Day 10: Hidden River Cave, KY

Today we got really, really dirty. Like REALLY dirty. How you ask? Wild caving in Hidden River Cave (previously known as Horse Cave), just outside of Cave City, KY. This “Off Trail Tour” was the only wild caving tour I could find anywhere that would accommodate a seven and eleven year old; usually the age cut off is 13. The boys really enjoyed it. Within the first 5 minutes we had walked through a river completely soaking our hiking boots. We then conquered the “knee buster” passage that required a combination of very low crab walking and crawling on our hands and knees. Our 19 year old tour guide Jack also had the boys army crawling on their stomaches through two really tight passages. Ian and I opted out of the crawling citing this part as a young person’s game, lol. At one point, we all turned off our headlights to experience the absolute blackness deep inside the cave. During our journey, Ian made good use of his helmet and bonked his head real good three times. We also saw a very cool cave crawfish with totally transparent skin that allowed us to see all his insides. We tried hard not to step on him. At the end of the tour we got to walk the route of the regular cave tour to see the sunset dome; it is the second largest cave dome in the US beat only by the dome in Carlsbad Caverns, in New Mexico (which we will be seeing later in our trip). Guide Jake told us it would take 880,000,000 Rubick’s Cubes to fill the dome! 

Before

After

Alistair hanging up all the wet insoles of our boots.

In the afternoon we did some rock shopping with our spending money from the grandmas at the very reasonably priced Big Mike’s Rock Shop. Alistair cleaned up selecting a “pint” of assorted rocks for $9.95. He also purchased a very cool TV Rock (made of feldspar). Liam opted for a polished opalite. Seamus could not decide (SO many choices) so he is holding on to his spending money for now.

We also grocery shopped for a steal of a deal at the Dollar General Market in preparation for burritos for supper tonight. 

Burrito bowl

It has been a rock-solid day.

Day 9: Natural Bridge State Park to Mammoth Caves National Park, KY

We had a wild adventure this morning on a guided clear kayak tour through an old limestone mine! It was amazing - the kids gave it an eleven out of ten. Alistair was adamant that he wanted to pilot his own mini kayak. He gave it a valiant effort and (thankfully) graciously accepted the guide’s suggestion a few minutes in that he might enjoy being towed behind the guide’s kayak to minimize zigzagging. The big boys nailed it. It was so cool to see the huge trout swimming right beside and underneath us throughout our time on the water.

After a lunch of leftover pizza, we drove toward Mammoth Caves National Park, stopping at Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretto, KY to hand dip our own bottle of bourbon into their infamous red wax.

We also dropped in to Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park to see a replica of the log cabin where the 16th US president was born and the sinking spring that was the reason his father selected this particular homestead. The spring was most underwhelming as it is today but we could see how it could have been important in the past.

After gaining an hour to our afternoon due to moving time zones, we rolled into Mammoth Caves Campground around dinner time and settled in. We have another exciting adventure planned for tomorrow. Stay tuned to see what we get up to.

Day 8: Shelbyville to Natural Bridge State Park, KY

Sunrise in Shelbyville was a peaceful start to a busy day.

Our morning adventures took us to Louisville, Kentucky on Kentucky Derby weekend - which was a surprise to us! Alongside lots of fancy people with funny accents wearing funny fancy hats, we visited the Louisville Slugger Museum and baseball bat factory. We learned how bats are made - originally from ash or birch and now also from maple. Also, they were originally carved by hand and now by machines repurposed from furniture making. We learned that for a bat not to break during use, the wood grain needs to be almost completely even with less than a 3% slope. Also, bats are marked on their strongest side indicating to batters how to hold them to reduce breakage upon contact with the ball. The boys were gifted with mini bats at the end of the tour. Perfect for whacking each other with. Sigh.

When we had our fill of bats and baseball history, it was time for bourbon. The bourbon factories here are incredible. They are super posh and cater to people way fancier than us. Also, they were packed - with people buying boxes of multiple bottles of bourbon. Not sure if this is related to people stocking up for Derby weekend or if people just love their bourbon but goodness. Not sure what anyone would do with 12 bottles of bourbon?! The kids liked our last bourbon stop - Buffalo Trace - best because they offered a free tasting which included a root beer tasting for littles. My favourite was the sazerac rye but honestly Ian drank most of my samples. Whiskey is definitely more Ian’s thing.

Our first meal at a restaurant was scheduled for today at a hip pizza joint, Miguel’s, on our way to Natural Bridge State Park. Dinner did not disappoint and fuelled us up for an end-of-day hike up to the Rock Bridge. We have heaps of leftovers for tomorrow too which is great since groceries are running low.

The rock bridge ended up being enormous and worth the very steep, very tiring uphill climb the whole way. Hard work but with a big payoff. Wow! We got to see the bridge from underneath and then climb in this narrow slot to walk up on top of it. It was pretty fantastic. What an experience and a great view.

And with that April is over and we move into May with many more adventures to come.