Papa's Day Trip...

My father gets really tired of his apartment. Spring has definitely sprung and that only exacerbates the needs to be out and about. Much easier for it not to be an issue when it is cold outside.

His current most important place to visit has been Mammoth Cave. He had never been there before and it is about 3 hours from our home.

I reviewed with him our two trips there and the tour we took each time. I explained the number of steps, stairs and inclines he would have to walk, the time he would need to walk bent over, and some of the features of this particular cave. He determined he really didn't need or care to actually go down in a cave. He has been in Carlsbad Caverns and many other caves. He wanted to see the land and experience the area more than go down in a cave. He picked today as his day to travel.

Last week he told me he really wanted to go on this day and wondered if I could go with him. I checked calendars with Claude and told Papa I could come and Claude would watch Tiny, Papa's dog. Papa was on Cloud 9.

Sunday we determined Claude would go with us and we would leave Tiny at home and hope she made it through her day without an accident.

This morning I was up at 6:30 to get my exercises and icing down my shoulder in before we left to pick up Papa. Claude even splurged for my favorite McDonald's breakfast of 2 plain biscuits and a Dr. Pepper.

Papa was ready and at the door when we pulled up his drive. He even came out sporting his Kentucky Atlas just in case we needed some directions. Claude didn't really need any Atlas as he knows those roads very well. But it was cute that Papa brought it and I would use it later in the trip for our second tourist stop. I also told him that I had four little pillows if he needed any for his back. He set the seat back farther and said he didn't feel like he needed them.

Claude took back roads through the horses country so Papa would have a really enjoyable ride.

After a while we came to a rest stop and we paused for a bit. When Papa got out of the car he was definitely stiff and sore. When he came back he was ready for one of those pillows for his hip which was hurting a good bit.

While my guys were gone the landscaper guys came up on a 4-wheeler to mulch the plants. I found the blinking light on the front of the 4-wheeler amusing. I'm sure it a safety feature but it seemed a mite pitiful to me and I did chuckle.

When Claude came back to the car someone called his name. Hmmm...Who in the middle of no where knew my hubby?  It was one of the men from HMB. They are the company working our sewer project in Sadieville. The world is tiny!!!

Down the road we headed toward Mammoth Cave.

When we got there we stopped to read the signs in front about the different tours and which ones were available today and what time they departed. Then, armed with that knowledge, we headed into the Visitor's Center.

The nice park ranger saw us looking bewildered and provided necessary direction. Any of the tours we would have taken were not available for two more hours. They had a surface tour that would have been the best to do with Papa. Thankfully the park ranger pointed out the Heritage Trail path we could walk. No change of elevation issues on this path. A nice lookout point or two on the trail. This would be our self-guided tour from a walking path. Yup, this one was right for us.

We walked over the bridge to the Mammoth Cave Park Hotel and found the trail.

The trail leads to an overlook of the Historic Entrance to Mammoth Cave.  This was the original entrance and has been left as close to untouched as possible. From our vantage point on the overlook you could see the entrance. We watched a few tour groups come up out of the cave after their tours. This is Papa looking at the entrance from the overlook.

Along the path we noticed a few interesting things in the trees. The first was this tree with a lump on its side. Claude stated, "A tree with tree!!" (as in pregnant).

We also found what Papa called a rattan vine grownng around and adhered to this little tree. At first I thought it was part of the tree but it was really a vine.

Our next stop was the Guide's Cemetery.  Papa didn't walk up here, he found a bench and made friends with the nice people visiting from India.

Claude and I hiked up the little bit of hill to the cemetery. It has the grave of Stephen Bishop, the first tour guide to Mammoth Cave. He was a slave and he was considered the best tour guide. It turns out a lot of the tour guides were slaves. One family had an unbroken line of tour guides in their family for over 100 years. We also learned they had a tuberculosis sanitarium in the area and actually set up a place for the patients to be in the cave to help with their breathing. Absolutely amazing.

The first picture is a panorama of the cemetery. The second is a grave marker for Charles Marshall. The third is the grave stone of Stephen Bishop, the first tour guide. That grave stone is to the left of the stone box.

We walked back to retrieve Papa so the nice people from India could continue their journey.

We headed over to Sunset Point Overlook. This gives a beautiful view of a valley between the mountain we are on and the one across from us. We were fascinated by the tiers of limestone. It would sure be pretty to see it with all the leaves on the trees. But we might not have been able to see the tiers then.

We found another bench and had a brief rest after walking to the edge in another location. Papa was so happy enjoying the outdoors. He kept commenting about not missing being underground when he could enjoy the beautiful of a perfect sunny day outside. While sitting on this bench we found a tree branch riddled with woodpecker holes.

The path led back to where we saw the cemetery and then followed the same path back to where we started. The dogwood trees are in their blossoming phase and were totally enjoyable.

Claude always walks ahead of me. I pause frequently to look a picture opportunities and wander off to take a picture or two or three or...you get the picture. I love it when I look up and see him walking between trees or on a path. It just looks very soulful to me. Hence, I'm getting quite a collection of this kind of shot of Claude in many locations.

As we got to the huge lawn beside the hotel, there was a picnic table under some trees. Under the trees and by that table was a wheelchair...with no passenger...and no passenger in sight. Hmmm...Me thinks someone may have escaped!!!

As we headed back to the Visitor's Center I talked with Papa about where to go next on his play date. We determined we should head to Fort Knox. They have the Patton Museum there and we thought he might like that. First we would pause in Cave City long enough for lunch at Wendy's and to feed the red Buick. Papa took a second pillow this leg of the journey for his head and he dozed just a bit on this leg of the journey.

The Patton Museum was nice but they have moved lots of the military artifacts to Ft. Benning due to changes in the function of things military. They are also remodeling the Patton Museum for its usage after the move is all settled. It will still house the Patton memorabilia as well as new displays about the history of the military and Fort Knox. Should be really cool when it is finished. Papa still totally enjoyed reading plaques and viewing objects that are still there. I was watching a video they have about all the renovations and Papa shuffled over to where I was and sat down. I asked him if we had worn him out. He assured me we had and he was ready to head home.

We also checked out the Armor Memorial Gardens as we headed back to the car.

Claude pointed the Buick toward home. We had Papa back to Tiny and his comfortable sofa at 4:30pm.

Papa had a wonderful outing.

It confirmed in my head how much he has declined recently. Our little walk at Mammoth Cave was flat ground and no more than 1/2 mile and we took lots of breaks. He was huffing and puffing on occasion and he moved with a more decided shuffle of his feet. For a man who walked a mile every day and sometimes two times a day at breakneck speed, this is a big decline. However, it was good to see him do what he could and we didn't push him to move quickly or to do more than he felt like doing. I was so happy for him that we had a beautiful sunny day with warm enough weather to enjoy being outside. Claude and I also really enjoyed being outside and being a bit touristy ourselves. Good day for all!!