Sunday, May 5

I woke up to the sound of raindrops falling on top of the RV roof. We’re in Cave City, Kentucky today visiting Mammoth Caves National Park, and it’s been raining non-stop since we arrived. The wet weather is a bummer, for sure, but that wouldn’t hold us back from our sightseeing plans. Mammoth Caves have been on my travel list and I didn’t want to miss it while we were driving through Kentucky.

The campground was more noisy than usual because of the rain. Most of the campers around us were in tents and they were moving around early. Andi and I decided to get a jumpstart on our morning as well. We planned to get to the visitor’s center early so that we could secure tickets for the cave tour we wanted.

Entrance into Mammoth Caves National Park is free, but there is a charge to tour the cave. After reading about various cave tours on the National Park Service website, we decided the Mammoth Passages Tour would be best suited for our family since we have young kids who don’t like walking a lot of stairs. During the peak summer season, the cave tours sell out quickly and buying advanced tickets is required, but that wasn’t necessary in early May. We were able to walk up that morning and buy tickets, but we still wanted to be sure to get there early.

Andi purchased tickets for the 9:20am Mammoth Passages Tour. The kids and I sat together on a bench and worked on completing their Junior Ranger packets while we waited for our tour to begin.

Close to 9:20am, the two park rangers leading our tour reviewed rules and safety instructions. Mammoth Caves is the world's longest-known cave system, with more than 400 miles explored. Its been a public attraction since the early 1800’s and explored by Native American tribes even before then.

During our tour, we learned that caves are formed by the dissolution of limestone underground. A layer of sandstone above the limestone acts as a “roof” while water below ground slowly eroded away the limestone over millions of years. In the process, large underground passages formed what we now call Mammoth Caves.

Park Ranger Gregg led our group down the staircase into the cave. Once we were all about 100 yards in, he said he was going to do something special and didn’t want any of us to be alarmed. “On the count of three,” he said, “I’m going to turn out the lights so you can truly see what a cave is like.” Everyone closed their eyes on the count of one, he shut off the cave lighting on the count of two, and on the count of three we all opened our eyes to complete darkness. It was really cool! After the initial “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” quieted down, Gregg told everyone in our group to imagine what it was like to be one of the first discovers of this cave, or to navigate it by torch like many Native Americans did. Then, Gregg turned on the lights again and we walked further into the cave.

Mammoth Caves got its name because of the huge passages connecting to the rotunda. I expected to feel claustrophobic inside, but there was plenty of overhead space and room to move around the walkways. I also expected to see hundreds of bats inside, but there was only one lonely bat hanging from the ceiling when we passed by.

Back at the visitor’s center, Andi, Tory, Aden and I watched a 15-minute video about the history and discovery of Mammoth Caves, and wandered around looking at the various exhibits.

The kids earned their 9th Junior Ranger badge which Aden proudly pinned to his vest.

There were hiking and biking trails we could have explored at the park, but it was cold and rainy outside so we decided to continue onto our next Kentucky destination. We planned to drive 2 1/2 hours West to Land Between the Lakes Recreation Area in Golden Pond, KY.

Along the way, we stopped in Auburn, Kentucky for lunch at the city park. There was nothing especially notable about this place; Andi just picked a place to park the RV when we got hungry. While I made lunch, Tory and Aden went outside to feed the ducks waddling around the grass. The ducks must’ve been hungry because they practically chased the kids back into the RV! Smartly, Tory closed the screen door and then threw pieces of popcorn and tortilla out the sliding window. Both Tory and Aden got such a kick out of doing this. It kept them entertained for a good 15 minutes.

After lunch, we continued on our way toward Land Between the Lakes Recreation Area — the largest inland peninsula in the United States located between Barkley Lake and Lake Kentucky. The minute we pulled into the recreation area, it was easy to see there’s a lot to do. Hiking, biking, camping, fishing, plus a visitor’s center, planetarium, and more. We could have easily stayed here for a week!

We didn’t have a campground reservation, but luckily the recreation area wasn't very busy. We picked out a campsite on Energy Lake and paid for our spot. After we set up camp, Andi and I took the kids for an 8-mile bike ride around the lake. All the rolling hills were easy to manage with our new electric bikes! The four of us had a blast riding around.

Andi took the kids to the playground while I made shrimp & veggies for dinner, and then we enjoyed a nice quiet meal outside at the picnic table. The sun was finally shining and it turned out to be a great evening. Beautiful sunset!

Andi, Tory, and Aden met a family from Virginia at the playground and Andi invited them over to our campsite for s’mores after dinner that night. We had a nice time visiting with them about their travels, and it was so nice for Tory and Aden to make some new friends their ages. The only way we able to convince the kids to go to bed was by promising them they’d be able to play together again in the morning.

What a great spot! I would definitely recommend it, and wish we had more time to spend here. Tomorrow, we’re heading off to Missouri.