Kentucky- Mammoth Cave NP & Family (04/02-03/22)

This weekend we went to Kentucky!

Our primary purpose in going was actually to see some family! Huzzah!!

Jonathan’s Dad’s cousin, Karen, moved to Kentucky just a few months ago with her husband Keith and son Brad.

We got to know them quite well when we all lived in Utah, so we were very excited to see them.

We went to Zaxby’s in honor of Jake. It is a southern institution that we knew about because of him.
The traveling circus.

And Kentucky was so beautiful.

Basically, it was just an awesome weekend all around.

Jonathan took a half day off of work and so once his morning meetings were done, we hit the road. On our way to see Keith, Karen, and Brad, we stopped by Mammoth Cave National Park, which has the world’s longest known cave system.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see any part of said cave system… Because apparently, you can only go as part of a guided tour…. And they only have a certain number of slots…. And the spots are reserved weeks if not months in advance….

I ran in to try and book us a tour. This is where they waited for me.
The river runs right over the road, so there’s a little tiny ferry that goes back and forth. It can carry up to 3 cars at a time. Cute!

Whoops!!!

Fortunately, there are some beautiful trails in the park as well. And so we opted to go check one of them out.

I pulled out my trusty AllTrails app and off we went to the Cedar Sink Trail. Which, according to the sign at the trailhead, this particular trail “contains perhaps the most dramatic surface expression of the cave-bearing landscape of Mammoth Cave National Park.” Sweeeet.

We walked through the forest for a while, which was lovely. And then, after a little while, we reached a part of the trail that started showing off some external features of the cave system. And there were many stairs.

One of the cool things that we got to see is called a Karst Window, a brief stretch when an underground river is visible above ground. The river flows out a spring on one end and eventually re-enters a “Swallow hole” at the other end. Heh heh. Swallow hole. Heh heh.

We walked down to the water and explored a little bit at the spring, where the water exits the caves.

And then we continued on our away and got to see the swallow hole as well. And then we continued back toward the trailhead.

Once we arrived back at the car, we started driving toward Keith and Karen’s house.

And oh my goodness, the scenery between Mammoth Cave NP and their house was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING: rolling hills, charming towns, beautiful estates. It was amazing. I was driving because Jonathan was rather tired. So, alas, no pictures. (#waitforit!)

We eventually made it to the Longmore’s house. And we ordered pizza and chatted and just generally had a blast. (I didn’t take a single picture of us with them! #fail) Keith and Karen are grandparents, they moved to Kentucky to be closer to a couple of their kids and most of their grandkids. Our children were in hog heaven: SO MANY TOYS! And space to play! (Our current Airbnb is 1300 sqft, so a little squishy for a family of 7)

But let’s be honest. Caesar was the biggest hit. And not just cause he’s a large dog. He is the fluffiest, sweetest, most patient dog on the planet.

If every dog was like Caesar I would be a dog person. He didn’t jump on anyone, he didn’t bark. He was just content to hang out. And would occasionally walk up and nudge you until you started petting him. Even the children who are afraid of dogs loved Caesar.

We all went to bed too late. And slept well.

The next morning, after breakfast, Keith invited Clara, Jonas, Logan to come along as he took Caesar for a walk, (this was basically as good as Christmas for them.). And they talked Keith’s ears off.

And Caesar. We love Caesar.
He really is a BIG dog.

We hung out for most of the morning, and took off around lunchtime.

We were all so sad to leave. But we had to get back to Nashville.

We opted to take the same route that we drove yesterday, so that we could appreciate (aka photograph) the incredible scenery.

Jonathan is practicing his ‘influencer’ poses
See the old stone walls off to the side? They are of historic significance, it is illegal to knock them over.
This is serious Kentucky Derby country!
Horsies
I was taking pictures with my hand and phone out the window, and accidentally turned on selfie mode.
Don’t you dare call it Ver-sigh.
It’ Ver-sales, thank you very much.
Drooooooolllll…..
On the interstate

We learned from Keith and Karen that the area we drove through is hardcore Kentucky Derby country. Lots of horses, pasture land, “Thoroughbred sales” and stallion farms.

After we got home, the rest of the weekend was devoted to watching General Conference