Week 35: Kentucky - Camping, Hiking, DSO, Painted Ponies, and Rednecks

August 27-29, 2010

Friday morning I got up and headed to Kentucky. I had never been to Kentucky before; this was an opportunity to check another state off of my list. Oh, and I saw Dark Star Orchestra. It took about 8 hours to get to Kentucky. Once you leave I-81 and travel up through Kentucky, there isn’t much around. The picture above screams “Welcome to Kentucky”. I arrived at the Natural Bridge State Resort Park around 5ish. I set up my tent, bought crappy firewood that didn’t’ burn, and settled in with a book. Thanks to a video from Wild West, I purchased some flowers for myself on the way there. It was a lovely touch to a relaxing evening.

I was up bright and early to go hiking. I wasn’t on the trail but 5 minutes when Ma called. Yes, I was still alive although my GPS tracker, Spot, was not transmitting. I hiked up the Balanced Rock trail. It was mostly steps and I feel a little out of shape. I made it to the top. The view was beautiful from the top of the Natural Bridge. I didn’t see a single person until I hit the top. Then I met Hiker Lady who is from Charlotte. We chatted at length about hiking and photography, and then exchanged information. I just may have a hiking buddy. I walked under the bridge and then down the Original Trail. At the bottom, I headed back up the Battleship Rock trail and through the Needle’s Eye. I walked out to Lover’s Leap for a scary drop off view. I bet this would be amazing in the fall! I walked across the ridge and there I got a fantastic view of the Natural Bridge at a distance. I flopped down on a rock in the shade, set up my tripod and waited. While I waited, I ate my lunch. Now just what was I waiting for? The perfect picture. And what was the perfect picture? The Natural Bridge with no people standing on it. I waited for roughly 20 minutes until the people cleared out.

I hiked back to the car, drove back to the campground, took a shower, and headed off to Lexington. I was going to Cosmic Charlie’s to see the Dark Star Orchestra. I was driving up there early to take a tour around the city. I pulled out my atlas and saw that Lexington has a park with horse statues. Well, no kidding…Kentucky know for horses? Who would have thought? I knew Kentucky was famous for horses but didn’t think about it much, I was thinking more along the lines of rednecks and inbreeding. When I arrived in Lexington, I stopped at Starbucks. I waited awhile for my chai, so I got it for free. My lucky day! I drove down Main Street, not really knowing where I was going. Lucky for me, Lexington is on a grid system. Thank goodness! It was easy to find my way around. As I drove around, I saw the first one – a painted horse statue. Just like the bears of New Bern and the groundhogs of Punxsutawney. I drove/walked around for quite a while taking pictures of all the horses. I’m not sure if I got them all; there was a lot! The funny thing was that I saw kids in the water fountains playing like it was a swimming pool. And not just in one fountain, but in several. All of which had "no swimming" signs. I laughed! After that I drove to the venue and walked down the street. Again, my lucky day. There was a street fair with music. I hung out there a bit and then headed to see DSO. I saw some weird people at the concert. I left early to beat all of the drunks and drove back to the park.

Alice in WonderlandA Stary NightA Kentucky map horse with a close up of where I stayed

Sunday, I got up, packed my stuff and went to explore the Red River Gorge area. I drove around the scenic byway and stopped on multi occasions to do some mini hikes. Then I headed home. About 3 hours into my trip, I stopped and napped for an hour in the Lowes parking lot. Then I got all mixed up with Route 58-Alt, 58-Bus, 58, 58-this, 58-that. By the time, I thought maybe I should take 58, I didn’t recognize the scenery. Thanks for showing me how to read a map dad. I pulled out the map and found a different way. Now I’m going to forewarn you that this will most likely never happen again. But after getting slightly lost and picking a new route, I made it home 15 minutes quicker than it took to get there. What are the chances of that? Slim to none. Just goes to show that sometimes getting lost pays off.

PS. I didn’t proof read. Just not enough time.