Kentucky!

Daddy had a work conference he could attend in Nashville, TN so we decided to make a family trip of it.  The least expensive flights went out Sunday, so even though his conference is Wednesday-Saturday, we decided to go then.  We headed from the airport up to Bowling Green, KY.  

Some of our drive was reminiscent of Daddy and I's trip from Atlanta to Savannah last year.  Solid green on both sides. 

But, unlike Georgia, in the hour we drove there was a lot like this. Beautiful, cleared, rolling hills.  I think my favorite landscape has changed!

Our first stop on Monday was Mammoth Cave National Park.

Mammoth cave is the longest cave in the world with 412 surveyed miles.  They've actually added a few more but right now it's still unofficial.  They estimate the length to be over 1000 miles.  I thought the comparison was interesting since we've visited both Wind and Jewel caves in SD.

We went on the "domes and dripstones" tour.  It only takes you 3/4 of a mile but it's almost 2 hours (over 100 people on a tour).

It is a very wet, active cave system.  In the video you can hear the water dripping into one of the pools.  We actually saw a couple little waterfalls but it's too dark to photograph . Most of the lighting was red to minimize the affect on the different types of life in the cave.  We went in a man made entrance and immediately climbed stairs down 280ft in a vertical shaft before meeting up with a horizontal shaft. We saw some natural archways where the ceiling was incredibly flat, it almost looked like plaster.  We didn't see any limestone formations until almost the end though.  There is a big formation called "frozen Niagra".

The historical entrance (that we didn't see) was actually a competing private company for quite some time.  The man who owned and operated this portion was constantly coming up with marketing schemes to steal the customers.  When he found the limestone formations he was finally able to offer something truly unique. Eventually it was all connected and taken over by the national parks.  They used the Civilian Conservation Corp to put in a more usable path.  During the depression, boys 18-25 could come work there.  They were given shelter, food and paid $30 a month.  $25 typically went home to their families so they had $5 "play" money.  Then these boys, already under the supervision of the army, ended up being drafted for World War II.  Anyway, to create these pathways they had to use a sledge hammer to break down the limestone to gravel size, spread it, then lay cave dirt on top.  It is all eroding now, so much of the path is more like walking on golf balls. 

After Mammoth cave we had lunch and headed to "Kentucky Down Under".  It's an Australian themed zoo featuring Mammoth onyx cave.  This cave was formations from start to finish.   This cave was discovered by a young girl and explored by her and her brothers. They pushed a tree into the natural entrance and used it as a ladder.  Eventually the cave was used as a "fridge", source of water and, in one case manufacturing of illegal moonshine (the still is still there).  Eventually they blasted through the end to create the public entrance they use now.

This pool is fed from the water seeping through the limestone above it.

There was an area called "Lori land" you could get some nectar and feed the lorikeets.  The birds were not trained at all so the only way to get them off was if they chose to leave or you leaned up against the fence so they could climb off.

They especially loved Kayda's necklace and earrings.

They got to hold an Australian small eyed snake which is one of the few predators of tiger snakes (the most poisonous snake in Australia). 

They had an outback walkabout.  The kids got to feed emus and feed/pet kangaroos!

Next came the National Corvette Museum.  We went ahead and forked over the money for the kids to get a ride in a 'vette.  Kayda chose the 1966.

Carson chose the 1979

 Carson told the driver that his dream was to drive one.  So the driver let him sit in the driver's seat after the ride.

Dillon decided at the last minute to go with the 2003, the 50th anniversary.  All of the kids came back with big grins telling us how awesome it was!

Daddy's favorite Corvette.

Dillon's favorite Corvette.

There was a sink hole that opened up February 12, 2014.  It swallowed 8 Corvettes.  The sink hole bottom is now 30 ft beneath the newly reinforced floor.

Kayda's favorite Corvette was one that ended up in the sinkhole.

It needed some repair after the fall, but some were beyond repair ...

Our original plan had is taking a boat tour at the Lost River Cave.  Unfortunately, there has been heavy rainfall recently so it is flooded out.  We headed down to Nashville and spent the rest of the evening there.

So far, we've managed to eat only one meal that we could get at home.  Everything else has been either one of a kind or an East coast chain.  Though we're doing our best to avoid the chains.  The kids are kind of getting adjusted now, it's a hard change from home snacking, eating and sleeping to having to eat out.