ARK Encounter - Williamstown, KY

Williamstown, KY - Tuesday, July 19, 2016

As we were bringing our granddaughter home by way of Kentucky, we heard that a full size replica of Noah's Ark would soon be opening (July 7th).  We even thought we were planning to be close, as we were planning to stop in Corbin, KY, near Williamsburg, KY.  See where I am headed?  Wrong time and wrong town.

Now we are back in Kentucky, so we planned better this time, making a one night stop in Walton, KY (I-75, exit 171) and just a short distance to the Ark Encounter (https://arkencounter.com/, exit 154).

Arriving just before noon, we quickly setup and took off for this adventure.  We purchased our tickets online ahead of time.
 
You drive to a huge parking lot, where you catch a shuttle bus to the Ark.  When we arrived at the parking area, we exchanged our tickets for a brochure, and wrist bands, then caught the bus.

   Many buses, no waiting.

 Yes, that is the Ark!  Imagine Noah's neighbors when he was building this monster!

 
Another perspective!  This is a big boat!

The inside is constructed in such a way that you know Noah had a huge task to complete, forget about gathering any critters.

This is a cross section showing the supports for the hull.
 

Both above and below, Dusty gives perspective to the immense size of these supports.

There were many educational posters, many which explain the differences in creation vs evolution.  I will share just a few.

 

An area for the smallest of children too!

Possible storage of food and water, 

Bird and animal cages,

  Obviously, all critters were imaginary, but looked really good.

There was also an area on the third floor that was a representation of possible living quarters, common area that the family shared.

They were afloat for a year, so had to have the means to grow some foods.  This was a small garden area.
 

  Noah on the ladder, wax figure.
 
As well as areas showing possible task stations,

There many more photos for me to choose and sort through, but I know it is time for me to shut this post down.  We spoke with some construction workers who told us that more areas would be completed and probably open in another year.  Extremely interesting, and of course more so to believers.

Mammoth Cave, KY

Mammoth Cave, Park City, KY Jun 24 - 25, 2016

 We learned that it was advisable to make reservations ahead of time because the cave tours fill up rapidly.

 When we arrived to pick up our tickets from will-call, all the major tours were fully booked.  Good thing we were prepared.

 Hurry up and wait, and wait and wait!  We read that it would be 54 degrees in the caves and the tour was 2 hours.  So.... Nana insisted that we wear long pants and take sweatshirts.  It is so hot and humid today that Isabel and I are miserable while we are waiting.

 Listening to the ranger tells us how difficult the tour will be.

 Time to board the bus to the start of our tour, "Drips and Domes".

No camera flash permitted, so I chose those that came out best.

This is called Niagara Falls.

  We saw many interesting formations and enjoyed our tour greatly.  
We never needed our sweatshirts and could have been fine in shorts.  Oh well, Nana can be forgiven. 

On our ride back to the parking lot from the end of our cave tour, I learned there was a free ferry crossing the Green River.  Isabel informed me that she had never been on a ferry.  I decided that was something she needed to experience so after dinner we took off.

Wow, I think this is the smallest ferry crossing I've ever seen.  Oh well, Isabel and I are going and Tic is taking pictures.  It is so hot and muggy that the camera lens keeps fogging over.

We are mid-stream in about 1.5 minutes.  Whee what a ride -- NOT!

We've turned around and are coming back,  The ferry operator just laughted at us.  At least it was a new experience for Isabel and we had fun laughing.

Cumberland Falls, Corbin, KY

Cumberland Falls, Corbin, KY  Jun 22 - 24, 2016

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cumberland Falls, sometimes called the Little Niagara, the Niagara of the South, or the Great Falls, is a large waterfall on the Cumberland River in southeastern Kentucky. 
On average the falls, which flow over a resistant sandstone bed, are 68 feet (21 m) high and 125 feet (38 m) wide, with an average water flow of 3,600 cubic feet per second (100 m³/s). ^[2]
Under a full moon on clear nights, an elusive lunar rainbow or moonbow is sometimes formed by the mist emanating from the falls.^[3]

 ^{Park the Jeep, and walk to the falls.}

 

We won't stay for the moonbows, since the forecast is for rain tonight.

 Cumberland Falls behind us.  Mostly cloudy today, but the sun did peek through several times and we got to see rainbows in the mist.

A short video of the falls.

If you look closely you can see a rainbow close to the water. This is probably the best picture we got.

Well, we are basically in Corbin, KY, home of the Colonel Sanders, founder of KFC.  And there is a quaint little museum here that we had to visit in order to make Corbin a complete stop.

 Still "Finger Lickin' Good"

 He looks a little pale, probably needs to get out in the sun more and stop working so hard!  Hee Hee!