While I am now actually sitting in Arkansas, I need to go back a couple days to let you know about the fantastic part of Kentucky I saw while visiting Ken and Pam, who live near Richmond. Ken and Pam's back yard is a forest that slopes down to the Kentucky River. They had some interesting visitors while I was there -- hawks, deer, fox, and wild turkeys all came visiting. This image was taken on the last morning before I left -- there had been a frost the night before, and the morning mist filled the river's valley until the sun began to burn it off.
Most of our adventures took place on the other side of the Kentucky River, and the easiest way to get across it was to take a free car ferry -- and that has to be a rarity! The Valley View Ferry is the oldest continuous business in Kentucky, and has been in existence 1785. Cars pull up to the waterline; when the ferry gets to that side of the river up to three cars drive on the ferry; the ferry goes to the other side where the cars pull off. Repeat with cars on that side. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat... This is apparently cheaper than building a bridge, and it sure was a lot more fun!
Then we were off to the Daniel Boone National Forest, famed for several natural bridges, or sandstone arches, and we played on two of them. The first one was named Sky Bridge, and it was on a park loop that started with a trip through a tunnel that was very roughly chopped out of rock and very narrow, originally cut for transporting logs.When we got to the bridge, we were able to walk across it, and then hiked down a path to the bottom. The day was gray and rainy, but a lot of other people were milling about. Once Pam thought I might have fallen over the side when she looked back to where I had just been, and instead saw a group of people staring over the edge. No fear, I had just wandered off to photograph something or other!
The second sandstone arch we visited was named "Natural Bridge" and the best way to get to it was by a sky lift -- fabulous view, pleasant trip, and a long, long way down! This was my first time on a chair lift, but I somehow managed to get on and off without embarrassing myself too badly. It was a spectacular view, and the best $8 (round trip) I ever spent!
Other Kentucky Fun:
- We drove through Boonsborough State Park, where the RV park was filled with ghosts, goblins, pumpkins, and Halloween decorations of amazing excess. They have a huge Halloween party each year that is so popular they are already fully booked for next year.
- We played a Parcheesi-like game called "Pollyanna" at which I, ahem, excelled to almost brilliancy.
- We played Four Cards Down, a card game that depends largely on Chance to determine the winner, but Chance is fickle and only allows Pam to win (me: Whine, whine, whine).
- We visited the Boonsboro Fort, where we petted a very nice horse, watched 18th century craftspeople do their crafts, learned that Celtic music spawned Bluegrass, took in the park's introductory movie in which every Native American looked like a white guy dressed up for Halloween, and found out that Daniel Boone once lived with the Native Americans and was suspected to be a traitor when he returned to the fort.
- I learned that Ken has an obsession with finding the exact location of far off lights he can see from home, and that Pam can gobble well enough to fool a wild turkey.
The visit was wonderful, and it was over way too soon. I have now moved on to West Memphis, Arkansas, and am sitting on the banks of the Mississippi River watching huge barges chug up the river. It would be nice to see a wild turkey here, but somehow I don't really expect it.
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