The Love Affair Continues

Posted on May 30, 2013 by bottlingmoonlight | 4 Comments

After a drive through the lush, beautiful countryside around Lexington, we spent a long afternoon at the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill. This is the largest restored Shaker Village in the country and one of the places Alan and I were most excited to visit. We would have liked to have spent all day, but little boys have a way of falling asleep at the most inopportune times. Though, I should really never complain that he continues to take his naps while on the road. We spent the afternoon visiting farm animals, visiting with a number of craftsmen and women, listening (and dancing) to beautiful Shaker hymns in the central meetinghouse, trying on hats, and repeatedly marveling at the Shakers’ craftsmanship.

We came across many towns with historic buildings and downtowns during our brief visit to Kentucky. While some were on the touristy side, others were not. Both types were beautifully maintained and clearly well-loved by the local citizens. Our favorite was probably Harrodsburg, partly because it was a surprise that we came across on our journey to the Shaker Village.

After spending a day wandering amongst beautiful buildings and wide open space, we spent a day in Louisville. Highlights included trying chess pie for the first time and walking right down to the track at Churchill Downs. When we arrived at Churchill Downs, it appeared that we wouldn’t be able to get in except to visit the museum. We inquired at the main office and after letting us know that it was very unlikely we would be able to see the track (the Derby was just a few days away and everyone was in last-minute preparation mode), they recommended that we try at Gate 17, the site of simulcast betting. We found our way around to Gate 17 and found that the doors from the betting areas were unlocked to the track. We walked right on down to the track, standing in the area where the winning horse poses after the derby. We could have walked right onto the track, but using our better judgment, chose not to. We had to hold on tight to Van or he would have run directly on to the groomed track. It was quite an experience!

Secrets at the track

Just days away from the Kentucky Derby

We rounded out the week with a visit to Bardstown and the fascinating (and free) Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History (definitely a must-see if you’re at all interested in whiskey and find yourself in Bardstown), Lincoln’s birthplace in Hodgenville, Lincoln’s childhood home on Knob Creek, the Maker’s Mark distillery, Red River Gorge, and Mammoth Cave. I could write a post on each of these, but my personal highlight was Red River Gorge. This was a place that I was embarrassingly unaware of until several fellow MMM readers (Mr. Money Mustache to the uninitiated) recommended it to me when they heard of our travel plans. It is a magnet for climbers, but there is so much to offer mere hikers like ourselves.

We began our day at the Natural Bridge State Park, hiking our way up to and on top of an impressive sandstone arch. Van was in for a special treat because there was a group of AmeriCorps volunteers at the park doing trail maintenance. They were carrying large logs assembly-line style up the trail. Van had the opportunity to yell out “more log, more log” over and over each time we saw another exhausted volunteer. Hopefully his cheers of encouragement added a little pep to their step. After a picnic lunch consisting of sardines, crackers, and fruit, we made our way to the Red River Gorge Geological Area. We hadn’t done much reading about the area before we visited, so we were taken by surprise when we reached the Nada Tunnel. This is a 900-foot unlit single-lane tunnel. It is like no tunnel I have ever experienced. Van and Alan had to suffer listening to me exclaim over and over about how crazy and incredible and awesome it was to drive through the tunnel. If you have trouble being mindful of the present moment, I implore you to drive through this tunnel.

The tunnel aside, Red River Gorge is beautiful, wild, and lush. It’s the kind of place that takes only minutes to transport me back to my essential self. There are not many places that have had the power to transport me so quickly, but this is certainly one and one I hope to return to when Van is old enough to float, climb, and hike it with us.

Kentucky, where have you been my whole life?

Posted on May 27, 2013 by bottlingmoonlight | 4 Comments

About a month ago, and before we had van troubles, we had an amazing week in Kentucky. We didn’t have too many preconceived notions about the state, but we were blown away again and again. The beauty, the kindness, the sheer number of interesting things to do and see, the work ethic, we could go on and on. It’s become a bit of a joke between us. Every time we go somewhere and find that someone is not that friendly or that service is not that good, we look at each other and say that we’re not in Kentucky anymore. A week was barely enough to scrape the surface. We’re both looking forward to going back in the future and spending much more time so that we can further explore some of the areas we visited and check out the many areas we weren’t able to see.

We spent our first full day in Kentucky in coal country. Based on the recommendation of some friends in the know, we checked out a couple of coal camps (Benham and Lynch to be specific). We also spent a good portion of the day driving some narrow, twisty, mountain roads to see amazing scenery, small towns, and evidence of coal mining operations. Appalachia fascinates me. Coal mining fascinates me. This was easily one of my favorite days of the trip. I also asked said friends in the know to direct us to evidence of mountaintop removal mining. I had no idea what I was in for. I expected to see this type of mining and be moved. I did not realize how improperly named (or rather, nicknamed) this type of mining is. It should really just be called mountain removal mining. Mountaintop removal assumes that much of the mountain remains. While this may happen in some cases, this certainly doesn’t happen in all cases. I was blown away. Thanks, Sarah and Tom for the great recommendations!

The Depot in Lynch, Kentucky

Portal 31 in Lynch, Kentucky

Coal

View into Virginia from Black Mountain, the highest point in Kentucky

Closer view into Virginia from Black Mountain, the highest point in Kentucky

In our short time in the area, we began to gain a better appreciation of the social impacts and importance of coal mining to this region and the devastating environmental effects. It made me think more about our role (because we all have a role) in this environmental destruction. It also reinforced why local citizens are often such fierce proponents of coal – it is life here. I came away from this day wanting to dive even deeper into the social and environmental history of coal mining in this region. This is going on the top of my list of things to research and read about after our trip.

We spent the night at the nicest Red Roof Inn, probably in the history of man. It was worth at least two or three times the $46 we paid for the night. While we typically camp each night, we’ve been spending every fifth or sixth night in a motel. Most have been around this same price point and nowhere (not even close) as nice as this motel. And everyone we met who worked there were the most genuinely friendly and competent hotel clerks ever. And thus continues our love affair with Kentucky.

When we awoke, the rain was coming down hard. We decided to drive up to Lexington and spend the day at the Explorium, the local children’s museum. Even through the gray and rain, we fell in love again. And Van had a blast at the museum. Though the horse exhibits were the most fun for us, he loved the “lala boat” (water boat).

My first horse ride

Nothing is better than playing in water

Trapped in a bubble!

I particularly enjoyed the exhibit about homes around the world. I would have loved playing in the various homes when I was a child. But then, a seemingly out-of-place panel caught my eye. It was a panel dedicated to explaining that not everyone has a home. The portion below made me smile to myself. It was the part of this exhibit that explained our housing situation, except not at all. While we may be living in a vehicle, we are not homeless and would never consider ourselves as such. But, living in a car with fewer necessities does help me to empathize a bit more than I did before our trip with our homeless brothers and sisters who have no choice but to live in a vehicle.

Exhibit in the Explorium of Lexington

Continuing our theme of being impressed with all that exists in Kentucky, we made our way to a beautiful and incredibly well maintained campground in Taylorsville Lake State Park. Well situated between Lexington and Louisville, this became our home base for the next six nights.

Our campsite in Taylorsville Lake State Park

48th State

Posted on May 13, 2013 by bottlingmoonlight | Leave a comment

We picked up our rental van last week, packed it full of everything from our sad, broken van in Memphis, and traveled west towards the Ozarks. After our third night here, I’m in love. I had high expectations – but they have been exceeded at every turn. It’s also been wonderful to focus on something other than our van troubles. My parents flew in for the week to spend time with their grandson (and us), so we’ve been able to relax and enjoy time with family.

We spent our first night at a beautiful bed and breakfast in Mountain Home headed southwest to the upper Buffalo River for our next two nights, and are now in Branson, Missouri for the night. We’ll be returning to Arkansas for the last two nights of my family’s visit – leaving for Eureka Springs in the morning. We’ve seen eagles nesting in the wild, elk, a gorgeous bluebird, and my mother, husband and son spotted a baby woodpecker yesterday. Between that and all of the armadillo roadkill, we’ve seen quite a bit of wildlife. But nothing has topped the Buffalo River, the first national river. I had heard it was beautiful, but I was unprepared for the sheer beauty of the setting, the towering bluffs, and the clear turquoise water. My father and I were lucky to get away and float down about eight miles of the river yesterday, with a side hike to a towering waterfall. An almost perfect day (it would have been perfect if Alan had been able to join us)!

And now, I can update the list of states I’ve visited, spent time in, and (at a bare minimum) spent the night in. Arkansas was my 48th state! We were planning to visit what would have been my 49th state next week, but since we need to speed to Colorado and return the rental van, Oklahoma will have to wait. And Hawaii will make a great trip at some point in the future to celebrate traveling to all 50 states.

I know you’re probably wondering where the photos are after I’ve written so much about the beauty of this area. Once we have a bit more down time in the next week or so, I’ll be sure the post some photos from our time here.

Eastern Tennessee

Posted on May 10, 2013 by bottlingmoonlight | 1 Comment

It was only fitting that on our journey through the land of orange dirt, we should stop at an old copper mine. The mine has long since closed, but I had heard that this mine, in Ducktown, Tennessee, had one of the largest open copper craters in the area and I wanted to take a look. Although we arrived after the small museum had closed, we had a nice chat with the woman who ran it. She told us that on an ordinary day she’d stay open late for us, but she had to get home to see her daughter. No matter, we were able to see the crater and be on our way.

After a day and a half of exploring Chattanooga, we headed up to our highlight of Eastern Tennessee, the Museum of Appalachia in Clinton. I’m a sucker for living history museums, and this was one of the best I’ve ever seen. The curation was as interesting as the contents themselves. It was pretty clear that this was not the work of a museum committee made up of historians who are at arm’s length from the history they are describing. Instead, it was a more personal look at a community’s attempt to save, define, and communicate a sense of itself. We were able to spend several hours there (it helped that there was a lot of outdoor space for Van to run around), but I could have easily spent a full day or so if I wasn’t tethered to a small child.

We finished our stay in Eastern Tennessee with a couple of nights in Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. We technically camped in Virginia, but all three states meet right there, so we considered it more of an extension or our time in Tennessee. We did some great hiking, but by far the coolest thing for me was walking along the Wilderness Road Trail. This is the trail that Daniel Boone blazed in 1775, following the footsteps of many Indians and bison before him. The Wilderness Road was recently restored to its original appearance as it crosses the Gap. I spent all of our short time on the trail envisioning the many, many people who had crossed this Gap with all of their belongings, heading west not knowing exactly what to expect. Certainly one could draw some loose parallels to our trip, but those folks had guts well beyond anything that travelers with motorized transportation, a cell phone, and ready access to clean drinking water and food sources could understand.

Alan’s favorite thing in the park was standing in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee at the same time. I admit that it was cool, and made even cooler by the fact that this point is on a mountain, which is conveniently named Tri-State Peak. We would have liked to have done even more hiking, but Van was having a particularly tough day (meaning lots of tantrums, crying, and not listening) and the hikes we were most interested in were rather long with a screamy two year old in tow. Regardless, we were able to see a lot and get a few miles of hiking in before we headed north into Kentucky.

Van and Buddy the Bison, a gift from Uncle Jack and Aunt Jenni for his travels to our National Parks

The Wilderness Trail

Memphis Highlights and Travel Updates

Posted on May 8, 2013 by bottlingmoonlight | 4 Comments

We took a break from dealing with our van headache to check out Memphis today. It was great to get out in the sunshine and give our legs a stretch after being cooped up in a motel for the past day and a half. We began our day with a trip downtown to see the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. It was more emotional than I was expecting given that the motel looks just the same as it did when he was killed. The images of that balcony from that fateful day have been burned into most of our memories, so it was surreal to find it looking just the same. We were looking forward to seeing the civil rights museum that is associated with the Lorraine Motel, but it is currently under renovation, so we made do with a moving visit to this historic but upsetting location.

We wandered around downtown, checking out Beale Street, The Peabody Hotel and its fountain-dwelling ducks, and several other areas that looked interesting. Van had a ball waving to every trolley driver that drove by. I’m pretty sure every single trolley driver waved back – and so did many of the passengers. Aside from the fact that Memphis will always be the place our van died, this is a mighty cool city. Definitely a great place to be stuck for a couple extra days.

We followed up our walk around town with some amazing barbecue. The sauce was good but the pork was phenomenal and not much more costly (if any) than a value meal at the nearest food factory. The banana pudding (of which I’m now a huge fan) wasn’t quite as delish as what we ate in Nashville, but it was a great dessert for only $2.50. If you find yourself in Memphis (and hopefully it’s under different circumstances than ours), you should definitely mosey on over to Cozy Corner.

Across the street we saw this – definitely a sign…

Our evening ended in the lobby of our motel with beers and snacky-type dinner food. The place we’re staying provides breakfast and snack/dinner food with three alcoholic beverages per adult per evening. You can bet we’ve been getting our fill. Van makes friends for us quickly down there, so we’ve been able to meet lots of other folks traveling through Memphis. Tonight we had a long conversation with Grandpa Harrison, a retired dairy farmer from the panhandle of Oklahoma. We met a few other folks from Oklahoma, all of whom were on their way back from a rainy, cold vacation in Myrtle Beach. If these folks are a good representation of the residents of Oklahoma, it should be a very friendly state to visit. I’m just hoping we get there at some point this year.

And that brings me to what you’ve probably all been waiting for, news on our travels. We were able to get a much better assessment on the van today, enough to tell us that it is not a quick or inexpensive fix. While we continue to sort things out, we’re going to rent a van to drive us and our things (that van sure could fit a lot of our belongings) to Arkansas for six nights and then drive straight from northwest Arkansas up to Denver in one long day. We’ll finish sorting things out once we get there and reassess how we’re going to continue traveling at that point. We will continue traveling – it’s just a matter of how we’re going to do it and what we need to do before we can get back on the road. Regardless, we’ll have lots of visiting to do in Colorado with family and friends and we’ll take some trips here and there to places we’ve been wanting to check out as we firm up our plans. While the situation is not ideal (let’s be real – it sucks), I am so glad that the van died when we were crawling out of a parking lot instead of hurtling down the interstate. And even more important, no one was hurt. Perhaps the van died to protect us from something even more catastrophic. We’re learning a lot of important lessons, something we’ll likely write about once we’ve had a little time to reflect. In the mean time, thanks so much for all of your supportive messages and words over the past couple of days. It’s meant more to us than you will ever know.

Bottling Moonlight

Category Archives: On the Road