Kentucky Trip- Day Two

 The following day, we set out to do more cave exploring. We didn't have a set plan, but we stopped. Ava is interested in crystals and rocks, so we stopped at a rock shop and toured Onyx Cave. It is a small cave found when the nearby stables and amusement decided to expand their parking lot in the 1970s.

From Onyx Cave, we traveled to the town of Horse Cave, a few miles away. Horse Cave has a cave in the center of town with a wide opening and three major domes. The cave is sixty feet below the town.

"I wonder what happens when they flush the toilets," I asked Ava, looking down into the sinkhole at the entrance. Indeed, on the tour, we found out that Horse Cave was once the worst-smelling town in Kentucky. Apparently, locals did not realize what they were doing by polluting their source of fresh water with waste.

Entrance To The Cave In Horse City

We spent a little time in Horse Cave, then heading back toward Mammoth Park, we saw a sign for Diamond Cave. Naturally, we pulled off and decided to see what we could see. There is a lodge built on top of Diamond Cave. You actually enter the cave from a gate in the entranceway that looks like it leads to a cellar.  It is incredible how close to buildings these caves can be. Diamond Cave has some pretty stalagmites and formations, but it also shows signs of damage from what we learned were cave wars back in the forties when local establishments were destroying the completion to gain more of the tourist trade.

Ava In Diamond Cave

From Diamond Cave, we stopped back at the B & B to change. The temperatures in the caves are from fifty-five to sixty degrees. Outside, it was sunny and eighty degrees. We loaded up the bikes, water, and snacks and headed back to Mammoth Park. We took a ferry across the Green River, which cut through the park's center, and rode some trails on our bikes.

It was a nice ride but not as scenic as the hiking we took the first day. On the way back to the B & B, the GPS took us up a two-track gravel road in the park. In several spots, it was only wide enough for one vehicle. Ava was a bit nervous, but I assured her the path was nothing the Gladiator couldn't handle. At one point, she saw an owl in the trees and made me stop and back up so she could get a picture. She stood up from her seat and took a video of the owl flying overhead through the Jeep's open top.

It was a long day, with hundreds of stairs, thousands of steps, and an eight-mile bike ride through hilly trails. When we arrived back at the B & B the sun was down and we were the only people there. We ate dinner in the room. A combination of pizza I picked up for myself and the groceries we packed for her. We cuddled in bed and Ava stoically held back her usually passionate screams. I slept soundly through the night without even remembering falling asleep.