After our first day of adventure we woke up early to the sounds of our furry friend meowing in our faces. With that meowing we decided it was best to get up and start the day. Once we got up we started did the usual thing that most travelers do. We brushed our teeth, hair and then took a little shower to get us nice a warm. From there it was a matter of picking everything up and repacking things into our bags. D took the chance to run up to the KOA office and ask about our little furry friend which is how we found out she was the campground cat.
Once we got the car repacked and we got everything all settled we went ahead and dropped off our furry friend and then made our way to Mammoth cave national park where we decided to do a tour called the Historic Tour. The tour started at 10:30 and we had some time so we went ahead and walked around to see what the place had to offer. As it turns out they had two gift shops, a hotel, and a ice cream parlor in the same area. So we went over to the hotel and got some coffee to warm us up while we waited for our ranger to arrive.
Our Ranger was Rachel and she was a delight to talk to. Mammoth cave is usually pretty packed with the tours having as many as 120 people. Its pretty crazy to think about when it was put in comparison to our number of 6. Honestly though it makes the tours better to me. It makes them more interesting and I honestly love it. We got a safety talk and then from there we went outside and walked the short distance to the cave entrance. Once inside we walked a little ways down into the cave to get away from the cold and into the warmer areas. When we stopped though I could see why it was given its name. This place was massive. Not just in size either but also in length. Mammoth cave has over 400 miles of tunnels that go in each and every direction and they are STILL expanding that number.
We learned how this place was used to get gunpowder back in the 1800's and we also learned that it was a place where people with big money would come to have an out of world experience. Only the elite, royal, and rich would come to this place. There are even signatures along the walls where you can see everybody that came through. In todays modern times we cant sign the cave walls since they are working to preserve the cave itself which is kind of sad but understandable. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get many good pictures because you cant have a tripod in the cave itself so I had to take photos with my phone camera. Let me say though that if you haven't been here then you might want to pay it a visit. All these years of driving past Kentucky and I never thought twice about this place. I'm sure a lot of you are the same way. So go check it out, buy some souvenirs to help the park out and take the tours. They are a quite a wonder.
