We started out early today (8AM EDT) in order to get to our campsite early and enjoy Lake Barkley. We had a successful ascent over Monteagle maintaining 55MPH in 4th gear with the temperature only climbing to 197 degrees. We should be ready for some Rocky Mountain climbs. We arrived at Noon CDT. Lake Barkley is one of the two HUGE man made lakes in Western Kentucky near Paducah where my good friend Todd grew up. The other lake being Kentucky Lake which is connected to Lake Barkley via a canal. Todd spent a lot of time boating here as a child and back in the last century (1992 and 1993), when he and I owned a 24′ boat (The Twister), he and I brought it up here on two occasions. We boated with all of his friends who were only familiar with two speeds, zero and full throttle.
Todd and His Friend Mike Running The Twister at Full Throttle through The Canal
We are staying at the Canal Campground in the land between the lakes (located right on the canal). We got the only campsite available tonight which happens to be a handicap site (which you are allowed to reserve if no others are available) located right on the water. The view is great and we’re having a good time watching all the boats pass by at (you guessed it) full throttle. We are able to access the Dish Western Arc satellites from our roof mounted antenna and we are getting good data download speeds (10 to 15 Mbps) on Visible.
Canal Campground – Site #106 
Canal Campground – View from Inside
Todd and his parents introduced us to the local restaurant, Patti’s, which is famous for its pork chops. We are camped less than 2 miles away so I had to take Beth so that she could experience the best pork chop ever. We called for reservations two weeks in advance and the only slot available was 3:45PM CDT which seemed early until we remembered the time change. It felt like 4:45PM to us (which is almost late for supper in Sun City Center). I hadn’t eaten there since 1992, but the other thing I remember besides the incredible pork chops was the mozzarella sticks (we call them cheese logs). They are HUGE and Aaron ate 4 of them at age 4 to amaze us all. We ordered them as an appetizer and they were just as good as I remembered. The part I had forgotten about was the flower pot full of bread. Our kind waitress gave us another pot full to take home. Our waitress talked us down from the 2″ pork chop to the 1″ version. Her theory is that both versions are brined the same amount of time, so a larger percentage of the 1″ version gets the flavor. I don’t know if she’s right, but the 1″ version was delicious, I just felt like I cheated for not getting the 2″, although neither of us managed to finish our 1″ pork chop. We have lots of leftovers.
Patti’s – Cheese Logs & Flower Pot of Bread 
Patti’s – Macaroni, Beef, and Cheese Soup 
Patti’s – 1″ Pork Chop
