pikeville & slade kentucky
Thursday night I had the van all packed up. I'd sent the kids to bed wearing pajamas that could work for comfy traveling clothes the next morning. All I had to do was pack up the cooler and put the kids in their seats.
My alarm woke me, Fynn, & Clover up at 6:30. Fynn played a last minute video game while Clover discussed what toys she needed to bring. After I got dressed and packed the cooler, the only thing left to do what load up. I took the potty into the bedroom and aroused the sleepy Audrey. I asked her if she wanted to pee and she signed potty back to me. With eyes still closed she peed and laid back down for a fresh diaper. I carried her to the warmed up car, strapped her in, and laid the blanket on her.....she just laid her head to the side. (She stayed like this, awake but zoned) for the entire for hour and fifteen minutes of the trip). I went back in to double check lights and appliances, grabbed Molly and off we went!
For the first hour I listened to NPR while all the kids sat quietly (huh??!). We sat in major traffic on 71 south leading into Cincinnati. Once we crossed the river the requests began. We had to pull over briefly about 20 minutes into KY for snacks and to set up the movie. Luckily, I'd remembered the day before to get down to Buick to buy the extra set of wireless headphones. There was NO WAY I was going to be able to listen to kid movies the entire drive. I'd go crazy!!! Molly had been laying down in the back most of the drive, but was really excited to get out and explore. So the entire "quick" stop turned into 20 minutes.
The next stop was Stanton...McDonalds playplace. We walked Molly for a few minutes, then headed inside for some breakfast and playing. Unfortunately, the playplace was closed for some major heating issue (it was literally over 100 degrees in that room...they let the kids go in to see if it was too hot to play...it was) so we just at breakfast together at the table and audrey ran around the resteraunt.
Once back on the road Audrey fell asleep and the kids watched a movie. Before we knew it we were approaching Pikeville and searching for Carpet World. Seeing Troy down there was surreal...meeting some of his customers was really hilarious. I had no idea how backcountry hilbilly it was down there. I thought Julie and Troy were overplaying it. Hahahaha. Barry, the owner, was really sweet. He offered the kids treats and went on and on about how good a' guy Troy is.
Troy left his truck there while we searched for Julie's work and got lunch. Soon though he had to get back on the road. So off to Julie's house we went! It wasn't very child-proofed (of course not, they don't have kids!) so that was challenging. But the fenced in yard was great for Molly...and once she stopped being freaked out she seemed to enjoy seeing Emmett! Audrey was obsessed with Whitey (one of their cats) so of course that had me on edge just about every minute we were there.
We needed a break from the house so we headed to the McD's playplace a few miles away. It was the fanciest one we'd ever been to....they even had a video game station for the youngsters. Before long it was getting to be dinner time (Julie made some awesome quesodillias!!) and the kids all went down to bed by 8:30. Julie, Charlie and I stayed up and had some drinks and interesting conversations about doctors and vaccinations.
The next morning the kids were up early, of course. After some breakfast and packing up, we were on the road to Slade. The drive was uneventful, although we did have to stop for Clover to potty once. I'm so bad at remembering to have everyone go to the bathroom before we go places.
Once in Slade we explored some different campgrounds before choosing a site at Koomer Ridge. It wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but we were limited on our options. So up went the tent. We took off for Miguels, which was pretty yummy, but I wish I'd gotten just half with the cheese for the kids and loaded on some toppings for myself. The plain cheese just didn't do anything for me. With full bellies we went to explore the Natural Bridge State Park. I left my Beco in the tent (::hand hitting head repeatedly::) so Audrey and I only went halfway while Julie took Fynn and Clover to the top. It took them 2 hours....I was officially freaking out after 90 minutes. Luckily they came strolling down the path with nothing having gone to the terrible places I'd imagined in my mind.
We struggled to get a blazin fire....the wood we bought wasn't quite dry so that was a bummer. Still, the kids all went down reasonably easy and Julie and I had some drinks by the fire. It was really so nice to sit and hang out with Julie so much.
The next morning we took our time getting packed up and ready. I hadn't really planned breakfast, so we snacked and then took a hike up the hill behind our site. Once we'd all had some time to stretch and exercise it was time to load up. Molly especially seemed excited to get in the car and head out! The drive home was fast, quiet, and uneventful!!! We made it home in time to shower, unpack the van, and make it to Ronelle's in time for the Bengals game!
Overall I'd say the trip was awesome. There were many moments where I asked myself why in the world I'd done this......so I'm not saying it wasn't really challenging. But this (traveling, camping, etc) is exactly what I want to do with my kids. I can't expect it to always go smoothly. The overall experience was positive and the kids are already asking to go again!
Welcome to Pikeville!!
Slade/Red River/Natural Bridge/Campsite
My alarm woke me, Fynn, & Clover up at 6:30. Fynn played a last minute video game while Clover discussed what toys she needed to bring. After I got dressed and packed the cooler, the only thing left to do what load up. I took the potty into the bedroom and aroused the sleepy Audrey. I asked her if she wanted to pee and she signed potty back to me. With eyes still closed she peed and laid back down for a fresh diaper. I carried her to the warmed up car, strapped her in, and laid the blanket on her.....she just laid her head to the side. (She stayed like this, awake but zoned) for the entire for hour and fifteen minutes of the trip). I went back in to double check lights and appliances, grabbed Molly and off we went!
For the first hour I listened to NPR while all the kids sat quietly (huh??!). We sat in major traffic on 71 south leading into Cincinnati. Once we crossed the river the requests began. We had to pull over briefly about 20 minutes into KY for snacks and to set up the movie. Luckily, I'd remembered the day before to get down to Buick to buy the extra set of wireless headphones. There was NO WAY I was going to be able to listen to kid movies the entire drive. I'd go crazy!!! Molly had been laying down in the back most of the drive, but was really excited to get out and explore. So the entire "quick" stop turned into 20 minutes.
The next stop was Stanton...McDonalds playplace. We walked Molly for a few minutes, then headed inside for some breakfast and playing. Unfortunately, the playplace was closed for some major heating issue (it was literally over 100 degrees in that room...they let the kids go in to see if it was too hot to play...it was) so we just at breakfast together at the table and audrey ran around the resteraunt.
Once back on the road Audrey fell asleep and the kids watched a movie. Before we knew it we were approaching Pikeville and searching for Carpet World. Seeing Troy down there was surreal...meeting some of his customers was really hilarious. I had no idea how backcountry hilbilly it was down there. I thought Julie and Troy were overplaying it. Hahahaha. Barry, the owner, was really sweet. He offered the kids treats and went on and on about how good a' guy Troy is.
Troy left his truck there while we searched for Julie's work and got lunch. Soon though he had to get back on the road. So off to Julie's house we went! It wasn't very child-proofed (of course not, they don't have kids!) so that was challenging. But the fenced in yard was great for Molly...and once she stopped being freaked out she seemed to enjoy seeing Emmett! Audrey was obsessed with Whitey (one of their cats) so of course that had me on edge just about every minute we were there.
We needed a break from the house so we headed to the McD's playplace a few miles away. It was the fanciest one we'd ever been to....they even had a video game station for the youngsters. Before long it was getting to be dinner time (Julie made some awesome quesodillias!!) and the kids all went down to bed by 8:30. Julie, Charlie and I stayed up and had some drinks and interesting conversations about doctors and vaccinations.
The next morning the kids were up early, of course. After some breakfast and packing up, we were on the road to Slade. The drive was uneventful, although we did have to stop for Clover to potty once. I'm so bad at remembering to have everyone go to the bathroom before we go places.
Once in Slade we explored some different campgrounds before choosing a site at Koomer Ridge. It wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but we were limited on our options. So up went the tent. We took off for Miguels, which was pretty yummy, but I wish I'd gotten just half with the cheese for the kids and loaded on some toppings for myself. The plain cheese just didn't do anything for me. With full bellies we went to explore the Natural Bridge State Park. I left my Beco in the tent (::hand hitting head repeatedly::) so Audrey and I only went halfway while Julie took Fynn and Clover to the top. It took them 2 hours....I was officially freaking out after 90 minutes. Luckily they came strolling down the path with nothing having gone to the terrible places I'd imagined in my mind.
We struggled to get a blazin fire....the wood we bought wasn't quite dry so that was a bummer. Still, the kids all went down reasonably easy and Julie and I had some drinks by the fire. It was really so nice to sit and hang out with Julie so much.
The next morning we took our time getting packed up and ready. I hadn't really planned breakfast, so we snacked and then took a hike up the hill behind our site. Once we'd all had some time to stretch and exercise it was time to load up. Molly especially seemed excited to get in the car and head out! The drive home was fast, quiet, and uneventful!!! We made it home in time to shower, unpack the van, and make it to Ronelle's in time for the Bengals game!
Overall I'd say the trip was awesome. There were many moments where I asked myself why in the world I'd done this......so I'm not saying it wasn't really challenging. But this (traveling, camping, etc) is exactly what I want to do with my kids. I can't expect it to always go smoothly. The overall experience was positive and the kids are already asking to go again!
Welcome to Pikeville!!
Slade/Red River/Natural Bridge/Campsite