KY Adventures

We ended Road Trip America 2.0 with Kentucky Adventures. I can't think of a better ending! Kentucky is packed full of fun things to do! We have the Kentucky Bucket List book, which is a must for all adventure lovers, and set out to mark off some western KY spots. Two of our favorite adventure loving friends, Tara and Monica, met us in Paducah for two days of fun!

Paducah brought lunch at Kirchhoff's Bakery, a visit to the National Quilt Museum, duck at Noble Pond, Purple Toad Winery, Dry Ground Brewery, dinner at Freight House, and time with friends. Thank you Will and Kristina for hosting all of us for the night! It was good to see you and nice to be in a house and not a tent!

Western Kentucky is also home to the Tomb of Henry Woodridge. Uncle Henry, from the late 1800's, was no one special but made sure a fantastically interesting tomb was left in his memory. You can find this gem in Mayfield. You can also find Tara's in-laws in Mayfield and they make a yummy pancake breakfast!

Fairview brings you the Jefferson Davis Monument. Who knew there was a mini Washington Monument right here in farmland Kentucky?!

I'm Bowling Green you must mark the Corvette Museum off your bucket list. The sinkhole situation, although unwanted, has really added to the experience!

This two week journey was just as fabulous as the first. We have marked five more national parks off, explored ten states, and made so many memories to keep us laughing and entertained for years. Our adventure days are far from over so maybe there will be a need to bring the blog back for a third time. We haven't marked all 50 states off yet, but we are close. 

Until next time...

Toto-ly OZsome

Wamego, Kansas is practically the Land of Oz. We started this grand journey to see the Wizard at the Oz museum. A great little place! The ladies working quickly became our friends and we learned a lot of Oz book and movie history. Did you know that the actors who played the munchkins got paid less than the dog who played Toto? We dined at Toto's Tacoz, tasted wine at the Oz Winery, and took a stroll down the yellow brick road. And best of all we got caught up in a tornado. All things Oz out here in Kansas.  

Kansas also brought a little history stop in Topeka to visit the Brown vs. Board of Education site. Here we took in a civil rights museum that is housed in the school where Linda Brown attended. It was also a stamp in my park passport!

We have arrived in Missouri. We looked for things to do, but nothing really came up. We passed a few billboards of possibilities but our timing was off. The weather said chance of storm so we booked a KOA cabin just in case. Smart move. It was storming so bad by the time we got here the tent would have be demolished and we may have gone with it. I'm almost positive it poured the last time we drove through Missouri and there was nothing to do. This was its second chance. We now only return to get to the other side. 

Utah Still Wins

We added Salt Lake City to our adventure because we love exploring new cities. We did not love Salt Lake. Not at all. We began our time in Temple Square. This was the only good part. It was very pretty and we met some lovely Mormons. We were able to catch an organ recital in the tabernacle. 11,000 organ pipes make beautiful music. 

We went to the Great Salt Lake next. We were excited to see this salt water lake. I mean we love the ocean and we love the lake so a salt lake was going to be great! It was the complete opposite of great. It smelled awful. There were dead birds on the shore. There were 1.5 billion brine flies surrounding the water. It was complete yuck. The sand was very crunchy, like walking on broken glass. That was cool. But that was all. 

See all that brown? It's tiny brine flies. Millions of them. 

We ended the day at a Salt Lake Bees baseball game. Baseball is always fun and we had to be on our toes for the foul balls coming at our heads. 

Yes, we match :) We also have on the same shorts in a different color. This was not planned and no one felt like changing. 

Overall, we would not recommend adding Salt Lake City to your bucket list. Unless your Mormon, then you should go. 

After leaving Salt Lake we made our way south as quickly as possible. We made it to Southwest Utah last time and were excited to explore the Southeast. Southern Utah does not disappoint. Ever. 

It is simply beautiful. We started our adventure in Arches National Park. It was 4,327 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. A perfect day to hike at noon. After nearly melting a number of times, we saw the arches and windows. Amazing! 

It was so hot I had to block the view!

Canyonlands National Park was next. Another natural beauty one must see. The hike to Mesa Arch provided stunning views!

We had to rescue a new friend at the top of the mountain. Cathy from Wisconsin and her family were stranded. Their car wouldn't start because it had over heated. (Because it really was 4,327 degrees outside). We have zero room in Patty but we shuffled some things around and took her to the visitors center and (hopefully) phone reception. It all worked out, car got started, and everyone continued their journey!

This little excursion was actually perfect because it put us in the right spot at the right time. After getting Cathy back to her family we headed back to where we left off. It was there we ran into Mindi's aunt and uncle!!! She didn't even know they were traveling! What a fun surprise!

A 4:40 a.m. windstorm nearly took us out. We made it out unscathed and the tent still intact. 

We so wanted to visit Four Corners on Road Trip America but it didn't work out. We knew we had to get there this time! What fun!! Four places at once..Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico. There were Navajo Indians selling their jewelry and art. So much talent!! We wanted so much and made sure we bought something from each state! We also had some yummy fry bread before leaving. 

We headed the Colorado route out of four corners to Mesa Verde National  Park. Oh. My. Goodness. This was IN. CRE. DI. BLE. We were in complete awe of how these homes were built and the way the Pueblo lived. We took the Balcony House tour and it was the best!! We had to climb several steep ladders to get to the cliff dwelling. Be proud of Mindi, she did not want to do this but did not freak out!

Those of you that followed our journey in 2014 may remember a speeding situation that happened in Wyoming. The same situation has happened in Colorado. This kind officer felt the need to give more than a warning. I now owe the beautiful state of Colorado $160. I hope they put my money to good use. 

I plan on paying this online so I can keep my citation. It's the most expensive souvenir I've ever bought. 

Colorado is home to Great Sand Dunes National Park. This place is AMAZING!! You can rent a sand sled. When we read this online we could not wait!! Sand sledding?!!? That is an adventure we can get fully behind. For $20 you get a sled and wax. Because obviously you want to wax your board for maximum speed. This was THE MOST FUN!!! Climbing back up was exhausting. First, imagine how hard it is to climb back up the snowy hill. Next, imagine how hard it is to run through the thick sand on the beach. Now put those together. Shew! We had a good workout this morning! 

 

We were told to hike to Zapata Falls. Turn right at the sign and take the gravel road for three miles they said. It became very evident very quickly that Kentucky and Colorado have differing ideas on the meaning of gravel. This was not a gravel road. These were medium sized stones. For three miles the car shook so violently my Fitbit counted steps. We then hiked uphill on the same "gravel" path. 

We found this at the top. 

 

We could hear a mighty falls but couldn't see it. We learned that you had to wade through the water and go into the cave. It was worth it everyone coming out said. This pep talk was needed because this was the coldest water I have EVER felt. Cold is actually the wrong word but there is not a proper word to describe the temperature. Frigid isn't even close. Obviously we hopped right in. We didn't deal with all that "gravel" to not see a waterfall. The pain that was radiating through my body almost made me cry. My feet hurt so bad. But it was worth it. It was beautiful and rushing and loud. We didn't really get a good picture because I had almost lost the ability to function by the time we got there. We gave the same advice to those questioning the temperature and slippery rocks, totally worth it. 

We have encountered 20,000 deer, 13,000 birds, 9,000 rabbits, and a slew of other creatures. Each time we pray they make it to or stay on their side of the road. I must sadly report that a bird did not continue his flight today. At least it wasn't a deer...

We have made it to Kansas. We knew we were getting close because it's wheat for as far as the eye can see. 

The View From The Top

If you want to pick a random city to move to, choose Colorado Springs. Be warned your productivity will decrease because you will do nothing but stare at the view God has given those people. Simply gorgeous in all directions. We started our time in the area at Garden of the Gods. It appears as if God has literally dropped giant stones on their sides for use to stare and marvel at their beauty. They are giant, red, and gorgeous. We did some hiking and took in the view of Pike's Peak in the distance. 

We ventured into Old Colorado City at the recommendation of travelers we met along the way in Iowa. Here we discovered a yummy little cafe and had our first real meal in days. A quaint little part of town that also led to a bit of window (and real) shopping. 

Manitou Springs led us to Pike's Peak. We took the train to the top. It's the longest cog railroad in the world. This 90 ton train traveled 8.9 miles to reach the summit of Pike's Peak at an altitude of 14,115 feet. It was steep and slow. At one point there is a 26% grade and the front of the train is three stories higher than the back. We were super lucky to have amazing seats. The back window going up and the front row coming down. This also put us next to the engineer so we had a new friend to tell us all sorts of information! 

Upon arriving at the summit we discovered donuts, hot chocolate, and the view that inspired "America the Beautiful."  It's chilly at 14,000 feet and it's hard to breathe. We learned that breathing alone causes you to lose a liter of water so it's important to stay hydrated...so obviously we had hot chocolate!

This picture is me enjoying the view. I can see how one would be inspired to write about how beautiful America is. What you should know is that right after this I fell off this rock. No warning. One minute sitting, the next rolling over and falling off. I'm blaming it on the lack of oxygen. 

We decided that while in the area we would check out how the other half vacation so we headed to The Broadmoor, a 5 star resort in Colorado Springs. We decided to have dinner there at a place recommended by our new train engineer friend. Seeing as how we were dressed as hiking riff raff, we knew we needed to stop and change somewhere. (The beauty of a road trip is that you always have everything you need with you!) There were zero gas stations along the way so we parked at an inconspicuous spot in the parking garage and went from drab to fab in ten minutes. :) We had a lovely dinner on the patio of The Golden Bee, an English Pub with a fun story behind it. As we paid and we're getting ready to head downstairs to listen to the music at the piano bar, Mindi dropped her credit card. It fell between the concrete paver flooring and the wall. I am not exaggerating when I tell you this...they had to take apart the floor to get it out. We caused the flooring of a restaurant at a 5 star resort to be taken apart. We should just stick to the KOA. 

As soon as we decided to take this trip, I knew white water rafting in Colorado was a must do activity. It took me some time to convince Mindi it would be just like the River Rampage ride at Dollywood. She finally agreed to the adventure and we took off for Idaho Springs this morning. After a safety briefing where they tell you how to survive every possible worst case scenario, we had to get our gear on. If you have lived your life having never put on a dry wet suit, consider yourself blessed. After fighting our way into this nonsense outfit, and Mindi taking the skin off her knuckles in the process, we paraded down to the river with our new found layer of blubber in 90 degree heat. 35 degree water splashing over you never felt so good! This adventure was the most fun!!!!!!!! We both loved it and no one had to put the safety training to use. We must get over to Wild and Wonderful West Virginia for another trip down the river. 

We have made it to the Colorado/Utah border for the night. If you ever find yourself in Denver, drive west on I-70 until you get to Glenwood Canyon. You can call and thank us for the jaw dropping views you will see.