dug out the computer and am pleased to say that it connected just fine. Apparently, it wasn’t our computer’s problem at the Imperial Lodge in Waverly after all. We had lunch at Decatorville and here it was, 1:15 and we have only biked 13 miles. At this point we abandoned hope for making it to Shiloh and decided to stop at Saltillo, TN at a landing campground there. We arrived in Saltillo and stopped at a restaurant for something cold and wet. I struck up a conversation with Shannon Hayes, who was very interested in our trip. Thanks for the drinks, Shannon! When we arrived at the campground, it was a bit run-down and I wasn’t feeling too good about it, when another couple came pedaling in. Ron and Diane were touring around western Tennessee for a 3 week vacation. This was there 2^nd or 3^rd day out. I felt better immediately. I needn’t have worried anyway, because the owner who had just taken over the campground was completely accommodating, even offering us free pontoon rides on the Tennessee River. We had a wonderful evening chatting, sharing stories, and laughing through the evening. It was good to find kindred spirits. While we were chatting, a couple of stray pups came up to our camp. We were told that these were “Coydogs”, half coyote and half dog. They were still too wild to catch, but, as you can see in the picture, it is easy to see that they had coyote blood in them.

Question of the day: According to the campground owner, today's location is within 10 miles of the suicide of an important person related to the past 3 year's rides. Who was this person?