Going to Kentucky...

After spending some time in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, we decided to drive on up towards Kentucky...with a few stops along the way, of course ;).

I could not help myself...I kept stopping to admire these quilt paintings on barns that were sprinkled everywhere.  For every one that I managed to get stopped enough to snap a picture of, there were half a dozen more that I had to be satisfied with only a picture in my mind.  So pretty...

We were able to visit and let the kids complete the Junior Ranger programs at the Obed Wild & Scenic River and also the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area.  Each park in the NPS system has their own way of doing the program, some are longer and some are shorter.  Just a FYI, plan for quite a bit of time to complete the Big South Fork one...it was looooong.  Oh, and pack a picnic lunch if you go up there...you'll be very glad that you did :).

the only photo i have from those parks.  camera glitch ate the rest of them...

Big South Fork is right up next to the Kentucky line, so we took the time while we were stopped to look at a map and decide exactly where we wanted to go next.  We saw that Mammoth Cave National Park was only a few hours away and a couple of the kids were instantly intrigued.  We put it to a vote and it was decided...we were heading to the caves...