We're fresh off the heels of vacation and while I'm often SLOW to get pictures uploaded and then downloaded and stories written, I'm going to try to get these most recent posts out in a timely manner! First up, Mammoth Cave. Or, maybe I should back up...to how we landed on Kentucky in the first place.
It seems like we've gotten into a rhythm of sorts with vacations. One year we do a big flying trip where we end up staying in a hotel or AirBnB and the next we haul the camper on a long road trip. Last year was the Outer Banks with the Ritterbusch family (we drove....but we didn't camp) so this year camping was up! We first started talking with our camper friends back in the fall of last year feeling out who would be up for a big road trip and where we'd want to try to go. I decided that 8 hours was the general circumference around Chicago that we'd be willing to drive so I grabbed a map and did some research. We had three options. Back to the UP/Northern Wisconsin (we always love it there and can always find new places to explore), Missouri (to visit the Ozarks and some Little House on the Prairie sites, or Kentucky. Liz and Bobby decided they were up for a big week long camping trip so we landed on Kentucky (closer to home for them) and I started planning.
There were three main areas we decided to stay. After years of doing this long trips I've figured out a formula that works for us. Schedule enough spots to keep things interesting and get a feel for the area but be sure to stay in one spot long enough to really get to explore and not feel like your days revolve around driving and setting up/tearing down. So, for us, 9 days and 3 stops works out to be just about perfect. The three areas we decided on were Mammoth Cave, the Cumberland Gap and Red River Gorge. It would be a lie to say that the fact that Mammoth Cave and the Cumberland Gap being National Parks/Historic areas didn't fuel our travel plans. Last year when we were in the Outer Banks we bought a National Parks stamp book and we've been on a stamp collecting mission ever since :)
Anyways...back to our trip. Up first was Mammoth Cave. Ryan, the kids and I all loaded up early on Friday morning (about 6 am) and we made the 8 hour drive down to Mammoth Cave. My parents joined us a few hours later (hot on the heels of their own 3 week camping trip out east), and Liz and Bobby joined that same night too. For once the McGrath's were the first ones there and welcoming the rest of the group with cold beers and food (this never happens....we're always coming in HOT at the last minute).
We didn't stay right within the national park - all of the camp sites there are non-electric and we preferred to have all of our creature comforts. We're camping but we're NOT roughing it! We made a smoked ham and ribs for god's sake. We were NOT roughing it! I found a state campground about 20 minutes away (thanks to a ferry...more on that later)....called Nolin Lake that turned out to be perfect. It was quiet, not crowded, close to the park and had electric sites. Long story short...it fit the bill so I booked it for 3 nights.
Saturday morning we got up, ate a quick breakfast and figured we'd get on the road to find the park. As with all our camping trips, directions, GPS and cell service always seem to be a trouble so at least at this point I know to plan that things will take longer than they should. The night before Ryan and I read a sign in the park that said there was a ferry nearby but that cars over 16 feet wouldn't be allowed on. All three of our vehicle are longer than that so we figured we'd need to avoid the ferry (wherever it was...). Well, I wasn't the least bit surprised when the GPS pointed us STRAIGHT to the ferry. This isn't the first time it's sent us on one! (STUPID THING!) Anyways, we figured we were committed by the time we figured that out so we continued on the route it gave us and we were so happy to find out that we didn't have a single issue with the ferry whatsoever. It was an interesting setup...just a small flat boat of sorts, long enough to fit two cars that went across a relatively small river. Why they just didn't build a bridge is beyond me...but who am I to say! We didn't even have to wait in line! Two trips back and forth and our three cars were across and ready to explore the park.
Luckily somewhere along the way I found out that you need to book your tour of the cave far in advance. Most tours are fully booked day of so booking in advance is a must if you ever want to visit. We picked a short enough and easy enough tour that the kids could come to. It was called Domes and Drip stones (there are probably 30 tours to choose from) and lasted about 2.5 hours. That was about as long as the kids attention lasted anyways and distance wise it was perfect. Under 1.5 miles if I remember right. If we didn't have the kids with us we might have tried some of the longer, more adventurous tours, but this one worked out perfect for us.
The cave was really interesting to explore and we all learned a lot. Mammoth Cave is named that because it's the largest cave system in the world! Over 500 miles of cave all within 7 square miles of space. Inside (at least on our tour) it was really well lit so you could admire all of the cool formations of the cave and we learned that the railings and stairs within were built in the 80's! I'll skip the rest of the history, I'm sure you can read about it on millions of websites but the McGrath's give the cave and tours 2 thumbs up (even for little kids).
Turns out Liz accepted a new job just a few weeks before our trip. Our original plan was that they'd be with us for the full week but because Liz didn't have a lot of vacation time accrued yet they ended up leave on Sunday morning and we spent the next leg of the trip with my parents. Liz and Bobby joined on the last leg the following weekend (so you'll see more of them in later posts!).
Sunday we took a small drive north to visit the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. Thankfully my Dad spotted the third and final stamp possibility in our National Park book and we were less than an hour away so we made a side trip (unplanned) to check another stamp off the list! I love a good list!! And a sticker...who doesn't love getting a sticker?!?!
It's funny because if we weren't on this new found quest for stamps and stickers I can pretty much guarantee that we'd have never known this place existed and we'd likely have never made the journey...but I'm glad we did! In the 90's (if I remember right) the state of Kentucky built this huge monument on the birth site of Abraham Lincoln. Inside it stands a replica of the house he may (or may not) have grown up in. HA! They weren't totally definitive about that part.
The last thing we did while in the Mammoth Cave area was visit a brewery in Elizabeth's town called Flywheel. I don't have any pictures of that, so I'll leave you with some cute pictures of Hazel instead! Up next, our adventures in the Cumberland Gap!
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