Kentucky Camping Part 1 - Mammoth Cave Area

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?!?!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the whole trip!  Man I love these people so dang much!!!

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!

OH!  The bugs!  So, probably the thing that surprised us the MOST about camping in Kentucky was the lack of bugs.  There wasn't a single mosquito the entire trip!  If you're from around here, you know that the mosquitoes basically eat you alive here from June through October...so it sure was nice to be bug free.  In fact, we got so used to it that we often just left the doors to the camper wide open while we were around.  Who needs screens if there are no bug!  But, you know what they did have?  Lightening bugs, inch worms, snakes, worms, minnows, crayfish and all sorts of crawlies that the kids surprisingly loved!

Baby Murphy-Blair: Quilt

When I came across this fabric I just knew I'd have to make it into a cute baby girl quilt.  In fact, I bought the fabric without even having a baby in mind!  I knew I'd use it up eventually.  Enter Baby XXXX.

I started with simple 5 inch blocks and originally planned to just line them up and piece them together, but after I had it all laid out I got the genius idea to try turning them on point.  I couldn't help myself...it was too cute to resist.  The down side of running them on point is that the finished quit ended up much smaller this way (more waste at the edges).  But at nearly 50x50 its still a great size for a baby blanket.

The other great thing about a quilt this size is how quickly it can come together.  I cut, planned and pieced this entire quilt in one (cold/rainy/sleety) Saturday in May - yep, you read that correctly!  SLEET...in May.  It was highly depressing, but this fun fabric helped bring some much needed color and brightness into my Saturday.

After sending it off to be quilted, I loved it even more!  From there it's a pretty fast process to finish it up.  Just binding and adding the label and you're all finished!  I was able to get it off in the mail and to Jenny and Jack before baby Juno was even here!

Yep - Jenny and Jack welcomed sweet baby Juno while we were camping in Kentucky this past weekend.  I started the blog post and pictures before sending the quilt off the the quilted but didn't want to post anything until they'd received the gift.  Through the magic of time lapse I started a quilt in May, posted about it in June and between that time, a baby was born!  HAHA!

Anyways, I hope baby Juno loves this just as much as I do and I hope she gets many great years of snuggles and love into it!

Knit animals for new babies

You know, my knitting never gets it's fair share of "air time" on my blog.  For some reason, since I started quilting, the knitting has fallen off the radar.  But, that doesn't mean I haven't been making things!  In fact, the announcement that Ryan's friend Christine, from college, was having TWIN BOYS really kicked me into high gear! 

I knew it would be a stretch to try and get two quilts out the door before the babies came, but knit animals, those I could do!  Aren't these two little guys sweet?  I sort of forgot how fun these guys were to knit.  Joey bought me a book of knit animal patterns LONG ago!  Like, maybe before Abby was born?  Anyways, they are fun because they are made up of lots of small pieces.  I could usually knit a piece or two a night so it feel like you are making progress and they come together pretty quickly.

But - I have to say - I will NEVER AGAIN make anything that uses "loopy stitch".  That's the stitch that made the lion's mane.  It's adorable, and totally makes the animal.  But it was the biggest pain in the you know what.  I think I gave myself carpel tunnel trying to get that dang thing done!

A Tree for Ellyn

Mother's Day this year was a little harder than we all expected - but we're so thankful we had all of these special people around to help make it a little easier.  We planted this beautiful flowering tree facing the lake in Ellyn's memory.  This way she'll always be there, watching over us, making sure we're all safe and happy.

To say that she was missed on this day, is an understatement.  She will never be forgotten.

Easter 2019

Easter was late this year and I"m so glad it was finally nice out!!!  This is the first time the Easter bunny has been able to do the egg hunt outside!  Like, first time in SIX years!  (I know because it's Abby's sixth Easter).  It was sunny, and warm and Grammy even got these sweet girls Easter dresses and little bonnets to wear for church.  Be still my heart!

I mean, come on!  Look at that good looking family!

We had such a nice Easter weekend at home!  We cut a load of wood, ate a delicious ham and mom made the fanciest drinks from Proseco and strained strawberry pulp?  Is that what you call it?  I don't know, but whatever it is, it was dang good! 

Oh, and I almost forgot.  We left Freeport early afternoon on Sunday to head home and move all of the furniture out of two bedrooms and pull up the old carpet.  We had new carpet coming the following morning so we had plenty to do to get ready for them.  About 30 minutes after we pulled into the driveway Mom and Dad followed...they drove over to help!  It sure was a much appreciated (and much needed) Easter surprise!

1 Family x 12 (May)

While we keep getting tiny hints that summer is right around the corner, it sure didn't feel like it last weekend at the lake.  It was cold and rainy for Mother's Day, but it didn't stop us from having a good time.  I have another post coming up about it, but that tree behind us...we planed it for Ellyn this past weekend.  Now she can always be with us at the lake.  Making sure everyone has beds, that there's enough food and that a responsible adult takes away the boat keys after dinner time.

Dad's Retirement Party

I can't believe we actually pulled it off!!  Just over a month ago Joey and I successfully planned and hosted a surprise retirement party for my dad.  In fact, it was a surprise for BOTH my Mom and Dad.  It was honestly SO. MUCH. FUN!  I've never planned a surprise party before and I think I might have had more fun than Dad in doing so.

My dad officially retired on April 3rd and I knew we just couldn't let us pass us by without a true celebration.  About a month before it dawned on me that I could probably plan a party and I quickly called Joey to see if she'd willing to help.  After a few quick calls and texts we were all set!  All I needed to do was find the prefect venue (I already had one in mind), get the invites out and then wait for the big day to arrive.

Penny and Nate at Wishful were the most wonderful and gracious hosts for us.  They opened a few hours early, just for our crew, so we had the whole place to ourselves (you know, the 50 of us!).  I managed to sneak out of the house early on Saturday morning (under the guise of taking the dogs to the vet).  I grabbed the cake and balloons and quickly tossed decorations up before rushing home to grab my wood cutting clothes and head out to help Ryan and my Dad all to make it look legit.

The best part was, my Dad thought it was HIS idea to go to Wishful that day.  See, I figured I needed to explain why we were heading to Wishful hours before they opened, right when we should be wood cutting.  Our normal routine is to cut for 4-6 hours in the morning on Saturday and then, in the afternoon, relax at home or head to Wishful for a drink or two.  But, we wanted to get Dad there at 11am.  So, I asked Penny to be a co-conspirator. 

About a week before the event I asked Penny if she could invite my parents to a special "by invitation only" Customer Appreciation event at the brewery.  Figuring my parents wouldn't be able to pass up an event like that, Penny hit send on the email and I waited for over 24 hours nervously hoping they'd take the bait before I got a call from Dad saying we had a little side event we'd need to go to on Saturday morning.  I knew we had him at that point! 

Back to the day of the party.  So, after getting the decorations up I rushed out to cut wood so that I could nudge Dad out of the woods and into the truck in time for the big surprise.  Not as easy as it seemed!  Dad kept saying "It's ok if we're a little late"....Nope!  Not Ok!  The whole thing is for you!  But he didn't know that.  So, we jumped into the truck and headed over.  Honestly, it couldn't have worked out better.  The fake customer appreciation event explained the cars in the parking lot and as we pulled in Dad even said "oh, Ron and Carol are here already", totally not even noticing Joey's car that would have tipped him off immediately.

As Dad walked into the brewery it took him probably a full minute to realize he knew every single person in the bar.  I think it wasn't until he saw Tom and Carolyn from Minneapolis that he realized something was up.  At one point he said to me "My brain was going, I know you, I know you, I know you...wait...what customers DON'T I know here??" and then it started to sink in.  I can replay those moments in my head like they were yesterday.  It was honestly so much fun for me.  There was so much love and so much laughter.  It was amazing.

If there was just one thing I wished would have gone differently it's that Mom and the kids would have arrived all at the same time us us.  The way it worked out, they were about 5 minutes behind us, so Mom got her own personal surprise as she walked in and started to process it just like Dad did.  "Wait, everyone I know is here...what's going on" kind of thoughts were going through her head. 

It was honestly a day I'll never forget and I know Dad says the same thing.  I remember standing at my wedding looking around and realizing all of these people stopped everything else in their lives for that day to be here with me.  As I looked around at this party I had those same thoughts!  Tom and Carolyn came down from Minneapolis, Aunt Peggy from Milwaukee, Bart and Andy from southern Illinois, Joey and Andy from Iowa, Jamie and Zach from Burlington, Justin and Karen from the Quad Cities and so many friends from close by.  People re-arranged their day and their weekend to help celebrate my Dad and this once in a lifetime event. 

Once Wishful opened for their normal business hours it got crowded fast so I'm so thankful we had a location pre-planned for Party #2.  George Hively, a good friend of my parents has a piece of property just a few miles down the road from Wishful.  So we packed up the party and went there to continue the festivities.  I'd asked anyone willing to bring some food to pass and we had beer/water/pop/juice.  George even got out us Ranger so there were Ranger rides for all (mostly the kids). 

All in all, it was seriously so much fun!  But, I have to say, I was sure relieved when we walked into the bar and I could stop all. the. lies!  So many lies.  I had to explain away why Peggy was coming down, and why I thought we needed 8 lbs of brisket for dinner that night.  I had to explain away why we were going to Wishful in the middle of wood cutting and why I needed to run into town that morning.  It turned out to be so. many. little. lies and man am I glad that part is over.  And!  We didn't even slip up once.  Mom and Dad said they had NO IDEA...not even an inkling that we had anything other than a normal weekend at home planned.  So, I'll call this one a success!

Funniest part is, now anytime we're home Dad is suspicious of any plans we make.  "Why do you want to go to Generations at 3 today?"  HAHAHAHA!  You never know when the next surprise party might hit!