Park City, KY (State #7)-Diamond Caverns RV Resort

We spent two weeks in Park City, Kentucky at Diamond Caverns RV resort. It is a Thousand Trails park so it has all of the amenities including putt-putt, game room, two pools, playscape, golf course, laundry and more. It actually sits within boundaries of Mammoth Cave National Park.

Jacob declared this park as the “best place ever!”. It's funny to hear him say it because he has said that about nearly every place we have been to. There is always something a little different that he falls in love with.

BUT I can tell you one thing in particular that I did NOT love. I am quickly learning that I will take the Texas scorpions and fire ants over some of the insects in these other states. Here, they have sweat bees.

They look like ants but they fly and they will sting! Because they look like ants, my instinct was to shoo them and knock them off. Rookie mistake. After two stings, I had to do some research on these pesky little bugs! The locals told me to just leave them alone and they will fly off on their own. Doesn't sound too bad, right? I mean if a fly lands on you, just about any movement will send them away. I can do that! WELL, that is not how it goes with sweat bees. They land on you because they are attracted to the salt in your sweat and they can spend MINUTES licking or rubbing or whatever they do to collect the salt! I really don't like bugs and am totally creeped out by sitting still and watching a bug or several bugs crawl and lick all over me for that long! NO THANK YOU! So sadly, I didn't spend as much time outside as I would have liked. It was hot and just thinking about the bees made me sweat!

But we could go out early and late and move from place to place without being bothered. And of course swimming was always a possibility.

During the first week, Jacob got poison ivy and lost his second front tooth,

Jordan got an adorable haircut,

they both had their first root beer floats,

AND they both completed their first year of homeschooling!! Jacob has completed first grade and Jordan has completed Kindergarten. We had our own little celebration. They received their diplomas and a couple small gifts.

Since it was Jordan's first graduation, she wore a cap and gown (aka a haircutting cape, but she was none the wiser). I had her decorate a piece of black construction paper for her art project one day, then I later transformed it into her cap. I especially love the little bird on top.

I had also made them a brownie cake which turned out to be a perfect addition to the ice cream they were serving that night at the campground! We took our brownies and shared them with the others there. They then got to pick the movie to be shown at the pavilion that night and enjoyed popcorn served by the campground host. It was a great day!

Also that week, Jacob and Jordan made a friend named Lucas from South Carolina. They played together as much as possible until he left midweek. He was traveling with his grandmother, Linda, who I enjoyed visiting with too.

Our first trip into the park was to the visitor center.

They had some great exhibits there with a lot of good information on the caves.  There were plenty of hands on things for the kids and they had some other fun things like cavers hanging from the ceiling and cave crawl-thrus.

Behind our home in Austin is a Karst Preserve.  Well, I just thought that was someone's name! Here, I learned that a karst is actually landscape in which water moves rapidly underground by dissolving rock.  How about that?!

The kids and I decided to go do something very touristy. We went to Big Mike's Rock Shop and Mystery House. What kid doesn't like rocks? And they have tons of them! The only thing though is I do hate the idea of paying for rocks!! But the kids each picked out 3 rocks to take home.

And for $2 total, we took a trip through the mystery fun house. It was pretty short but it was fun and the kids really enjoyed it.

On Tuesdays and Thursday nights, Hardin Planetarium on the campus of West Kentucky University, in Bowling Green, offers a free show. It was about an hour long and while the screen was a little pixelated to me, it was really good. There weren't many people there and they had designed an interactive program for naming and identifying constellations. It was a fun learning experience.  And outside of the room, they had some enjoyable hands-on exhibits.

We tried to take a bike ride to explore the park some. They have a biking and hiking trail that is something like 12 miles long and there is access to it from the campground where we were. Unfortunately, it was soooo sandy. There was no way Jordan could ride her bike alone through it and it was too hard and scary with her on my bike. We had to go sooooo slow because we were sliding all over the place. We turned back after a mile or so and gave up but not before finding a turtle.

I went alone one morning and had a good ride. Along the way I found this little graveyard up on a hill in some trees. There were only 3 grave sites. This one is dated 1866.

The campground also had some nice rolling hills for some bike riding...

On Sunday, we finally made our first tour into Mammoth Cave. We took the Domes and Dripstones tour. A ranger led the tour and did a good job discussing the caves. There are 400 miles of caves in 7 square miles. The pictures are a little hard to see since they do not allow flash photography.

Here is a picture of the Frozen Niagara:

And a couple other formations: (most of them were near the end of the tour)

We saw cave crickets but no bats. The bats here are dying of White Nose Syndrome, the reason that most caves across the country are closed.

Since the kids enjoyed the tour so much, we decided to take the tour at Diamond Caverns, which is across the street from the campground. We took the last tour of the day and were the only ones! It was our own private tour!

The cave was just beautiful!! There were stalagmites and stalactites and domes everywhere! The original owner thought the calcite crystals were diamonds, hence the name. The cave is still very wet and the formations are still growing.

 (ceiling)

This was the most appetizing part of the tour.  Cave Bacon!!

Here is a stalagmite that has been sawed in half and polished.  Looks like the inside of a tree!

And, here is a handkerchief that has turned to stone. It is thought to be from one of the original cave workers when they would wet their handkerchiefs in the waterfall to keep cool. (Look closely, it's right in the center above the darker area)

This cave is very close to Mammoth Cave but since a connection to Mammoth Cave has not been discovered, it remains in private hands. For obvious reasons, Diamond Caverns is not exploring their cave further. And according to our guide, caves on private lands are sometimes kept secret since if there is a connection to Mammoth, the land would be taken for the National Park.

The guide also discussed the cave wars that took place in the 1930s that resulted in the destruction of many formations in many of the caves. So sad!

Greg took the day off on Thursday and he and Jacob headed to the Corvette Factory Tour (Jordan is too young).  It took about 1.5 hours and they both thoroughly enjoyed it.  The group was small enough that it wasn't crowded and the guide was very informative and answered all and any questions.  The tour route followed the cars natural build progression, starting with installing seats, dashboards, and body panels to the mating of the drivetrain (engine and transmission) to the body, through the final portions where the engine runs for the very first time and the car is driven off the line for a complete battery of tests.  The line workers would sometimes smile, wave, or even chat.  If we're ever in the area again, Greg would be eager to go again and by that time Jordan would be old enough to enjoy it too.

Afterwards, we headed back to Mammoth Cave to pick up the kids' Junior Ranger badges and for the Historic Tour. This was Greg's favorite tour. The kids and I enjoyed Fat Man's Misery and Tall Man's Misery where the cave walls get very narrow and then short so that you must crouch over to walk.

On the way back to the campground, we detoured and crossed the Green River on ferry. It was an extremely short ferry ride but who doesn't enjoy a ferry?! We took a short hike and then headed back across the ferry to home.

I so wish you could see the turkey that totally cut in line and ran up to the water ahead of all of us but it is too small.  So, here's a picture of a few more.  They were fairly common and I would usually see a couple of them at our campground while I was on my morning walk.

Our last adventure was supposed to be a ranger-led hike from the Green River ferry parking area but we never found him so we went on our own.

Hike from Green River Ferry passed Echo Springs to River Styx.  It was a beautiful day and hike and we didn't know what to expect when we started.  River Styx was a treat as it is where a river that is still carving the cave flows on the surface.  It's easy to imagine how it got its name!

We reached the River Styx then turned around and made our way back.

So despite the sweat bees, we had a good time!  Next, we're headed to Yellow Springs, OH.

Mt Juliet/Nashville, TN-Cedar Creek COE Park

We stayed in Mt Juliet outside of Nashville at Cedar Creek Park, which is a core of engineers park. It was a nice sized park with some great campsites on the lake (we did not have one, but ours was nice anyways). They had one washing machine and dryer and the showers were pretty nice. There was also a big playscape and beach area for swimming.

It was Memorial Day Weekend so the park was pretty busy when we arrived! The next day it almost completely cleared out.

Greg had the day off so we ventured out. We went to the Adventure Science Center (free with our museum pass). We all had a great time. They had this amazing playscape area in the center that was something like 6 levels tall although I would probably freaked out had my children been younger and I had to try to keep up with them.

There was a huge human body section that had a lot of interactive and unique ideas for demonstrating how the body works.

Jordan loved brushing this huge tooth.

Jacob liked this wheelchair activity. The kids were supposed to try to shoot the basketball and then wheel themselves up the ramp on the side to the back of the wall. 

In the back, there were two demonstration areas. One area had a mustard and ketchup pump and the other had two payphones. One of each of the group of items was placed at the height we would typically use them and the others were put down lower for easier access. The whole thing, of course, was to demonstrate the challenges that those confined to a wheelchair face.

Jacob also got the chance to see what it is like to walk on the moon with less gravity. They were to race across to the other side and back. Most kids just had fun flying through the air!

We also watched the IMAX movie titled Back to the Moon for Good shown in the planetarium. It was an overview of the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition.

After that we made a short visit to Fort Negley. Some of the walls were still visible but not too exciting to see. The fort dates back to the Civil War but no battles took place here.

During the rest of the week, the kids and I went swimming and played in the sand,

washed the bikes,

rode bikes a lot (Jacob is getting more daring; like riding through over and down into ditch areas), checked out the local library, and one evening we went to this great playscape at the community park.

Jordan found the sand pit, of course, and was covered from the top of her head to her toes in sand. It was even in her armpits!!

They also had a nice splashpad that was closed and a skate park.

On Friday night we went to the Grand Ole Opry! I wasn't sure what the kids would think about it but they did really well. And I think one of the big reasons was that recently, when we were in Chattanooga, I had them listen to the songs Rawhide and Rocky Top. And coincidentally, they were the first and third songs performed at the Opry!! So I think because the songs were familiar to them, they were a little more interested.

The line up included: Riders In the Sky, Kathy Mattea, Jimmy C. Newman, Bobby Osborne and The Rocky Top X-Press, John Conlee, Henry Cho (comedian), Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs, Jean Shepard, Jim Ed Brown, Radney Foster, Marty Stuart, Connie Smith, Mary Gauthier.

(Marty Stuart)

But as the night went on, the music got louder and louder. By the last few songs, I was tasked with covering Jacob's ears. All in all, we had a great time and would love to go back some time.

The next day we drove to Bicentennial Park.   Across the street is the capitol building.

And we found this on the ground.  I have always been curious about where the mile markers were measured from.

The park grounds were nicely manicured.  It had a wonderful amphitheater.  Greg and the kids are taking a bow after their superb performance ;)

They also had fun rotating and stopping this earth. And since it was a VERY HOT day, I am sure they enjoyed the splashes of water!

Our last stop was the Hermitage, the home of former president, Andrew Jackson. And believe it or not, this made the kids' lists of favorite things in Tennessee.

There was a guided tour of the mansion.

front view

back view

But other than that, it was a self guided audio tour. You wore a headset and at each station, there was a sign that listed the numbers to punch into your device for the adult tour and the KIDS TOUR! Often, I listened to both the adult and kids versions because I wanted to know what the kids were hearing. It was done really really well. We were there for several hours and Jordan listened to probably 75% of the recordings and Jacob listened to them ALL, even some of the adult recordings! It cost us about $45 for all of us to go and I would say it was well worth it. They made it very enjoyable.

The garden was beautiful and the flowers were gorgeous.  I would love to have something like this in my yard.

In one corner, were the gravesites of Jackson and his wife, Rachel.  

And the sweet words engraved into the stone on top of Rachel's site.

Being Nashville, it was not at all the visit I expected but we had a great time!  From here, we're off to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky!