Adventures with Family

Our exit didn’t go exactly as planned.  Too many working parts had us all scrambling in different directions.  We weren’t too terribly far behind after breakfast and formalities and hit the road with guests in tow.  We’d spend the next five days together, four of us in the rv eventually covering well over 1000 miles, 3 national parks, a national historic park and 2 state park campgrounds!

Being 1 year newlyweds, brother Randy and new wife Theresa are still starry eyed.  Easily passing time sitting at the table doing LA Times crosswords or working on their upcoming show, they lent a fresh air to our otherwise normal sense of comfortable ease. 

The first day we stopped at Cuyahoga National Park for a midday break and hike. Having graduated from high school  nearby, I remember walking this park years before with my grandmother pointing out every flower, mushroom or piece of fungus.  I find myself repeating that exact behavior.  Hi Grandma!

The hike’s touted waterfall was pretty much a disappointment.  Of course, having spent 4 plus months viewing this country’s finest natural features, we’ve gotten harder to please I suppose!  We were thankful to have stretched our legs, however, and had missed catching the visitor center before it closed and we took the scenic back roads and found our way to Mohican State Park where we spent the night.  Having traveled long hours and arriving near sunset, we were all happy to get settled and enjoyed fish tacos (and beer!) by lantern light. 

The next day had many more miles to cover so we started things out with a 6 mile uphill hike in the forest before it got too hot for comfort.  Sweaty and foot-sore, we waded in the nearby river before showering and getting back on the road.  Rob and I had learned that the ride is more enjoyable on the smaller roads but after what seemed like endless miles, he just wanted a straight shot to ANYWHERE! 

After struggling through little towns, traffic, a Costco gas detour and too many schedulled miles we finally arrived at My Old Kentucky Home campground as the sun set.  The big reward for our long day was the moonless night and a dark golf course where we saw the best stars of the journey so far!  Bingo!

Day three took us the scenic route the relatively short distance to Mammoth Cave National Park.  Excited to be back in our national park element we felt at home immediately.  With the visitor center a nice walk from the campsite, we familiarized ourselves before taking The History tour that afternoon. 

 I had forgotten how vast the Mammoth Cave network is.  With 405 miles of passages currently recorded, more are discovered and explored every year.  They expect that there may be hundreds more miles of cave yet to be sought out!  The tour was fun and informative and gave us a good overview of the cave.

It was raining when we exited our tour so Rob, Randy and Theresa headed back to our site for beer and frivolity while I took the opportunity to hike the area while the rain sprinkled the high canopy of sheltering trees overhead.  I was treated to many deer on the path as well as some nice vistas over the Green River.  One deer was so close that she startled as I passed and screamed!  I’ve never heard that before!  She was quite alarmed and kept up her racket well after she was out of my sight apparently alerting the locals that an intruder was present.

We had planned on a hike or another tour in the morning but decided we best knock the miles off the map before we began playing and we got on the road again.  Headed a more reasonable distance, we arrived at Cumberland Gap National Historic Park in plenty of time to get a site and head out for a wonderful 5 mile hike straight up to the Ridge and back. 

Our most strenuous hike so far, we marveled at how Randy and Theresa held their own.  We enjoyed countless wildflowers, mushrooms and streams while climbing and climbing hoping for the view at the top.  Hmm…THAT never happened!  Having reached what appeared to be the top, we found ourselves now following the Ridge in the same dense foliage we had climbed through!

Satisfied with the exercise and the beauty, we made it back to camp to celebrate our efforts with more alcohol and food (and in that order!)…a habit we had become quite good at.  Pork tenderloin, fresh sweet corn (scored roadside on the way) and sweet potatoes (great on the grill!) by candlelight was the order of the evening before rousing games of cards and more great stargazing finished out a wonderful day.

Still in search of a grand vista, we got an early start and hiked the 3 State trail before heading out of the park.  Not intending to over-extend ourselves, we worked up a sweat nonetheless but did make it to the site where Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia all converge and even managed to sneak a peak of that vista we had been in search of.

We finished the long stretches of highway with a jaunt south to the Great Smokey Mountain Park with a special treat of a surprisingly great Mexican lunch along the way.  We had a reserved campsite which was a good thing because the Smokies are the most visited park in the whole system (double the visitors of the Grand Canyon!) and, to top it off, this was the solar eclipse weekend!

After 5 days in our little space, we were all just getting better at it vs what would be the obvious alternative.  Knowing we were on our final day, we crammed in all we could.  A stop at the visitor center, a wander along the nature trail, attending the campfire ranger program, delicious shish kabob dinner and cards until the wee hours…we did it all.

Theresa and Randy - always in character!

With our final hiking opportunity at hand, we set the alarm (?!) for an early start to conquer a six mile loop trail before making the airport run.  Collectively enjoying all of the hiking, we fell into the now familiar pace as we climbed the first half to descend to the riverfront for the return.  We finished the hike with just enough time to get cleaned up and share a champagne and leftovers feast before heading to the airport as our time came to an end.

Alone again after the family chapter is over, we are short weeks away from our return to where it all began.  Not sure of if I’m excited to be going home or sad for the journey’s end, the best choice for now is to stay the course and enjoy the moment.  And on we go…