Carnivore Heaven and Mammoth Caves National Park

 

Mammoth Caves National Park.

We had one travel day before reaching our next National Park and we’d booked a night at a Harvest Host site in Haubstadt, IN for Friday, 5/8. Although there are a variety of businesses that are Harvest Host sites, the most common are wineries and breweries. Now, you know I have nothing against that, but this one was a little different. Dewig Meats is a family owned and operated uber butcher shop that was established in 1916. They have four nice level spots set aside for guests adjacent to a huge lawn that the pups loved.

Dewig Meats, another great Harvest Host site.

But we were all about the meats. Wow! This wasn’t your typical small town butcher shop, it was huge with a mindboggling choice of meats – everything from a single porkchop to a whole side of beef. And it wasn’t just meats either, there was bread, cheese, snacks, sides, desserts, and beverages. Just about anything you could think of to throw together a carnivore’s dream dinner. Oh, and it just happened to be Rog’s birthday so, of course, we picked up some impressive (and absolutely delicious!) T-bone steaks to celebrate. The pups were not forgotten either, we got a whole bag of marrow bones that should keep them entertained for quite some time. 

The way Harvest Host works is that the overnight stay is free (unless you’re paying for hookups), but guests are expected to patronize the business and spend at least $30. Ahem. Let’s just say we exceeded expectations…by a lot. These “free” stays are killing my budget. Lol.  

Sooooo many choices!

We arrived the next day, Saturday, 5/9, at Mammoth Caves Campground. I really liked the campground, the sites were relatively large and shady with lots of trees. That may not be ideal for either our solar or the Starlink, but it sure makes me happy. The pups enjoyed sitting outside and I was delighted to oblige them.

Much nicer than a gravel parking lot. Lol.

Ahhhhhh. Relaxing with the kids. 

One of the neighbors. Lol.

Sunday was bike day. There was a big single track mountain bike loop that Rog wanted to do and I was interested in the rail to trail in the park. Rog had to take a (very) short ferry ride to get to the mountain bike trailhead and rode a total of 21 miles. He is loving his new Cannondale e-mountain bike. He took pics of an old church on the trail. The Good Springs Baptist Church that was established in 1842. The church is still used occasionally for weddings and other special events. 

Free ferry across the Green River.

Rog on the Big Hollow Trail.

Good Springs Baptist Church, established 1842.

After he got back from that ride, he took a little break, had lunch, and then we set off for the rail to trail. We rode 17 miles roundtrip from the campground to the park entrance on the trail. There were lots of displays along the way with information on the Mammoth Caves Railroad, buildings and early residents of the area. Although the church was long gone, another old cemetery remained with most of the headstones dates in the 1800’s.

Checking out the map before we start.

On the trail. (Love those rail to trails!)

Another old cemetery along the trail.
Most of the headstones are from the mid 1800's. 

The park entry sign was our turnaround point. 

When Mammoth Caves was established as a National Park in 1941, only 40 miles of the passageways had been mapped. Continued exploration and technical advancements in underground mapping led to additional discoveries and Mammoth Caves is now acknowledged as the world’s longest cave with over 400 miles of surveyed passages. The complex network of tunnels looks like a pile of spaghetti! There are about 20 different tours available at Mammoth Caves. We booked ours well in advance, as they do sell out during busy times. There is a huge variety of tours, all but one are Ranger led, and they range from 1½ hours up to 4 hours with various levels of difficulty.  

The yellow squiggles represent the mapped passageways.
No chance of getting lost is there? Lol.

The passageways are classified by shape.
It was fun looking for these on our tour.

We chose the Grand Avenue Tour, since it had components of several of the shorter tours. It was a four-hour, four-mile tour with 1521 stairs. (I didn’t count, but they might have missed a few. Lol.) It was a very different experience from the other caves we’ve explored. Carlsbad Caves, Kartchner Caverns, even the Natural Bridges Caverns that we just saw with Randi and Jose, all showcase the beautiful formations formed by water percolating through the limestone over eons. Although we did see some of those formations, they were few and far between. Why is Mammoth Caves so different? It’s all about the geology. These limestone caves have a large sandstone and shale cap that protected much of the limestone from water intrusion. Where the water did enter through cracks and sinkholes, it tracked downward forming large tunnels and underground rivers that cut through the limestone. That sandstone cap protected the network of tunnels that formed. When the water receded, the miles of passageways remained.

A large Tube passageway.

Examples of a Vertical Shaft.

I'm calling this a Large Canyon.

A Fissure.

Much of Mammoth Caves is considered a “dry” cave, so no stalagmites or stalactites, columns or draperies grew. What did grow were calcite blooms. These delicate crystal formations only grow in dry caves and crumble to dust if handled roughly. Unfortunately, the caves were a popular tourist attraction for many years during an era when conservation and preservation weren’t thought of. Tourists were allowed and often encouraged to take souvenirs from the caves. Thankfully, some areas were protected and we can still see these delicate formations today.

Calcite Blooms.

These fragile formations rarely made it home as souvenirs.

Cave popcorn on the ceiling.

Also on the ceiling and walls...cave crickets! 

We walked for miles (literally) up and down through huge tunnels several stories high that narrowed to spaces where you had to duck and turn sideways and regretted that second scoop of ice cream. And there were the stairs, lots and lots of stairs. The cave system is still being explored and as new passages and connections to other cave systems are found, there’s no telling how long the Mammoth Cave system really is. 

Miles of open passageways and lots of stairs, and... 

...some narrow spots too.

Drapes, one of the more typical cave formations, and...

...stone flows and small columns, too.

The Ranger stopped several times along the way to provide information on the geology and history of the caves. Both were fascinating. The caves were originally privately owned and since the cave system does not follow any property lines, there was a period of “Cave Wars” where everybody that had property with access to a cave vied for the tourists and their money. Competition was fierce and often bloody. In the winter of 1842-1843, Dr. John Croghan converted a portion of Mammoth Cave into an experimental hospital for tuberculosis ("consumption") patients, believing the cave's stable temperature and pure air would cure them. The 16-20 patients lived in stone and wood huts, but the damp, dark environment worsened their condition, leading to several deaths.

Old sign left over from the Sanitorium.

Toward the end of our tour, we had an option to do another 100 stairs down to the Frozen Niagara Falls. Well, the stairs down were optional, but back up was mandatory. Lol.  It was well worth it. The Falls formation was a large flow that you could walk under and behind. I think there are other tours in different parts of the cave that have more of the typical formations that I was expecting to see. With over 400 miles of caves to explore, there’s something for everyone!

Frozen Niagara Falls was the most impressive formation on our tour.

It was very cool going under and behind the Falls.

Crystal Lake, proof that the cave isn't totally dry!

We have another travel day before we make it to another (new to us) National Park. We’ll be visiting New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia. But before we do, we have a special tour booked that looked super cool. What is it? You’ll just have to wait and see. 😊

Hello Mother and Gateway Arch National Park

View of Gateway Arch from our campsite!

After spending almost four extra days in Oklahoma, we knew we had some time to make up. On Tuesday, 5/5, at 2:30pm when we were pulling out of McAlester Oklahoma, we were actually supposed to be pulling into an RV Park in St. Louis, MO over 460 miles away. Since my Star Trek transporter was out of service, we had to do this the hard way. Our goal for Tuesday was to make it to Springfield, MO, about 250 miles away. In a car, that’s a piece of cake. In the RV, that’s a long driving day (for us anyway). To complicate matters, it was blowing like crazy. At one point, Rog pulled over and was ready to hang it up for the day. The wind was pushing so hard he was wrestling the coach more than driving it. He looked at the weather and saw that waiting wasn’t going to help, so he soldiered on.

We have some very specific goals for this trip. In additional to attending the Escapade RV rally in Fryeburg, ME, we orchestrated our route to pick up most of the states and the six National Parks that we’ve missed in the lower 48. We’ve actually been through some of these states when we drove across the country in 1989 with our travel trailer, but ideally we’d like to hit them in the Short Bus before adding them to our map. Since we had to cancel our stay in Kansas, we compromised by darting across the border on our way to Missouri. Check that box and keep driving! Lol.   

Proof! Lol.

We made it to our destination, a Harvest Host site, Mother’s Brewing Company in Springfield, MO around 7:30pm. We popped into the taproom for a well-deserved libation. We made it!! Mother’s was a fun stop, too bad the weather hadn't been better (it was windy and spitting rain when we arrived), they have a huge two-acre outdoor beer garden with lots of fun games and activities. As it was, we were just thrilled to grab a brew and relax for a few minutes.

Mother's Brewing Company.

Rog was extremely happy to relax and enjoy a sampling of Mother's wares.

Raney helped me pick out a t-shirt. 

On Wednesday, 5/6, we were back on the road and heading to Draftkings at Casino Queen RV Park. The RV park is in East Saint Louis, IL and right across the Mississippi River from Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, MO. The Arch was designated as a National Park in 2018, just after our big year on the road trip so we needed to add this one to our list. We actually had a decent view of the Arch right from our campsite! Lol.

The stuff you see along the way...
It's not the destination, it's the journey. Maybe not today. Lol. 

 

We're parked directly across the Mississippi from the National Park.

Riley and Raney check out the view.

Gateway Arch National Park is the smallest National Park at 91 acres. Referred to as the "Gateway to the West", the arch symbolizes Thomas Jefferson’s vision of a unified continental nation and St. Louis’ role as a confluence and gateway to the American West during the 19th century. The park was originally named after Jefferson whose Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States, but was changed when it became a National Park. Here are some fun facts:

• The Arch was designed by Eero Saarinen, A Finnish-American who won the 1947 nationwide competition for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. His design was chosen from 172 entries to honor the westward expansion.
• The Arch is 630 feet tall and also 630 feet from leg to leg at ground level.
• Although the design was announced in 1948, construction of the Arch did not begin until February 12, 1963. The delay was due to a combination of funding shortages, the Korean War, legal battles over the design, and complex engineering planning. The Arch was completed on October 28, 1965, with no worker fatalities. 
• There are 1076 steps in the stairways of each leg, but they are used by maintenance and emergency personnel only.
• The tram ride to the top takes four minutes and guests are seated in a five-foot diameter capsule that seats five people (yes, it’s tight) that ascends either the north or south leg of the arch.
•  Guests have about 7-9 minutes to admire the view from the top through the small Lexan windows and then return on the tram.
• There are 16 windows on each side of the viewing area. Each window is 7 x 27 inches and 0.75 inches thick. Over 500 tons of pressure was used to jack the legs of the Arch apart for the last four-foot piece to be inserted at the top. Larger windows would not withstand the pressure.

Gateway Arch may be the smallest park,
but there is still plenty to see and do!

Gateway Arch over St. Louis.

Since we were arriving in St. Louis a day late, we had only one day to visit the park and we made the most of it. While visiting the Arch and museum are free, everything else requires a ticket. The entire Visitor’s Center, including the museum, movie, tram rides and extensive displays are located under the Arch and I mean under, as in underground. After looking online, I purchased “Ultimate Explorer” combo tickets that included the tram ride to the top (40-60 min), the “Monument to the Dream” documentary film (35 min), the “Cobblestones & Courage” virtual reality experience (10 min), and a St. Louis Riverfront Cruise (one hour). You pick each event time when you purchase the tickets, so our first activity was at 11:20am and we finished with the cruise at 3pm. That gave us plenty of time to explore the museum and just hang out staring in awe at this superb piece of engineering genius.

Happy Campers under the Arch. 

From a distance the Arch looks pretty cool, but get up close and it’s mind-boggling. The documentary film that talked about how it was constructed was fascinating. The ingenuity and precision craftmanship were absolutely amazing. It’s also hard to photograph up close, my camera kept distorting the view so please forgive any weird looking pics. Lol.

See?? It just looks weird. Lol. 

It was a beautiful day too, perfect for visiting the park. On a clear day from the top of the Arch you can see 30 miles to the east or west. We could see the Short Bus parked across the river to the east and a gorgeous view of St. Louis to the west. Looking straight down was a little trippy. Lol. The ride up in the tram is also interesting. The capsules have a glass front so you can see what's on the inside of the Arch as you ascend and they rotate so the riders remain level even though the capsule is moving at an angle. Pretty cool design. 

Going up!

 

Looking east across the Mississippi, I spy a Short Bus. 

Looking west across St. Louis.

Looking straight down. Yikes!

It felt good to get out and walk, seeing and learning new things. That is one of my favorite parts of our travels. The nearby famous landmark, The Old Courthouse, was donated to the National Park Service in 1940. Several controversial rulings came out of the court including the Dred Scott Case. The sculpture, The Captain's Return commemorates the return of Lewis and Clark. They landed on the riverfront in St. Louis after their exploratory expedition that had lasted two years, four months and nine days. But who's counting? Lol. 

 

The Old Courthouse.

The Captain's Return.

Different perspectives. 

The riverboat cruise was interesting, the captain provided information on landmarks, bridges, and the shipping industry during our sail. We sat on the top deck where we had a great view of the cityscape. The Mississippi River continues to be vital to the shipping industry, we watched tugs pushing huge rafts of barges loaded with grain and other goods.  

Gateway Arch Riverboat Cruises.

This was our boat for the cruise.

Arch view from the riverboat.

After the cruise we walked downtown to Salt and Smoke, a BBQ restaurant just outside of Busch Stadium. With full tummies, we headed back to our car and our patient pups. I sometimes worry that they feel neglected when they’ve been in the coach most of the day. But they are so chill, we had to pry Riley off the couch. Rather than feeling neglected, he was annoyed that his nap was disturbed. Lol. They really are the best travel pups.

Salt + Smoke, a great name for a BBQ place. 
(Sauce tip: Mix the "I Can't Even" with the Hotangy", Yum!)

Woohoo, we are now back on schedule. (At least until the next snafu! Lol.) We have a travel day and then another (new to us) National Park to share. Mammoth Caves here we come!