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Published: October 3rd 2012
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Sunday, 30 September, 2012
In honor of Kerry’s folks, who threatened to go to Mammoth Cave when they thought we had forgotten their 40
th anniversary, we are heading to Mammoth Cave NP.
We left home before noon, since we were still trying to get organized and didn’t have that far to drive. This is our first camping trip in our new truck pulling our new (to us) camper. We stopped first at Fort Donelson National Battlefield in Dover, TN, site of an important (to the Union) battle during the Civil War. It’s a beautiful part of the state at the southern end of Land Between the Lakes. After a short tour, a stamp and a patch, we continued on to our destination.
The campground at Mammoth Cave National Park is very nice, lots of trees, starting to change to fall colors, and full of wildlife. First we saw several deer along the road inside the park, then more grazing contentedly in the campground. There are no hookups, so we are dry camping, using our own power and water. Once set up, we went to the visitor center for stamp, patch (they were out, but I found an unofficial
Ready to roll
All packed, leaving our front yard one at the general store by the cg,) and some information on tours for tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be rainy tomorrow, but who cares when you’re in a cave. The weather held off long enough for Kerry to grill some brats for supper, but the rain started after dark.
Monday, 1 October
We got up early after having gone to bed at 9:30. We dawdled over coffee and cold cereal before heading over to the visitor center. We signed up for a tour and waited until time to get on the bus. We entered the cave at the Frozen Niagara entrance and enjoyed an easy tour. We saw several varieties of cave formations and even got to see cave crickets. Because of white-nose fungus infecting bats in a good bit of the eastern US, we had to disinfect our shoes upon arrival back at the visitor center. We checked out other easy tours, but there was nothing available that appealed to us. Kerry walked down to the historic entrance and took a few pictures before we went back to the camper for lunch.
We spent a quiet afternoon, with Kerry napping and me reading, while
Cannons in a row
Fort Donelson National Battlefield, Dover, TN the rain continued to fall outside. I spotted a tom turkey outside the camper, then two more, then more until there were seven of them foraging in the wet leaves. The ranger said the males group together during the mating season to look for females.
It rained all night, and when it wasn’t raining, the drops would gather and drop loudly from the tree limbs above the camper. At times it sounded as though squirrels were tap dancing across our roof doing the rodent version of the Rockettes.
Tuesday, 2 October
It was still drizzling this morning, but showed signs of clearing, though it never really did. We broke camp and headed for Hodgenville, to Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace National Historic Site. It’s a nice little park in a nice little town. The Lincoln family log cabin is located inside a building to preserve it, though there is no guarantee that it’s actually their cabin. The building is pretty fancy and the cabin inside is tiny and quite rustic. It is located on the property where the Lincolns lived at the time of Abraham’s birth.
We went from there to Lincoln’s childhood home, about 8 miles away,
Cannons and bunkers
guarding along the river front at Fort Donelson also a national historic site. However, everything there was locked up and deserted.
We had planned to go on to Big South Fork NRA near Oneida, TN, but we dawdled around so much that we stopped instead near Burnside, KY, at General Burnside Island State Park. We had problems with the water; after hooking up to their water supply, we got no water in the camper. We finally figured out it was the pressure regulator on our hose, so took that off and all is well. Tomorrow we’ll head to Big South Fork, then on Thursday or Friday on to Chester Frost Park in Hixson, TN, where we’ll be able to visit with Sara and Trevor.
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Barb and Jerry
non-member comment
Wow!
Hey Ya'll living high on the hog with a new truck and trailer. Very Nice! We sold our RV and are looking for a small trailer too. Have a great time.