August 13, 2023
8/7- We started our morning very early at 2 am in Henderson, Kentucky when sirens started sounding outside in the midst of a very loud storm. At first we weren’t sure if the sirens meant a tornado had been spotted and we needed to run through the rain to the campground bathroom which had been labeled as a storm shelter. We rushed around and got dressed and got Teddi’s leash on only to look out and see all our neighbors still in their RV’s. We were finally able to figure out that the alarm, which only lasted long enough for us to get dressed, meant we were under a tornado watch which means conditions are favorable for a tornado. Luckily the storm passed by and we were able to get some more sleep.
So we were late getting started this morning but we arrived in Bowling Green, Kentucky around 3 pm. The city of Bowling Green used to be one of our favorite shopping places when we lived in Portland, Tennessee. Whenever we got a new foster child we would head up there to Wal-Mart to get all the things they needed from toothbrushes to underwear. These foster children would often arrive with almost nothing so we would let them go and pick out the items they needed. It felt good to be back so near Tennessee where our hearts still reside.
Although we lived in Tennessee for 6 years we had never gone to The Lost River Cave in Bowling Green, so we were excited to go see it, but we had to rush to get over there in time for the last tour of the day. Lost River Cave is a seven mile cave in which a river flows into. It is the only cave in Kentucky that is explored by boat. https://www.lostrivercave.org/ It is believed to be used by man for over 10,000 years. There is evidence that it was used at the end of the first ice age by Paleo-Indians. It was used to power a grist mill and sawmill through a hole bored in the cave ceiling. Civil War Soldiers from both sides camped in or near the cave during the war, many engraving their names inside the cave. In the 1930’s a nightclub was opened in the mouth of the cave which brought famous performers to the area. After the clubs closed in the 1960’s the cave became a local dumping area. In the 1990’s Friends of the Lost Cave cleaned up the area and brought the cave back to the condition it is in today. There are several rumors about the cave one being that Jesse James hid inside the cave at one time.
We enjoyed our boat trip thought the cave. As you first enter the cave you have to duck low to make it under a low hanging rock called the wishing rock. Our tour guide explained at times it is impossible to get inside the cave due to flooding. The flooding is one reason the stalactites are tiny as most have been washed away through various floods.
After visiting the cave we walked down to see The Blue Hole. It has a deep hole that brings water up from underground. There are stories about various people disappearing into the blue hole never to be seen again.
8/8- This morning we headed over to explore Aviation Heritage Park in Bowling Green, KY that was just a block from our campground. https://www.aviationheritagepark.com/ Rather than just viewing airplanes and helicopters, each displayed told the stories of regional heroes who had flown these aircrafts. Although the museum is not yet open to the public, just walking the grounds and viewing the aircraft and learning about the men who flew them was interesting.
When we lived in Portland, Tennessee we got to visit the Corvette Museum as a surprise birthday present for my husband and then later did the factory with our kids on a home school field trip. It had been over 20 years since we had been to the Corvette Museum so we enjoyed going back and seeing how it had grown and all the wonderful displays of Corvettes through the ages. https://www.corvettemuseum.org/ My husband loves Harley’s and Corvette and he could never decide which is his very favorite so these last couple weeks have been great ones for him, getting to visit both the Harley Museum in Milwaukee and the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green.
We had both forgotten about the sinkhole collapse that took place inside the museum in 2014 where 8 special Corvettes were damaging when they fell through the hole in the early hours of the morning. The hole has been filled and the vehicles that could be were repaired as best as they could. It was interesting to learn and see about that day again. https://www.corvettemuseum.org/corvette-cave-in-exhibit/
Just as we thought we had come to the end of the museum there was a display of unique and different Carl Casper cars that have Corvette parts in them. Then as we exited through the gift shop Frank got a Corvette tee-shirt and I got a raffle ticket for a Corvette so keep your fingers crossed on my birthday, September 2nd, when they draw for the winner.
Since we had been on the road we rarely eat out and only tried a few Mexican restaurants, none of which have measured up to the Tex-Mex food we are familiar with and love, but in Bowling Green we were happy to have found Los Mariachis where enjoyed some good Mexican food for dinner.
8/9- Before leaving Bowling Green this morning we had to go over to Camping World to find replacement windshield wipers for our RV. Unfortunately since they didn’t have what we needed, we as drove through pounding rain to Land Between the Lakes, KY we suffered. Since it was pouring when we arrived at our campground on the Lake we were limited on what we could do. Once we got parked we went over to the Visitor center and watched a movie in their planetarium before heading back to the RV. Once we got back we hunkered down as loud, noisy storms full of lightning and thunder raged through the area.
8/10- Woke this morning to good weather and we were glad to see the sunshine. Years ago when our younger kids were little we had gone to Lands Between the Lakes for Easter. We had camped on the lake and drove through the herds of buffalo so this morning we were off to see the buffalo again. https://landbetweenthelakes.us/seendo/attractions/elk-bison-prairie/ For $5 you can drive 3 ½ miles through Buffalo and Elk Prairie. As soon as we entered we saw a herd of buffalo but despite taking our time and looking hard we did not see any Elk on this trip. We did get to see some wild turkeys before heading out of the Prairie.
Then it was off for a day full of adventures. On our way to Paducah, KY we stopped at a roadside attraction we passed called Apple Valley Hillbilly Garden and Toyland. It was an eclectic tribute to old tacky roadside attractions. The owner came out to show us around and tell us about his ideas and his favorite “dad jokes.” https://applevalleyhillbillygardenandtoyland.com/ The land originally belonged to his Grandpa Oral Wallace who started with a small apple orchard where he would sell apple cider. Later he built an underground still which is still in the barn. Grandpa would cut hair for passing motorist while his wife served them fried chicken dinners.
It was then on to the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY. https://quiltmuseum.org/ Frank is a woodworker and very exact in his measuring and cutting so when I made our quilt for our bed several years ago he did the measuring and cutting of the pieces before I put them together. Since then he has enjoyed going to quilt museums with me and seeing how the quilts were designed and put together but this museum had an extra treat for him. Another woodworker had designed and carved a quilt out of wood which was amazing to see. We enjoyed checking out quilts from very small doll size quilts to giant wall art quilts.
Just outside the museum on the nearby Floodwall were 30 Murals of the history of Paducah, KY. https://www.paducahwalltowall.com/the-murals We walked the length of the murals enjoying the paintings. We had planned another stop for the day but by this time we were worn out and ready to head back to the RV for the evening.
8/11- Either I was exposed to something or ate something that wasn’t good yesterday so today was not a great day for me. Plans we had for the day were put away. On our drive from Land Between the Lakes, KY to Camden, TN we stopped at Paris, TN just long enough to get a picture of their Eiffel Tower. Then it was off to the campsite to rest and recover. I was disappointed because we were camping at Birdsong Resort and Mariana and as part of that stay we were going to be able to tour their freshwater pearl museum. https://resort.birdsong.com/ Instead I stayed inside and was at least able to enjoy the view of Kentucky Lake from our RV.
8/12- At least I was feeling a bit better today as we headed into Red Bay, Alabama. It was a long wet stormy drive but we arrived safely to clear weather. We were able to drive around town and find the places where we will be getting our body work done and the BnB that we will be staying in Monday through Friday while our RV is being worked on. The town is cute and we are looking forward to doing a lot more exploring and getting to tour the factory. We are staying in Red Bay Acres and it is funny to look down the line of other campsites and see Tiffin after Tiffin parked here.
8/13- After listening to church this morning we went over and meet the Mayor of Red Bay, Charlene Fancher. She rents out the little guest house in back of her home to Tiffin owners who are here to get their work done and we were lucky to book the space. We went ahead and moved some of our stuff over today and will move the rest over tomorrow morning before dropping our RV off to be worked on. Although we will not be in our RV the next week we still plan to do some touring of the surrounding area and continue to have some adventures along the way.
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