The BIG Cave and A Wash JobOct 9, 2011
|
|
The National Park
Fall Colors Improved Each Day
Dave Our Ranger Guide on the Cave Tour
Yesterday--Saturday--we got a "washing permit" from the RV park for $10 so we could wash the RV and truck. Even with both of us working, it is still a job. In addition the Texas-OU game caused a delay after we got started. We got the job done and watched the game. We relaxed after the work of washing the RV and truck, watched more college football and grilled some bratwurst for dinner.
Sunday we had reservations for the 11:15AM New Entrance Cave tour at Mammoth Cave National Park. We drove into the park and waited for our tour. It was interesting to see who was going on a tour of 2 hours, 500 steps, and covered about 3/4 of a mile. There were several families with small children--like 3--who went on the tour. The cave was cool and unusual. There were not many cave formations like we have seen at Carlsbad. We enjoyed the tour but don't count Mammoth Cave as the best cave we have seen.
After the tour, we had a nice lunch in the Mammoth Cave Hotel. We followed this with a hike around the grounds to enjoy the fall colors. We intercepted a wedding at the amphitheater--bride in a white dress--all the groomsmen and brides maids were dressed in black. The groomsmen in black slacks, black shirts and gold ties. The groom had the same black attire with a white tie. Modern wedding!
On the way back to the RV, we drove the Park Ridge Road and saw a coyote cross the road--also lots of color in the trees. The 52,000 acre park has beautiful grounds with the fall colors--it reminds us of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park we saw in October 2008.
Cave City is the first small town we have stayed in for a few weeks. It is interesting to go into a hardware store or auto parts store and have the clerk smoking while they wait on you. It appears that alot of locals have missed the ads on the effect of smoking on their health. Of course, about 1/2 mile from the RV park is a barn with tobacco drying. I guess someone has to be smoking it!
We got the rest of our trip planned. We will visit Louisville,Kentucky; Vicksburg, Mississippi; and then Frisco to see David and the Girls. We plan to be home on October 24.
