A Cove, A Cave and A Cavern Our week July 25-31

  

This week we begin our journey out west. Being avid RVers this means that we have to stop at every interesting location we can think of along the way.  This week we found ourselves in Tennessee and Kentucky and it did not disappoint.

As the saying goes “getting there is half the adventure”, in a 38 foot motor home sometimes it can be more of an adventure that you want.

Small winding mountain roads and tiny tunnels make for a very interesting ride.

Our first night camping we did what’s known as “boondocking”. What that means is there are no hook ups..meaning water, electric or sewer.  

The campground that we boondocked in was The Cades Cove Campground located in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Setting up at the campsite took a lot of maneuvering because of the large slope

Since we only had one full day here we decided to take advantage of being right beside the Cades Cove Loop and we biked the entire 11 miles.  Every Wednesday from May to September the loop is closed to traffic so its an excellent opportunity to either walk or bike the loop.

We left early in the morning and the fog was still rolling around the cove.  It seemed so magical and as the fog lifted the views just got better and better.

As beautiful as this was it was time to move onward to our next stop on the route.  We trekked to Mammoth Cave National Park.  The park is incredible but so is the surrounding area.  Many caves and caverns are in this area.  Our first stop was  at Diamond Caverns.  A small cavern with a big history.  When this cavern was first discovered over 160 years ago the owner originally through it was full of diamonds but it turned out to be false.  However lucky for us he turned it into a tourist attraction.

The Cavern has 350 stairs and many narrow twist and turns to make this a very interesting attraction.

For many decades people would get married inside the cavern but due to safety issues it is no longer allowed.

Cavern bacon.

A piece of a stalactite that has been dissected.

Our last stop on this trip was at Mammoth Cave National Park.  When they say mammoth they mean it.  This cave was massive.

 

An exhibit of a time when they would excavate materials for gun powder.

A memorial set up to honor the members of the armed forces during World War 1.

A very informative ranger who lead the tour of the cave.

Replicas of artifacts that were found by those who inhabited the cave thousands of years before.

Stairs leading out of the cave.

Another view from inside this massive cave.

This was a great start to our road trip .  Already we have learned so much about our beautiful country and we are only on week one.  I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into Our Beautiful Everyday.

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