Roadtrip update #2: Kentucky-Iowa

Eldridge, IA - 7/4/11

My windshield serves gruesome testament to the carnage I have wrought upon the insectoid populations of Indiana and Illinois this past weekend. Back in red-winged blackbird territory.

Packed up camp at Mammoth Cave National Park Saturday morning and headed off to wait for the ferry, after completing my first ever successful snot-rocket. It was pretty awesome. The route to Indianapolis took me through some great little Kentucky towns before feeding into the all-powerful Interstate.

Met the family in a suburb outside of Indy. Happy times. Some missionary friends graciously loaned us their house while we were in town for an old friend's wedding. That subdivision was something else though... Definitely apropos for the holiday, but frighteningly Pleasantville-esque. I certainly didn't feel American enough to be frequenting its manicured streets.

The wedding was on Sunday, and I tell you what, Cameroonians know how to get down at a wedding reception. It was great to see a bunch of familiar faces from the good old days back in Dakar.

The Aisenbrey caravan left this morning, making stop #1 in Freeport, IL to see my dad's mom, who entertained us with tales of nursing home shenanigans. Then it was on the road again, through beautiful northern Illinois and across the grand Mississippi to stop #2 at my mom's mom's place here in Eldridge, where I'm currently typing to the sounds of her wheezing cat, Belle, and the lonely popping of leftover fireworks.

We'll head up to Cedar Rapids tomorrow, completing phase 1 of the roadtrip, so I may not have another update for you till Saturday when I head off to South Dakota. You'll just have to get over it.

Roadtrip log 7-1-11

7-1-11 - Mammoth Cave, KY

Got to the park at 10:30am, already a decent-sized crowd. Turns out it was the park's 70th birthday, hence the self-guided tour was free. I had plenty of time before the 11:15 tour I had booked, so I went ahead and took the 3/4 mile sneak-peek.

Kinda weird being here alone. Not bad, just odd. Half the park rangers are old men, and the other half are (for the most part) attractive young women. Bus loaded up at 11:25 after a brief "White nose syndrome will kill you and your grandma" talk. Note to self: don't go on a tour with 79 other people again. It was pretty awesome down there, but waiting on everybody else kinda sucked, and all the kids started to get whiny and annoying after about the first 12 stairs.

Tour got done around 3:15. One of the non-old man park rangers got me a backcountry permit even though the desk was closed. At 3:30 in the afternoon. On a Friday. I picked a site at random and headed off in the direction of Brownsville, KY, a small town on the fringe of the park. I wasted some time driving around, then pulled into Laura's Hilltop "Home Cookin" Restaurant for some "real" food before setting up camp. It was a charming little place, full of senior citizens and antiques. A girl with a thick accent (even by Tennessee standards) brought me what turned out to be way too much food, and I tried to eat it slowly while reading and writing this log, since I had a significant chunk of daylight to kill. Got a handful of quizzical looks from the other patrons, whom Laura herself all knew by name, but it was a pretty friendly place, overall.

Headed off to the campsite trailhead at about 6pm, passing through sleepy downtown Brownsville again. Luckily I made it to the ferry (over the river I had neglected to notice) with 15 mins to spare before it anchored for the night, and found the trailhead parking lot without a problem.

Strike that, with two problems: BUGS. HEAT.

After four hours of the constant 54 degrees of subterranean Kentucky, the stagnant and muggy 90 degrees of the surface, combined with every swarming insect known to man (why do they love the face?? And where are all these species of bats I heard about in the caves?) proved nearly unbearable. Yet I survived a deceptively mile-marked march to Three Springs campsite, where I set up my tent in solitude and swiftly retreated to its bug-proof-ness, from where I'm currently finishing this log while being serenaded by cicadas, toads, and who knows what else.

No cell phone service out here, so I don't know what time it is (great thinking, LG). Probably 8ish. Ferry doesn't run till 10:15 in the morning, so I can sleep in before heading up to Indianapolis. Hope it doesn't rain tonight.