Road Trip with mom to Kentucky, March, 2023

 Mom and I had talked about going to see the Ark Encounter in Kentucky many times.  I finally decided why wait.. let's plan this and go.   So I did.... and then my dad got shingles, my brother had a heart episode, and my dad got chest cold on top of his shingles....  It seemed like everything was falling apart and me and mom would not get to go.....  I literally waited till Wednesday prior to our weekend getaway to decide for sure if we were going or not.   Travis, my brother was doing better.. he's wearing a heart monitor everyday 🙏... my dad's shingles were finally drying up 🙏.....  So me and mom decided to go on our little trip.  I'm SO GLAD we did.   

As I’ve aged, I’ve really enjoyed learning some history more so than when I was a kid 😂🤪 ….  Now days when I make road trips / run vacas, etc.  I try to find some history.   Mom and I traveled to Kentucky on Saturday.  The Ark, which we mainly went for, is not open on Sundays until late spring, so originally I had said we would just rest on Sunday after our 10 hour drive on Saturday.   We tried to get into Mammoth and Lincolns birth place on our way on Saturday... but were unable to....

However on Sunday we made it!  I decided why rest... rest when we get home... let's go see what we can and that's just what we did!  Here’s a little piece of history:

On February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born in a modest one-room log cabin on a small farm in north-central Kentucky. Little did his parents know at the time, that in 52 years he would become the United States’ 16th president, let alone a legend in history.

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park preserves two separate farm sites in LaRue County. The first site and Lincoln’s actual birthplace, Sinking Spring, is located just south of a small town called Hodgenville, where he remained with his family until the age of two. The second site, Knob Creek Farm, is northeast of Hodgenville, where Lincoln lived until he was 7 years old.

We also made it to mammoth cave on Sunday.... It was pretty cool and we enjoyed our 2 hour tour. 

We had a full day on Sunday between the 2 hour drive back to Lincoln's birthplace and Mammoth cave followed by a 2 hour drive back to Dry Ridge, KY where we were staying to see the Ark on Monday.  

It was COLD! We even had light snow off and on!  

We went to the creation museum first which is wonderful. It is a lot of READING.  But very interesting.. you  need a lot of time to really read and digest it all. 

The Ark Encounter is indescribable.  It really brought everything to life for me! To walk up to something that big and to imagine what the people thought back in biblical times of Noah as he built it.   The craftsmanship with all the details from water, food, getting rid of the waste created by animals, etc is just way above my level of thinking.   It’s just incredible to see in person and walk through the massive Ark is something I’ll never forget.   My pics are just a tiny fraction of what there is too see.  

They have plans to build a Jerusalem, and more within the coming years.  💕

smaller animal cages inside the Ark

Look how small mom is compared to the ARK! 

A door inside the ARK

Outside the Ark there is eating places, gift shops and a carousel..

We had a wonderful day.  

In our driving around, we also found a CASTLE! Google it and read the story.. interesting..

2 things I just couldn’t work into the very short long weekend in Kentucky…. Visiting the horse park & the Distilleries…. They are many there 🤪.   I would of planned an extra day or two if I had known there was so much to see in the area.   

Go plan a trip! Why wait till everything is perfect to do something.. take the time to spend with family.  My sister called me when we got back and thanked me for taking mom... she said mom needed a break from dad. 😂😂😂😂😁😍

That's a wrap until our next adventure... 💕