Author: Doug Chapman

After breakfast at the RV, we traveled about 1 hr 20 mins to the Ark Encounter. It was an amazing site to see how large the ark really was .

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Before entering the Ark, we visited a small petting zoo. It was fun to see and talk to the animals. One of our friends, Brad, loved to make all kinds of animal noises to them. I kinda think they looked at him and thought, “these humans are kinda strange!”

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After entering the Ark, it’s massiveness was very apparent. Rows and rows of wooden handmade animal cages of all sizes lined the first and second decks. Along with water and food containers stored away.

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On one of the decks, you could lookup to the upper decks. Another example of how large and y’all this ark really was. Replicas of the boat was very informative and well done.

Pictures of the hull and interior structure of the Ark really doesn’t show you the massive pieces of wood used to build this Ark. Truly amazing!

One of the many things I found interesting was how they tried to answer any question you might have via multiple large message boards.

There was only 1 door. Not sure of the design of the door, but this was the size of the door. BIG!

After seeing 3 decks of the ark, we had seen everything to see. It was a really neat thing to experience. Many of the exhibits were informative, but many were for those visitors not sure about the ark event, belief in the Bible, and Salvation. I was very impressed with how the founder used this adventure as a ministry to those of unbelief. We had a great time visiting there!

After leaving the Ark Encounter, we ate a late lunch at a local Cracker Barrel and returned to the RV park to rest. Most of the afternoon it rained, so we stayed in, ate some supper, and retired for the night. Tomorrow we intend to do some hiking at the Red River Gorge.

We all left Cave City and traveled to Callies RV Campground. Took about 3 hours. Got some groceries and looked around the campground. Plan to go see the Ark Encounter tomorrow, about 1.5 hrs away.

After breakfast in the RV, we drove about 25 mins to Bowling Green, KY and visited the National Corvette Museum. A very interesting place to visit.

Did not realize but when you order your brand new corvette, you can add the option to pickup your new car at the museum. There is a large area with 6 to 8 brand new corvettes lined up awaiting their new owners to come and pickup that day. Saw a Dad and son picking up their new corvette and a husband wife pickup theirs. Pretty cool!

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Also didn’t know the museum’s main display area collapsed due to a large sink hole burying 8 corvettes. Fortunately the collapse was at 5:30am before anyone was there. Here’s some pics of those cars they retrieved.

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We ate a nice lunch at Rafferty’s Restaurant and Grill before traveling back to the RV park and watch some college football… finally!!!

After breakfast in the RV, our crew did some hiking in Mammoth Cave National Park. Then arrived at Mammoth Cave around 11:15am for our scheduled tour from one of the entrances. Many of the hiking tours in Mammoth Cave are closed and this one was self-guided due to COVID.

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The Mammoth Cave System of trails goes for over 450 miles, which no one has traveled its full length. It is the world’s largest cave system by far. We hiked 2 trails that went only 2 miles and were done for the day. Our trails were over 150 ft underground! The hike out was the most strenuous of the trip!

Later that day, Renee and I decided to go on a little adventure around the area. We visited a few interesting little shops around town. Then went to a little Amish run bakery and grocery store about 20 minutes from where we are staying. Bought some delicious looking cinnamon rolls and homemade donuts made by the Amish.

Ended the day cooking our supper on the grill while enjoying the company of our friends. We are all a little tired, but tomorrow is another adventure we are excited to be a part of.

Today we traveled from Smith Lake RV and Cabin Resort to Cave City, KY, the home of Mammoth Cave. We setup the RV at Cave Country RV Campground. Went to eat at a local Mexican restaurant with our friends that traveled with us.
Reserved our Mammoth Cave tour tickets tonight for 12:30pm tomorrow. Plan on doing some hiking in the morning, picnic lunch, then touring Mammoth Cave.

On Friday, we got curbside take out from this famous restaurant promoted by the Southern Living magazine and various travel bloggers. This cafe was properly named… flowers and vegetation growing all around this little eccentric little place. Food was a little pricey but was really good. Renee got the canyon burger and I got the shrimp grits cakes. Both were very good.

We needed to babysit our newest granddaughter while Megan attended a church leaders retreat in Mentone. We stayed at 1776 RV Campground just outside of Mentone. Very rugged and not kept up very well. But was the closest RV park to where the retreat is.

Went to visit Desoto Falls In between feedings. Did not go all the way down into the cavern below the falls because of the grandchild and dog in tow. Plenty to see up top.

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Left Baton Rouge about 8am and arrived in Birmingham about 2:30pm. Jude had gone into the hospital the day before, so we wanted to stop by and visit him and the other grandkids.

Took the RV all the way to Megan’s house. That was probably a mistake. But we made it.

Ate supper at Megan’s with take out from Smokin Hot Bar and Grill. That was good as usual.

Arrived at home around 9:30pm. After 2 weeks, and 2700 miles, our long vacation has come to an end. We really enjoyed it, but happy to be back at home.

Left about 10am and traveled to other side of Baton Rouge. Arrived there around 7:30pm. During the trip, stopped by another Buc-ees to get gas and some lunch. It’s one of our favorite places now.

We pulled into a Bass Pro shop in Denham Springs, LA and boon-docked. We wanted to get to the east side of Baton Rouge to miss rush hour traffic in the morning. It made it a long day, but worth it.

Ate at a nearby Mexican restaurant, then went to bed.

After getting some Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, we drove the car to San Antonio and visited The Alamo and the Riverwalk. Did lots of walking, shopping, ate a small lunch, and rode the boat down the river walk.

This evening, we had the opportunity to visit with some of our Chapman relatives that I haven’t seen in over 40 years. Aunt Millie Chapman and Virginia Chapman were able to join us at one of the Mexican restaurants at the Riverwalk. We talked for almost 2 hours reminiscing and sharing about our families. It was such a blessing. So happy we had this time to visit. Hope we can do this again.