Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky - Tuesday, March 1, 2011

We spent the night at the Cave City, KY, Comfort Inn so we would be close to Mammoth Cave N.P. Very comfortable lodging and free continental breakfast. Bob made use of the exercise room to run because outside temperature was 34 this morning.

On our nine-mile drive to the Mammoth Cave Visitor Center, we saw four does and a one-point (?) buck. Aaron (Bob's second youngest brother) and his eight-year-old daughter, Emily (our niece), were at the Visitor Center. We said our hellos and talked while we waited for Nancy, Steve (Bob's youngest brother) and Amanda (another niece) to arrive. The day was absolutely gorgeous...not a cloud in the sky. Cold though, 37 degrees.

When the rest of the family arrived, there were plenty of hugs and how-do-you-dos. Emily and Amanda had never met each other. The two eight year olds were soon giggling, laughing and talking with each other.

Emily and Amanda.

Tickets for the New Entrance tour were purchased and we boarded buses to take us to the New Entrance. The "cool" people (Nancy, Steve, Amanda) sat in the back of the bus. I told them that was okay because the "hot" people sat in the middle.

On today's tour, we had a different tour guide than we had two days ago. It was good to hear different stories and a different perspective.

I volunteered to be last in line to make sure everyone was accounted for and to keep the end of the tour group moving. That meant waiting for people to take photos and "ooh" and "ah," which was great because I had more time to take photos and look at what I missed two days ago.

Emily & Amanda had a great time hanging out with each other. Not only that but they experienced and learned about geology, caves and the surrounding area.

Brothers: Bob, Steven, Aaron

Looking down where water has eroded the cave.

Draperies, stalagmites, travertine, and dripping water--an active cave.

Bob enjoying the formations.

Looking up at what Bob sees.

When we finished our tour and returned to the Visitor Center, we took a short hike to the Historic Entrance. The waterfall was still coming down next to the entrance trail and the girls wanted to get a little wet, so they stuck out their hands and caught some drops from the waterfall.

Bob, Susan, Nancy, Steven, Aaron, Em and Amanda.

 

Nancy and Steven.

Em and Aaron.

Lunch was next on the agenda after that two-hour, two-mile tour, plus about 1/2 mile hike to the Historic Entrance. El Mazatlan Mexican restaurant in Cave City was the restaurant of choice. Good choice! Four baskets of chips, four small bowls of guacamole, and seven lunch specials later, all seven of us were satisfied and ready to move on.

El Mazatlan. Steven, Bob, Aaron.

Beautiful restaurant and wonderful food. Everyone happy.

Next stop, Ft. Knox, Kentucky, where my brother in law, Aaron, works. He took us into his building, stopping to show us plaques about a man who was on the 9/11 flight that crashed in Pennsylvania, about 9/11, and about the Ardennes campaign. We then followed him to "cubicle city" which is what he calls the area where he works. He explained his job to us and how interesting it is.

From Ft. Knox, we continued to Rineyville, Kentucky to see their home, visit with Claudia (sister in law) and eat dinner. They have a very nice home in the country with about an acre of land. We saw an absolutely gorgeous sunset. The two girls went riding on a mini-motorbike and had a blast. Claudia cooked sauerbraten and canoodles (sp?) for us, plus made a beet salad and a 3-bean salad. The sauerbraten was so tender and moist. It was an excellent dinner. We brought Girl Scout cookies (Thin Mints and Tagalongs) plus some Gewurtzraminer wine for dinner/dessert. It was nice for everyone to spend time together.

Cousins, Amanda and Em, proceeded to entertain us with their "Top Model" poses.

Getting revved up for the modeling.

 

Call with Grandma Louise!

 

Because the next day Emily had school, Aaron had to work, and Bob and Steve had a convention to go to, we left around 8:30 pm to head to Louisville and our hotel for the next five nights.

I went to bed about 9:30 pm, exhausted.