The Chicken Run, Corbin, KY

This Valkyrie Adventure is being written for all of the KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) lovers whomever and wherever you may be.  The weather here in East TN has been rather wet at various times of the day lately and yesterday, Thursday, June 4, 2015, was suppose to be a pretty good day with a very low chance for rain.  And this time they were right on target.  So at 7:45 a.m. I pushed Sweet Thang out of the garage and headed to Exxon for a meet-up with fellow biker Paul.  We were going to Corbin, KY and eat lunch at the place where KFC started.

It was a tad foggy when I left as this picture shows.  It is Boyds Creek Hwy. right out of the entrance to the subdivision where I live.  It was cool and a little damp but I was dressed for the purpose of such a ride.  Summer jacket, rain liner inside of it and light winter gloves.  Later some of this clothing would be removed and exchanged as the heat came up.

In places the fog was down to 1/4 mile visibility but not for long periods of time/miles.  

Boyds Creek Hwy. junctions with TN Hwy. 66 west of Sevierville, TN.  We made our westward turn and headed slightly northwest to get to U.S. 25 and beyond.  We were running mostly back roads and a few main roads but no interstate riding to Corbin, KY.

Shortly after we crossed U.S. 25 the fog lifted and the sun was shining very bright.  Sky was blue with a few puffy white clouds.  Great biking weather.

Rolling on through some beautiful farm land with roses all abloom made a decorative sight along our riding path today.

Since we've had so much rain lately everything is nice and green except where they have recently cut hay or where the winter wheat hasn't been harvested.  And a little mountain in the backdrop doesn't hurt for a scenic view either.

It it's three things this part of TN has it's banks, churches and cemeteries.  A lot of the cemeteries are not fenced and some of them go back to the 1700s.  I think it's time to start fencing them.

Black cattle against the green grass really stand out.  One farm we passed had a matched pair of donkeys.  Several had various color horses and one had an Appaloosa which I really like.  Continuing with a few highway changes we traveled through Blaine, Luttrell (home of Kenny Chesney and Chet Atkins), Maynardville, Tazewell and lastly, Harrogut, TN.  Harrogut is the home of the Lincoln Memorial Univ. and the Abraham Lincoln Museum.

The route we took, U.S. 25, takes us through a nice long tunnel under the Cumberland Mountains exiting into the suburbs of Middlesboro, KY.

Inside the tunnel just humming along.

Exiting into KY gives you a nice panoramic vista that lets you know you haven't left the mountains.  Shortly up the road is Middlesboro, KY.

Then after a quick stop and gas up we hit the back roads again exploring KY still headed for Corbin.

In Kentucky, out in the middle of nowhere stands this Pepsi drink machine on a concrete pad all bolted and fixed so it can't be easily removed.  Just had to have a picture of this.  In fact, we actually turned around so we could take these pictures.  One good thing about riders having CB Radios.

Of course I had to take a picture of rider Paul, a.k.a., Scooter Trash.

We traveled through Pineville where we took a smaller road and ran it into Artemus and Barbourville.

Some towns were average size and some you wonder how they can still exist.

Riding the main drag through this town put you looking at the Courthouse.  Little town had a town square much like a lot of towns in Texas.

Soon we were back on the back roads continuing onward to Corbin, our highest point of this trip.

At about 11:30 we arrived at Sanders Cafe, the original starting point of the KFC chain.  It was lunch time and since I had not eaten breakfast my stomach thought that my throat had been cut.  Pit stop and lunch was not the things to do.

You can't miss the KFC sign but is is a bit away from the actual building.  It is rather interesting how KFC got started.  Original building was a Pure Oil service station.  Then he got to fixing chicken meals for folks in the area which led to a cafe.  Then later he built a motel connecting the cafe to the service station.

This is probably to small for you octogenariansto read but this gives you some of the history.

This is a model of the original place which is in the lobby of the building where you order your food.  You eat it in the original cafe side.

Inside of the restaurant side is a model of a typical room that was in the motel.  Notice the pay phone in the alcove.  The rooms were of a nice size for that period of time.

This was the kitchen of the original cafe.

It would be considered large for some of the restaurants today, fast food, but small for the finer dining facilities.

Paul taking a picture of some of the memorability in the lobby.

Paul having a chat with the Colonel himself.  I don't think the Col. was listening to him.

After lunch we headed out for a tunnel under the interstate which was located on a small backroad.  One nice thing was that it had recently been resurfaced and was very smooth.

The tunnel was on a road with the name of Tidal Wave Road.  Someone must have been sipping the juice when they named it as the only way it would be affected by a tidal wave was if another ark was being built.

Old house is lost in the weeds.  An era long gone and the building will be too in a few years.

Across some valleys and over some mountains and hills we rode, while Sweet Thang and I were enjoying our first outing since her new clutch replacement.  What a day.

We took a little short excursion to a marina just to see what it was like.  As we pulled up to park in the shade I looked over to see several Geese walking about the place.  It was nice and quiet here and very relaxing.

The marina ties into a large lake and all was quiet today.  Not a lot of activity.  Which made it even more relaxing.

And relax we did.  Under the shade of a large tree and a little water and snack to boot.

As we were on our way back it was time to gas up again and hit the interstate.  Shortly after Williamsburg, KY we turned off to Jellico, TN to visit our friend there that runs a hardware store and museum.  He wanted to show us his latest museum piece, an old pump organ which had been in a local church years ago.  And it still works.



After a short visit in Jellico we hit the interstate again for the house.  We had been on the rode for a total of 290 miles door to door.  Temp got to 86 but all was well and the adventure was great.

There's a lot to see, even where you live, but you have to get out of the house and go look for it.  And I can't think of a better way to view what's out there than on a bike.

So until the next Valkyrie Adventure, I wish you all good health, prosperity, and peace.  And don't forget to take your meds.