Day 3 of Trip North - Friday July 22, 2016

It was an overcast day, so we thought it would be a good time to do some sight seeing.  We decided to take a ride down KY 259 to Mammoth Cave National Park, about 50 miles away, and from there, like the bear that went over the mountain, we would see what we could see.  We weren't going to go on any of the cave tours.  Neither of us thought we could make the climb down into the cave nor walk the tour comfortably.  But, being so close to a national landmark, we wanted to drive there.

The park contains the longest cave system currently known.  It became a national park in 1941.  There are 52,830 acres around the Green and Nolin Rivers with 400 miles of explored cave passages.  Stories vary as to how the first cave was discovered.  The most popular is that back in 1797 one of the local Houchin brothers was either chasing a bear or being chased by one and found a cave opening.

A park employee in period costume...not one of the Houchin brothers.  The visitor center was a buzz with visitors.  We haven't seen so many folks since our cruise in April.

In the past, there were several ferry crossings along the Green River around the park.  The boats were large enough to carry the pioneers' wagons.  Some of the ferries are still operational, although modernized.  Here is one getting ready to load autos coming from the ramp in the background.

 Up the road from the ferry crossing, on the way out of the park, we spotted this young deer.

We were sure we would spook him, but to our surprise, our presence didn't deter him from having his snack.

On the way to the park, we had seen a sign for a produce market, and decided to stop on our way back.

We weren't sure what we would find when we saw this sign and the road that was probably wide enough for only this type of conveyance.

We were delighted with what we did find.

The young shopkeeper explained that they were a commune of  Old Christians living an Amish lifestyle in that they did not use electricity or anything electrical.  Although she gave me permission to take her photo, she said she wasn't supposed to "pose" for one, so I told her I would take a picture of the quilt on the wall behind her.  We bought some sweet corn; red potato; cantaloupe; pumpkin roll; and peanut butter cookies.  The produce was grown on the farm and the baked goods were home made.  She said we could drive around the farm if we wanted, so we did take a little tour.

In back of the vegetable garden, one of the farmers is using a manual baler being pulled by one of their horses in preparation for rolling the cut hay.

Another work horse resting in the pasture

This young lady is carrying a watermelon under each arm back to her home on the farm.

Laundry on the line...no dryers here.

We let the horse and buggy pass before heading out

Up the road from the farm, we saw a sign for Nolin State Park.  We stopped at the tailwater picnic area of the dam.

This dam was completed in 1963.  Lake Nolin is a 5795 acre lake formed by the Nolin and Green Rivers.

Sure hope that dam holds!!!

A glimpse of Lake Nolin from the road at the top of the dam. For not planning the day, we had a really good time.  The deer and the farm were the highlights of the day for me.  For Bob is was the farm and the dam.  And when we got home and tried the fresh cantaloupe, that ranked really high, too.