Kentucky Day 5

We were somewhat sad for two reasons: it was our last day & it was just starting to warm up. Regardless, a gorgeous last day for a hike.

We started off making the short trip to Pinnacle Outlook, then walked to a couple forts. After that, took the road trail to the Saddle Gap where we split off to the Tri Peak State Trail for our last hurrah. It took us a couple minutes to find the right trail once we reached the saddle gap but we were on our way in no time. When I was in 8th grade, my family & I hiked the same trail, but I didn't remember anything of the actual hike. Not even halfway through, I knew why- it was so difficult! Short but very steep ascent to the peak. Snapped a few pictures, took off a few layers, & enjoyed the sun all the way down. After changing into roadtripping clothes, it was back to Michigan. 

Pinnacle Outlook

Some road trail pictures 

Saddle gap, trying to find the Tri State Peak Trail

Yeah!

Kentucky Day 4

We drove for about three & a half hours to Cumberland Gap National Park. We hiked the Chadwell Gap Trail & took that to the Hensley Settlement. The park maintains it & during the summer, they apparently have volunteers who run the cabins that they kept there to give the full experience. Unfortunately, everything was closed when we got there but we did have an opportunity to take some pictures w/o feeling self conscious.
Dinner at La Esperanza in Middlesboro, KY. Exactly what you would expect from an authentic Mexican restaurant & it was delicious! They also had fuzzy mustaches for 50 cents in one of the kids' toy machines so I got one (:

Last day in Kentucky tomorrow

 Hensley Settlement

On the way back down the Chadwell Gap Trail

Kentucky Day 3

Starting off on a much chillier note, we headed to Mammoth Cave for the New Entrance tour. Not bad, not recommended if you aren't in decent shape or wider than a foot & a half due to stairs & how wide they built them. Overall, a pretty fun experience, walked through the Frozen Niagara, two hours of walking through the cave. Afterwards, we took a ferry to get to the backpacking trails in the park. Took Sal Hollow to Turnaround bend to Horseback (?) trail, pretty flat, nice for walking on though because it's nice soft ground so your heels don't hurt that much. Definitely recommended for the fall, not really much to see in the spring unfortunately. As always, great for reflection & whatnot.
For dinner we went to Sahara Steakhouse in Cave City. Although a little heavy on the seasoning on the steak, excellent place to go! I go the ribeye steak sandwich & I couldn't have been happier. My Dad loved his New York Strip Steak & my best friend got the fried chicken sandwich. Delicious.

Onwards to Cumberland Gap National Park tomorrow!

it's blurry but probably one of the best pictures I have inside the cave

Waiting for the ferry

Start of the backpacking trails at the Mammoth Cave National Park

Sinkhole

Kentucky Days 1 & 2

Yesterday my best friend, Dad, & I embarked on a trip to Kentucky! Yesterday we stayed in a town called Erlanger, halfway between our destination & home. Interestingly, a tornado touched down 15 minutes from where we were last night, we were lucky it didn't travel near us.
After a big continental breakfast (apparently so much that the lady next to us asked how we managed to stay so skinny), we headed to Mammoth Cave. We hiked on pretty much all the trails around the visitors center & what a beautiful day it was. With blue, sunny skies and temperate weather, it was a great warm up to the trails to come.

After a siesta, we drove down to Bowling Green for some dinner, choosing Samurai. Honestly, it was pretty disappointing if you're a 'purist' sushi (as in no crazy sauces/rolls, just plain) person. Or really if you'reused to traditional Japanese cuisine. Red flags should have gone up when my dad tried to order sea urchin but the server had no idea what we were talking about regardless of which language we said it in. There was some element of sacrilegiousness (I know it isn't a word, bear w/ me) eating salad that topped with a creamy mayo dressing instead of the typical tangy ginger one. Cuts of fish were tiny and questionably fresh- the yellowtail tasted like it was dried out & looked the wrong color. Even the wasabi looked like it was left sitting out for a few hours- when the top layer is a dark green/black compared to the usual minty green underneath, I'm skeptical of the quality. Lastly, though I know this shouldn't really reflect on the restaurant, our server left a lot to be desired- we ordered an entree & even pointed to it on the menu, he wrote it down & brought an appetizer not even remotely close. Overall, the nicest thing about this place was probably the bathroom because it was clean or that the green tea was served lukewarm every time so you didn't have to worry about burning your tongue. Yay? Man this sounds incredibly harsh. Oh well, bed time; long day ahead tomorrow.