The Beginning of the Adventure!

Hey Everyone!
So it's been a while since my last post, and I did indeed get a tent. It's the Big Agnes Lynx Pass 2, a 2 person tent that is actually big enough for 2 people! One reviewer said that between the tent and the vestibule created by the rain fly, they fit 2 people, 2 packs, and a dog. I'm betting their dog isn't as big as Rocky, but that's still pretty good capacity for a 2 man tent. I'm excited to use it!

So, the trip - I left on Sunday June 13 and made the short trip to Shepherdstown, WV to stay with my mom's parents for the night. It was a good chance to see them, sleep one last night in a real bed, and get some good food and coffee before the roughing it started. So far, sticking with my original plan.

Then Monday happened and I changed all sorts of things around. I had planned to take I-81 to I-64 through Kentucky and Indiana and get to St. Louis that way. However, I realized I had basically 2 and a half days of driving for a trip that would barely take me a day and a half. So then came my idea of taking I-81 South ALLLL the way through Virginia and spending my night in Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. So that's Plan B.

Made it all the way down 81, ended up in Tennessee trying to make it to Cumberland Gap. After a long time spent in the asscrack of nowhere in northeastern TN, a.k.a. the place where they probably filmed Deliverance, I finally made it to the park. By then I was a little creeped out (I don't think I've seen so many shacks and churches in one place in my life), plus it was only barely dusk, so I decided to push on and get over to I-75, where I could find civilization and a truck stop. (Can you believe that I just counted truckers in Tennessee as civilization?? This trip has changed me already... haha.) So I ended up following Plan C and stayed at a Pilot on I-75.

Tuesday comes around: I decided to spend some time in Kentucky on the Bourbon Trail, for obvious reasons. Drove 3 hours north to Versailles for the Woodford Reserve Distillery tour and free sample (guess which one I was more excited for?) and was disappointed - a 2 hour long tour that cost me $5, and only like a third of a shot at the end for my trouble. Where's your famous hospitality now, Kentucky? I'm just kidding, I'm still glad I did it and now I know that Woodford Reserve is delicious and I'll never be able to afford it. However, it did help me decide to skip the rest of the bourbon trail.

Eventually I decided to just drive as far west as possible before stopping, so I took the Blue Grass Parkway to the Western Kentucky Parkway. Apparently Western Kentucky is a wasteland, so I finally found a park and decided to stay there the night. Here's where the story gets good. So I drive 45 minutes off the highway on tiny roads and finally find the Rough River Dam State Resort Park. It's only like 6 pm (Central) so I figured I would find a bar to go to for a bit before I settled down at the park for the night. When I asked at the front desk at the lodge, guess what I found out - It's a dry county! And all surrounding counties are dry! And the nearest bar is 45 minutes away!

But of course, I had time to kill and wanted some company, and 45 minute drive has never been able to stop me yet, so I headed off to Whitesville KY (population: 623) and the Black Cat. I had a great time, $2 beers and lots of people shocked to see someone from as far away as Maryland and willing to tell me about how great Kentucky is. Headed home around 10 p.m. and camped out for the night. The best part was in the morning - I went to settle up with the campground and they let me go for free! All in all, a successful stop.

The next morning I headed to I-64 and St. Louis, but that's for another post!
To see pictures from the trip so far, check out my Facebook group Around the Country in 60 Days!! I'm working on making a Twitter so I'll keep you posted.

Next update: St. Louis Missouri - the Gateway to the West!

I leave you with one question - how the hell are I-81 SOUTH and I-77 NORTH the same road? Discuss.

Yours in Wandering,
Katie