5th Generation Mammoth Cave Tour Guide

Kenan Christiansen wrote this great article for the New York times about a FIFTH generation tour guide at Mammoth Cave!

This is a great article about the cave, its history, and the history of those who have worked in the cave.  Jules Verne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the breathing, living Mammoth Cave itself all make appearances in the story, but the name Jerry Bransford is the one you will remember the most.

I might have to call about getting him as a guide next time I am in the area!

Lost Abraham Lincoln Photo?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/maryland-man-may-have-found-two-forgotten-photos-of-lincolns-funeral-procession/2014/03/19/8f5f5fa6-ade6-11e3-96dc-d6ea14c099f9_story.html

Check out the link above!  The Washington Post article by Michael E. Ruane is about a forgotten photo that one man (Paul Taylor) believes is of the horse drawn hearse carrying Abraham Lincoln's remains.

I love anything relating to Lincoln, and I really love the fact that an old photo, overlooked in the National Archives, might have some major historical significance. 

Taylor makes an interesting argument!

Random Thoughts On Friday- Travels with Friends and Family

When you travel, who do you take with you?  On pretty much all of my trips, with the exception of a few short day adventures, my wife goes with me.

Occasionally, my pal Rick goes with me on a day trip if I want to go somewhere maybe 2-4 hours away, and my wife can't go.  We have done a lot of trips where we literally get on the road and start driving with no plans.

When I was growing up near Owensboro, me and my best friend Brent would take day trips all the time.  As soon as we got our licenses, we were exploring.

Over the years, I have had a lot of friends that have been good company while driving around.

Like many other travelers, I have become very aware and careful of time and resources.  I like to get a good early start every time.  Being on the road by 6AM instead of 9AM means I have 3 more hours to see new places.

And this kind of gets me back to road tripping companions.  An old friend got into a habit of never being able to leave until noon.  Another friend always insisted on eating at the Olive Garden (forget trying the local unique spots).  As much as I love these people, their insistence on doing things a certain way have forced me to find other friends for my road trips.

That goes both ways too.  I am sure they have new friends for their road trips too.  Friends who love Italian food, and friends who like to sleep in instead of start early.  I am not offended.

But it is so much fun when you find friends who enjoy some of the same experiences while traveling as you.

If you are planning on a long trip with others, you especially need to make sure that they are on the same page as you.

We have done several longer vacations with our friends Nate and Holly.  They both enjoy minor league baseball, art and history.  We have had a lot of fun traveling with them as our interests are almost identical.

I have a friend who has a large, extended family.  They have done several family trips, where nearly 20 people go somewhere together.  Even though my friend enjoys these trips, they sound like epic fails to me.  Someone(s) in the group always forgets to pay their share of the cabin/room rental.  And they always deal with the timing issue.  Plans to leave early in the morning are cancelled, because one person in the caravan had a last minute obligation come up.  The plan to leave at 8 in the morning becomes a frustrating delay as 19 people hang around as the 20th person arrives at 1 for departure. 

I know of another family group that had been planning a trip to Disney for a year.  About a month before they were to go, one person pulled out because they had not saved enough money.  Another person pulled out because the first person couldn't go, and then another person backed out because the second person backed out.  At that point, things started going bad for the person who had made reservations, bought tickets, etc.

I only go on trips with close friends who enjoy the same things, want the same out of the trip, and who I care about.  I think it is a good thing to be careful about road tripping friends.

Bowling Green Corvette Museum

I am not a car person.  Not at all.  In fact, I simply don't know a lot about them.

And I have never really been impressed with sports cars.  Its just not my thing.  I have always appreciated a good, reliable car... with a nice sound system.

I have known about the Corvette Museum in Bowling for some time now, and it has been on my list of places to get to, but I simply never got around to it.  Over the last few years when I have been in or near Bowling Green, it has been to see caves, a Hot Rods game, or something else. 

After seeing the footage and hearing all about the sinkhole that just opened up AT the museum, I really wanted to make it down.

Just in case you don't know, on February 12th, 2014 a sinkhole opened up in the Skydome area (the museums beautiful hall of fame showroom area).  Eight rare cars fell into the hole.  Luckily, this happened in the early morning hours, before the museum opened so no one was around. 

I know, I feel a little bad that I am just now getting around to mentioning one of the great, and unique places in our state, AFTER something bad happens there.  Still, I figured now was better than never.

Attractive Corvettes are displayed throughout the museum, along with various historical items relating to the car.  I was impressed with the fact that Roy Orbison's Corvette was on display!  I was sad to hear that Roy's car will be auctioned off soon by the family, so you might want to get to Bowling Green if that's a car you must see.

There was a nice display on the company's involvement with NASA, and several displays on the evolution of the car, racing, etc.  There is also an informative film when you go in.

Everyone working at the museum seemed excited to be there.  The young guys who sold us our tickets told us about some exhibits, and they stressed that they encourage photography.  The girl who took our souvenir photos told us all about a couple of her favorite cars.  The guy in the gift shop pointed out a couple of items I may have missed.  I was happy to see my fellow Kentuckians taking pride in the museum.

AND, I was impressed by the fact that the Corvette Museum is actually allowing a lot of access to the sinkhole.  You cannot go into the Skydome area at this point, BUT the museum has a glass wall up so you can look in the Skydome and see hard hatted workers doing their job around the sinkhole.  ALSO, 5 of the 8 cars that fell had been recovered when I visited.  All 5 are on display.

There is something very strange about rare Corvettes, protected in a museum being the victims of this kind of damage.  I mean, these are some of the most rare, and valuable ones around.  You know that the museum has insured them and taken much care in their handling.  These should be some of the most well preserved cars around.

But these uncommon natural occurrences can happen anywhere and change things.

Berry College Eagle Cam

I just found this site recently and I love it!  Check out the LIVE video of the Berry College Eagles!

http://www.berry.edu/eaglecam/

Vancouver Island again

After all of the excitement on our day trip to the west side of the island, and seeing places like Tofino and Ucluelet, we felt like we had really covered a lot of ground in the area.

We were hoping to see sea lions though, and Gary from our tour told us we should go to Fanny Bay to see them.  We followed his directions and we saw hundreds!

On our last day on the Island, we also stopped at the nice local spot called Lefties.  It is called that because all three of the owners are left handed.  This was another great place where locals go and the food is unique.  I had a bowl of carrot and ginger soup.  I know that sounds odd but I am craving some right now.

After taking the ferry back to the Tsawwassen area to get off of the island, we stopped at a great local pub right out of casting.  The Rose and Crown Pub was the perfect spot for us to have a nice filling lunch and watch some of the Olympics.  Here I had an amazing po' boy and a massive bowl of French onion soup.  Hockey jerseys were on the wall, and the staff was super friendly.

Plus, I had one of those perfect moments at this bar.  I was happy to be in Canada.  I was happy to be in a unique place like the Rose and Crown with a lot of heart.  And, they were playing some of my favorite songs and artists over their speakers.  I heard the Eagles, The Grateful Dead, Dylan (Tangled Up in Blue!), The Pretenders....  It was just a perfect experience.

I think I have made it very clear that we loved spending time on Vancouver Island in Canada.  Even though I was unfamiliar with all that it had to offer before going, I am so glad that we went.  AND I know we will be back. 

This is the kind of area that will get put on our "sure we've been there, but we want to get back often" list.

The sad thing about it though, is that Vancouver Island is a pretty good distance from us.  There would be no way to do a quick 4 day weekend trip there the way we would go to Gatlinburg or St. Louis.  It takes a couple of flights AND a ferry ride to get there (and a lot of hours).

A few last thoughts on this trip.

Canadians don't use pennies!  Seriously, they have stopped using them.  I confused the heck out of a sales person when I asked for some change and asked for some pennies.

They have one and two dollar coins.  Add their quarters to the mix, and things get a bit confusing.

Canadians (at least the ones we met on Vancouver Island) are freakishly friendly!  Seriously, there were several times we would ask a question, like, "where is the nearest place to eat?" and we would be involved in a nice half an hour discussion about anything and everything.

Also, we encountered several that were just generally pleasant and helpful.  I mentioned before that I went to a few post offices.  I had great conversations with several postal workers about collecting stamps, postage rates, and things to do in the area.

One more thing that I loved about the people in this neck of the woods.....  NO ONE brought up a certain chicken chain when we mentioned that we were from Kentucky!  A friend recently went to another country, and EVERYONE brought up Kentucky Fried Chicken when they mentioned our state.  On Vancouver Island, I was a bit surprised at how many people associated Daniel Boone with Kentucky (I think that says a lot about the nature loving/exploring spirit of the area).  In fact, I would say that of the 5 or 6 people we talked to about Kentucky, Mr. Boone was the first thing they brought up!  Bourbon and horses were second.

Thanks Vacouver Island!  We will see ya again soon!

Karma Coffee- Vancouver Island

Before I am done with mentioning coffee on Vancouver Island, I did want to say that we also loved Karma Coffee!

Several locals recommended this place.  It was a bit hard for us to find it, so this is truly one of those, "go where the locals go" kind of places.  Plus, it seemed that a lot of people got their beans from Karma.

Set inside of an old garage/gas station Karma roasts their beans in house.  It is actually very cozy and comfortable.

The very cool man running the shop while we were there was great to chat with, and he seemed to have a true love of coffee.  I took a bag home with me too, and I have been loving it!

http://karmacoffee.com/

Parrot Sanctuary- Vancouver Island

When I was a lot younger, I had parakeets.  I had 3 of them, one for its entire lifespan of close to a decade and a half, and I had 2 others, at different times, that were adopted.

They were so much fun.  I would get home from school and they would just jump on my shirt or shoulder.  We ended up taking the door off of the cage.  They were truly a lot of fun.

Birds are so sweet, but they are needy.  They do require a lot of attention.  And they can live for a long time.

It is not uncommon for a parrot or other bird to outlive its owner.  And, often, relatives or friends may be unwilling to adopt the bird.

Luckily, the World Parrot Refuge is available to help with this problem. 

We visited the World Parrot Refuge on Vancouver Island and I must say that I am now a huge fan of this place.  We saw many birds (they claim to have over 900).

You buy your ticket in the thrift shop in front of the building where the parrots are at.  The very friendly lady running the shop told us all about the birds, mapping out the building and all.  She gave us ear plugs for one room in particular where the birds are known to get loud.

There are several large hallway/rooms once inside, with various birds all around.

I quickly found several birds that were full of personality.  Many talked very clearly and I feel like I had conversations with many of them.

"Hello" and "Pretty bird" were statements I heard a lot on this day.

Many were so eager to interact with humans in any way.  I saw several sticking their small heads out of the cages to get a better look at the humans coming by.  One did a cute trick where he held on to the cage with his beak, and then moved each leg up and down.  It was adorable!

One bird would stick his small foot out offering to shake hands, and he would say "hello".

Towards the back is a large room where the birds are pretty much in the open.  This is the room where we were warned that the birds might be loud.  We were told about a large blue bird that was pretty much guaranteed to interact with us.

I did notice that some would not go in this room.  One person in our group used the ear plugs, and a bird swooped down and stole one.  The large blue bird did come down and land on us.  In a split second, he bit off a large shiny button on my wife's coat.  Later, he landed on me and was still chewing on the button, passing it from his beak to his foot.

At one point, I was in this room pretty much by myself, and the large blue bird, and two smaller white ones landed on me.

The blue bird was on my right arm, one bird on my jacket collar on the back of my jacket, and one on my left arm.

The small white bird on my left arm was chatty and playful.  He boasted of how pretty he was.  I laughed at him, and he laughed back.  I shook my head at him, and he shook back.  When not talking he was playing with the zippers on my jacket.

I loved the three birds on me, and I hated to leave them.

It did bring me joy to know that they will surely get many human visitors most days.  They probably have an endless supply of buttons and ear plugs.  And they have each other, along with the caring people who run the World Parrot Refuge.

Check out their site.  Make sure you visit if you are on Vancouver Island!

http://worldparrotrefuge.org/

SteamPunk Cafe and Coffee House- Port Alberni, British Columbia

We drove to Port Alberni on the Monday of our trip through Vancouver Island.  We planned to visit a famous German restaurant that we had heard about.

Unfortunately, the restaurant was not open.  Port Alberni had just received a hammering of snow.  Also, we were visiting on a Canadian national holiday- Family Day (we did not know that the Canadians loved their families so much).  A lot of places were closed.

Luckily, SteamPunk Cafe in Port Alberni was open!

This would have been a fun place to stop for coffee, but we ended up getting soups and sandwiches too!

Check out the photos.  Everything was made fresh, and my tomato soup was super thick and unique!  These guys aren't trying to pass off cheap stuff as their own.

I love the name and decor of SteamPunk Coffee too.  The theme is exciting but not intimidating.  Sci-fi fans will appreciate it, but those unfamiliar with the style won't be scared away.

I talked to owner/operator Kevin for a bit about his creation.  The man is very artsy and obviously cares about quality- in his high quality artwork, and in the equally artistic foods and coffees he makes.  He also took a lot of pride in Port Alberni.

This is another one of those rare coffee shops that I love.  I wish I lived close to SteamPunk.  It would be great to see SteamPunk Coffee franchises, but I know that would never work.  You can't franchise something like this.  The coffee shop itself is a unique piece of artwork.

There is a lot to see on Vancouver Island.  I hope that whenever you are able to explore this part of British Columbia, you make sure you take a moment to relax at SteamPunk Cafe and Coffee House.

Pacific Rainforest Adventure Tours

I mentioned before that we talked to Gary from Pacific Rainforest Adventure Tours earlier in the week.  We reserved our spots for their all day tour across Vancouver Island.

Gary and his wife Ronda picked us up promptly at 7 in front of our room.  A couple of locals joined us on the trip.  Hazel was already in the van.  She has lived everywhere- Florida, Pennsylvania, and England.  Peter joined our group too.  He had a great eye, and pointed out several things we may have missed otherwise on our tour, including birds and deer.  Hazel and Peter both had an appreciation for Vancouver Island and it's natural resources.

Ronda narrated the entire trip which was very impressive.  She covered history, geography, and local politics.  All was fascinating.

Ronda covered the treatment of the people of the First Nations.  Just like in the US, the people who were on the land first were treated harshly.  There were reservations and missionary schools that diluted the culture.

We went through the Port Alberni area, and Ucluelet, making several stops to see plants, animals and artwork.

Some towns have attractive welcoming statues with their arms stretched outward in a welcoming stand.  I really thought this was nice.  I saw similar statues at the Vancouver airport, and I think these are great.  We also saw various totem poles that tell stories.

Eagles were everywhere on Vancouver Island.  Gary pointed out a treeline area where he counted 14!  Before my visit to BC, I had had seen a few, but never more than one at once.


During our day we went on several hikes.  On the Wild Pacific Trail we got a great view of the ocean and of all of the green growth beside it.  There is something very pleasant about walking among lots of trees and looking out at endless water.

Check out our photos of the ocean, with those perfect grey clouds above them.  Luckily, I brought my video camera with me on this trip.

After a few hours, but what seemed like a full days worth of exploring already, we were ready for lunch!

We all went to the Matterson House in Ucluelet.  In addition to being in a cozy old historic home, the place had great food.  Check out the photos.  EVERYTHING was big and fresh.  We had a great salad, club and cod burger here.

AND, as I set with everyone at lunch, I realized how casual and fun this group was.  Gary and Ronda asked us about what we would like to see on this trip.  They asked about if we would like to spend more time at one park than another.  We tried to defer the questions to the locals on the tour, but they cheerfully argued that we were the ones visiting.

Plus, Hazel goes on this local tour often.  Her and Peter both know the area, AND they still enjoy taking Ronda and Gary's tour!  These guys live in the area, and still enjoy exploring.

After that we made our way to The Pacific Rim National Park area to watch more waves.  I thought it was odd that their visitor center was closed for the season.  Still, the beach area that we went to was very accessible and pleasant.

Similarly to the views on the Wild Pacific Trail, just looking at the ocean meeting the sky was unreal.  I think the most shocking thing about this was the fact that there weren't more people around watching.

We went by some other beaches in the area, and we did see a few people surfing, even though it was very cold.  They did have their wet suits on, but the temps still seemed unbearable to me for playing in the water.

The trip was very enjoyable in Gary's roomy tour van.  He and Ronda have done this tour a lot, and they were very prepared for everything.  Beverages were readily available.  Coats, and rain jackets were offered as needed (and we did need them with the frequent weather changes during the day!).  Also, when we had time to look for shells on the beach, Gary had bags!

After visiting several beaches, trails, and other roadside we finished our day on the west side of the island visiting shops in Tofino.  Peter insisted that we visit the gallery of Roy Henry Vickers in Tofino.

We visited briefly and we were impressed.  We were, however, on a bit of a time limit, so we were unable to casually look the way I would have liked.  Anyway, check out Roy's site at:

http://www.royhenryvickers.com/


We did pick up some nice jewelry at the jewelry shop Rubio:

http://rubio.ca/

AND we got a discount on some nice items (since we were on Gary and Ronda's tour) at Himwitsa

http://himwitsa.com/

I should also mention that we stopped by the post office in town, and I talked to possibly the two funniest postal workers ever (I wish I could remember their names).  One of them could do stand up.

Before we completely left the Tofino area, Gary drove us to Chocolate Tofino.  Do you like chocolate?  Seriously do you like chocolate?  Well, this is the place.  We had small cups of their famous hot chocolate.  It was thick and rich and I wish I never had it....  but man do I want another!  It was delicious but I felt so guilty drinking it.  Oh, and we bought some of their candy bars which are just as good.

And, on the way back to the east side of the island (which seems to be about a 2 hour drive) Ronda continued to tell us about local wildlife. 

Gary drove us by two airplanes used to put out forest fires.  The planes are extremely rare.  He told us that one of the five made actually crashed in to a nearby mountain.

At the end of our adventure I had that feeling I always get after a great day- I didn't want it to end.  However, nearly 12 hours had passed since Gary and Ronda picked us up.  We said goodbye to Peter and Hazel.  I told Peter maybe we could all get together and do the trip again someday...  and maybe we will.  I hope to return to the area again, and I would love to repeat this trip with the same company.

We absolutely felt that we got a bargain touring with Pacific Rainforest Adventure Tours.  These guys helped us squeeze in about 2 extra days worth of seeing the Island.  I mean that- I think it would have taken us 3 days on our own to see all that they showed us in one.

Plus, they had access to some areas that most tourists don't.  And, the drive from the Parksville area to the Tofino area is accessible by one road that is very curvy.  Having a local who knows the road was a major bonus.  It would have taken me at least twice as long to navigate this road.

http://rainforestnaturehikes.com/

Check out Gary and Ronda's website.  These are fun folks who really enjoy what they are doing, and they are very generous.  On our tour, we missed getting a few shots with our cameras.  Gary and Ronda emailed us over a dozen photos that we asked for.

This was easily one of the all time best tours we have done, and it was a great value for what we paid.