Day 03:  Brenda’s post

I’ve heard of Bowling Green, Kentucky my whole life and now that I’ve been here, I have no idea why. I thought they were famous for horses, but no …. the biggest claim to fame of Bowling Green is it’s Corvette factory and museum. Since I have an interest Level 0 in Corvettes, I’m not sure why Bowling Green loomed so large in my head.

Bowling Green is also home to the largest contiguous cave system in the world. We visited Mammoth Cave, in Mammoth Cave National Park. They offer about 20 different tours, some lasting all day and some overnight, but we opted for the cheapest and shortest self-guided tour on offer.

The cave was, indeed, mammoth in size. This system is special because it developed from sedimentary deposits back when this area of Kentucky was close to the equator and mostly underwater. As the deposit layers built up, the calcium from dead sea creatures formed into limestone, which is easily dissolved by slightly acidic water.

As the continent shifted and the sea levels receded, the composition of the deposited rock changed to sandstone, which apparently is pretty impervious.  It formed a “roof” over the miles and miles of limestone. When sinkholes would occasionally open up and let water seep down, the limestone underneath would dissolve and run off (as big underground rivers) as the water made it’s way to sea level.

The result is over 400 miles of caves in a 7 mile area, all tangled up like a pile of spaghetti noodles in a bowl.  Since the sandstone roof is so watertight, there are very few stalagmites and other formations you usually find in caves, so this system has an unusual look.

The highlight for us was finding a little tiny bat clinging to the ceiling right above our heads. It was about the size of a walnut and looked like a bump on the stone, and was so close I could have touched it if I wanted.  And I so wanted! The only reason I didn’t try was the 100% conviction that the bat absolutely did not want to be touched by me.

Little brown bat … barely visible, but there!

Our next stop was the Corvette Museum. It was actually way cooler than I would have thought a museum devoted to one type of car could possibly be.

They had a 2013 model sitting in the lobby for people to get in a pretend to drive (the only car we were allowed to touch) and after determining that the seat scooched up far enough for my short little legs to reach the pedals, my big splurge of the day was a $10 raffle ticket to win it. The lady said they sell around 15,000 tickets, which means my chances of winning the car are way better than my chances of winning the lottery. Translation: in my mind it’s a done deal and that car is already mine.  Fingers crossed!

Isabella, saying “You know, Daddy, I’m going to be 16 in about four years ….”

The rest of the afternoon we’re just hanging out in our hotel. This one has two bedrooms and a living/kitchen room, so everyone has a chance to get away from each other.  This hotel has only been open for three weeks, so everything is all brand new and clean, which is a real luxury while living on the road.  I was able to do laundry in brand new machines — another luxury we never encountered (not even once) in Europe.  I may live to eat these next words, but I daresay traveling through the USA is going to be much easier than traveling through Europe.  Better amenities.

Tomorrow we’re just going up the road to Louisville for Adam’s meetings. I think we’re going to visit the Louisville Slugger museum. The kids weren’t too interested in a baseball bat factory until they found out that everyone who completes the tour gets a free miniature bat. Now they can’t wait.

Adam’s post:

Headed down into the sinkhole — a natural entrance carved out by water

The caves are special in that they have a solid “roof” of sandstone that did not wear away over the eons.  The caves themselves are softer limestone.  This creates many nice and convenient places to explore, with flat paths and smooth and safe ceilings.

 

After the caves, we headed into Bowling Green to tour the National Corvette Museum.  Getting the group to get interested in this place wasn’t as hard as I had originally thought.  Next door to the museum is the Chevrolet Bowling Green factory, where all Corvettes are made – but they were closed down for the summer.  They are re-tooling the Corvettes to the new C7 design, and won’t re-open until the fall.

Everyone got a turn trying own the 2013 model.

 

Holden trying out one of the simulators.

Brenda reading up on the 1953 model – her favorite. Only 300 of them were ever built and 2 of them are here. This museum has at least 1 of every model year and quite a few extra special race cars, prototype, concept cars & etc.

Afterwards, we headed off to the grocery store to stock up on some dinner supplies, laundry detergent and water.  Being Sunday (and even in Kentucky!!) no wine was available.  We didn’t bother to plan ahead regarding this matter, and so had to suffer “wine time” without any wine.  It isn’t nearly as much fun and taught us the most valuable lesson of the day.

Good hotel here – cheap and large.  Everyone had enough room to spread out a bit.  Getting away from each other, if only for a little while, is another rule of the road to prevent rebellion.

Also, individual iPads for each kid are indispensable.