Road Trip 2012

The rolling hills around Jasper, Georgia, where we enjoyed spending time with our good friends the Smiths,  grew into mountains as we travelled toward Tennessee and then Kentucky for our long awaited 2012 road trip which had been postponed by my surgery and then a few other things which cropped up.  We are travelling in July which may not be the perfect month for a lot of outdoor hiking, but sometimes, we take what we can get!  The roadsides were alive with wild flowers: Queen Anne's Lace, chicory, and ox-eyed daisies.  The trees have that rich color and full foliage that just shouts "Summer!"

Crossing the Kentucky state line, we did not have far to go to our destination:  Cumberland Falls State Resort  Park where we had a reservation for the night at the DuPont Lodge.   As we watched the thermometer rise to 98 we noticed the signs of drought as we passed through areas where grass had turned brown, plants were wilting, and trees were less vivid.

The DuPont Lodge was a delight.  Constructed of stone, the lobby had a huge fireplace, open beams, and lots of rustic wood.  Our room was comfortable with lots of windows shaded by large awnings.  The air conditioning was definitely appreciated!

We waited until after five before taking a hike through the woods to the falls.  The path was fairly steep and not something we plan to do again.  We found that we could have driven to a parking area close to the visitor's center.  Coming back, we took the road.  Since we had dutifully communed with nature going, we felt we could commune with asphalt on the return trip.

The falls were lovely in the late afternoon, roaring and falling 67 feet in the Cumberland River.  We could feel the mist from the falls all way up to the overlook.

After our hike back to the lobby, we collapsed onto the comfortable sofa for a few minutes before going to the lower level for supper.  We had a good table right by a floor to ceiling window overlooking the bird feeders and the river in the distance.  We enjoyed watching the goldfinches, tufted titmouses, doves, Carolina chickadees, and the chipping sparrows.  All the kids in the restaurant got excited about the two raccoons which were scavenging under the feeders.

We topped our soup and salad supper off with a shared slice of Derby pie with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream.  We felt we had earned it from our almost two miles of demanding hiking.

Neither of us had any desire for more entertainment for the day!  Tomorrow we continue our Kentucky adventure and pray for rain!