Kampin' in Kentucky

The past week has included lots and lots of drive time. We've gone from cold, rainy weather in Massachusetts to nice, warm weather in West Virginia, ending up yesterday in Kentucky. As you can see from the photo below, we had lots of hilly roads to contend with, especially through western Maryland and West Virginia. "Old Wheezer" (Sandy and Jerry's truck) loves going downhill, but I can't say the same for going uphill! One benefit: going slow allows you to see the scenery, and there were lots of fall colors during that part of the drive.

We finally made it to Carter Caves State Resort Park in Kentucky. The five mile road into the park off the highway was narrow , winding and had lots of curves.
This was another great state park, especially for families. Beside cave tours, there was a swimming pool during the summer, tennis courts, canoeing, hiking trails, horse stables, fishing, miniature golf and a regulation 9 hole golf course. What more could you want in one location? There was also a lodge and restaurant for "non-campers". No wonder all 112 sites were full for the weekend.

It took us almost 3 months of traveling to finally get to perfect camping weather. No rain, no wind, no mosquitoes, no heat or humidity. We had warm, sunny days and nights cool enough to require a comforter to stay warm.

Don was under the weather on Saturday, so Sandy, Jerry and I took some time to explore some of the shorter hiking trails. By the time we were through, we had gone up and down over 500 steps on the trails. They were still smiling in this picture that I took above the lake.
I even managed to find some flowers that were still blooming during the fall.
Beautiful Maple leaves draped the site across from us. We were under a large oak tree, and acorns kept dropping down on the 5th wheel. The "pings" from the acorns sounded a lot like hail.
One hike that we took was to Smoky Bridge. If you look closely, there are steps going down from the right side of the picture. The little white dot is Sandy's tee shirt. We had followed an extended family down to this spot, and the young children had a great time playing on the rocks here.
We have done a lot of camping in Arizona, but at Carter Cove state park, they take it to a whole new level. We took a walk in the evening and all around us were trailers decorated for fall and Halloween. Table cloths on the picnic tables had fall colors and were held down by pumpkins or real mum plants! It was amazing to see how so many took the time to decorate their sites. In retrospect, our trailers were a bit blah.