Crossing Kentucky

 

While we were still anchored in Arizona and working on travel routes headed east, we learned that the bridge on I-40 crossing the Mississippi River in Memphis had been closed due to damage.  Consort began looking at alternative routes to reach our summer destination of Roan Creek Campground in NE Tennessee.  After a few days looking at options, he came up with the idea of heading a little north to drive across Kentucky.  He suggested we add a couple of days to our drive allowing time to stop at places of interest; specifically, Mammoth Cave and the Ark Encounter.  I wholeheartedly agreed.

Although the interior of the Ford F-350, in my opinion, is nearly large enough to live in, it was pretty close quarters in the backseat of the truck once everything was loaded.  Each of the three boys had a bag filled with books, games, and electronics that took up a great deal of the floorboard, in addition to their legs and feet jockeying for position.  In spite of the fullness, we managed to fit D.O.G. in with the boys (Fulton, the cat, rode in the front seat with me).  Try as we might, we could not keep D.O.G. on the floor.  As you can see in the picture above, D.O.G. considers himself an equal with the boys and wants to be included in ALL activities.  He rode on the seat squeezed between two of the boys.

Prior to leaving our campsite at Bluff, I did some pre-cooking so we would have dinners while on the road.  Each morning before heading out, I made lunches for everyone -- although that did not preclude the consumption of  pizzas and McDonald's along the way.  It took two days of driving to reach Mammoth Cave located in west-central Kentucky.  We dry-docked our first night in a Walmart parking lot in Missouri.  Our second night on the road was spent in the parking lot of Cabela's in Bowling Green.  We left the lot at Cabela's early on a Tuesday morning and drove a couple of hours over to Mammoth Cave.  "At 336 miles, Mammoth Cave is the longest system of caves in the world." ~ Wikipedia 

After spending an afternoon wandering through the cave system, (we had the fifth wheel with us, so the animals stayed home in the trailer) we loaded back into the truck and headed north to our next destination, the Ark Encounter.  We had a three-hour drive and ended the day at the Northern Kentucky RV Park.  

The next morning we were up early and ready to head out to see the ark.  We had all eaten breakfast and stowed away our overnight gear.  The grandsons, dog, and cat were all loaded into the truck.  Consort and I had only to bring in the slides and hitch the rig before taking off.

As luck would have it, a cable broke on our infamous slide.  We have been averaging a broken slide cable every other month since we've been on the road.  It is infuriating!  Although we do not have the skills to repair the slide ourselves, we do carry all the necessary parts for an RV technician to do the job.  Consort immediately got on the phone and, amazingly enough, was able to locate an RV service tech familiar with replacing the cable and who was able to come to our site at once.  

The reason I mention this particular slide repair is because of the information we received from the service tech.  The tech told us the cable slide on our particular model fifth wheel suffers from a poor design.  The slide itself sets atop four rubber rollers and is attached to the fifth wheel with cables at the top and bottom on each side of the slide.  There is nothing more holding the slide in place.  As we travel down the road, the slide bounces with the trailer causing it to move in a forward-backward direction.  When this happens, the slide is no longer setting squarely on the roller tracks.  If the slide is off center when it is opened or closed, the cable tension becomes unequal putting excessive stress on one of the cables which, over time, causes it to fray and then break.  (The service tech used an analogy of a sewing machine's thread and tension.)

Here's the really great part:  He knew how to fix the problem -- a bladder jack, also known as an AirShim.  By simply inserting a small bladder jack into the opening between the frame of the fifth wheel and the frame of the slide, we can ensure the slide is in exactly the right position to open and close.  The service tech had tried out this theory, and assured us it will eliminate the constant fraying and breaking of cables.  The jury is still out; only time will tell.

The slide repair took a couple of hours out of our morning, but didn't put us too far behind schedule.  Once the repairs were complete, we hitched the trailer and drove about 15 miles to the ark.

Mammoth Cave was a great side trip.  The grandsons enjoyed it immensely.  But the ark!  The ark was magnificent!  I have known the story of Noah and the ark since I was a little girl.  To see the ark in person, built to the specifications in the Bible, filled me with awe.  It was fascinating to tour the ark and see how the multitude of animals were kept and cared for, the workshops and living quarters.  I highly recommend a visit!

We left the ark late Wednesday afternoon and drove three hours south to Middlesborough, Kentucky, where we dry-docked in a Walmart parking lot.  Thursday morning we took off early for the final leg of our roadtrip, a three-hour drive to Roan Creek just outside Mountain City, Tennessee.  The trip was completely wonderful, but after five days on the road, we were all ready to park in one place and spread out.

The grandsons passed the "long distance riding in the truck" test and will always be welcome in our future travels.  We'll let curiosity lead the way.

Once the travel bug bites, there is no known antidote, and I shall be happily infected until the end of my life.  ~Michael Palin