As we left the campground of Hocking Hills State Park and made our way along the narrow serpentine roads out of the hills it was West Virginia in our sights, one more state to add to our “places camped” map. We mostly followed along the Ohio River on the West Virginia side, which was a pretty torn up two lane due to a lot of trucking activity, railroad crossings and a patchwork of road repairs. What fun in a large motorhome! But as we got closer to the destination, Beech Fork State Park, the roads got narrower, winding once again, and then a complete stop for the trailers, cars and trucks ahead of us. What was up?
It happened that a fairly large mobile home was being moved/towed out of the area and they might have managed to get stuck in the shoulder or something. It was a half hour of sitting, watching the engine temperature to be sure it didn’t spike while at idle, asking folks who were walking to check it out, and then we began to move. Yep, there it was, taking up most of the road, with traffic slipping past, half on/half off the roadway. It was a tight grip on the wheel, slow as she goes, hope we don’t scrape kind of move that put us finally past the “house” and maybe a mile up the road to camp. Ok, enough excitement.
Campground was pretty large, sitting alongside a quiet lake and less than half full. We unhooked the Jeep, backed into the site and got ready to relax for two nights. No big hikes here, no caves, just a quiet spot by the water. Well, some drizzle overnight with a chance of more rain the next day. We’ve been lucky to only have some brief overnight showers and otherwise gorgeous sunny weather daytime, so we couldn’t complain. But this big thunderstorm rolled in just after lunch and pounded the RV. Booming claps of thunder and just a lot of water came down as we smugly congratulated ourselves for not being in a tent.
It cleared off by dinner and we sat out to watch some good birds around us. Yellow warblers sang “sweet sweet, I’m so sweet” and flitted in the nearby trees and then we spotted a larger yellow and black bird. Hmm, wait, there is the male … a bright orange and black Baltimore Oriole. Nice. The female kept coming back to pull strips off the old milkweed stems, no doubt getting nesting material. And while watching a couple of mallards walk around the shoreline, we noticed another pair that were in fact wood ducks. Tried to get some good pictures as they swam off and we remarked that this evening on the lake was pretty cool indeed.
As we got ready to hit the sack, Jackie said her pillow felt wet. Wait, the bedspread was wet, too. Very wet, as were the layers below: the blanket, the sheets, the mattress topper, foam egg crate and the memory foam mattress below! What? It seems that the rain must have puddled on top of the slideout and made its way inside (were we not fully extended?). That meant we were draping sheets and blankets around the motorhome to try to dry out. We pulled out the couch and slept with just two small afghans – but it was surprisingly comfortable.
In the morning there was a slight breeze and plenty of sunshine, so we draped the blanket over the awning support, used the dashboard as a drying rack and raised the mattress off the platform to get some air circulation. After a walkabout with the dog (saw a box turtle), morning showers and a garbage run, it was time to dump the tanks and hit the road. Our trip back into Kentucky was barely 3 hours, but the twisty 2 lane was waiting for us. Jackie volunteered to drive the Jeep out until we found a spot, maybe a rest area/welcome center in Kentucky, to hitch back up. That made it easier to navigate the country roads until we were on the Interstate.
But signs announced the rest area was closed, so Jackie exited and headed for a Flying J gas station. Only problem was that a nearby ATV/UTV/Motocross event must have just concluded – there were super muddy 4-wheelers on trailers everywhere. Absolutely crazy busy, but we found a level spot to connect the Jeep and get on down the road.
We found our way to a nice parkway going into the Red River Gorge area that had a large, level rest area that was perfect to have lunch, get a few maps and unhitch, since the Natural Bridges State Resort Park was just 2 miles up the road. Perfect. Up the winding road and we found our destination: Middle Fork Campground in the park. As we dropped down into the riverside camp spot I had to wonder if the posted sign “Warning, Flash Flood Area” would come into play, with rain and thunderstorms predicted for the next couple of days.
Since it looked like wet weather was headed our way, we quickly drove around to the one feature we wanted to see: Natural Bridge. You have a nice option to ride a chairlift “Sky lift” one way to the top or round trip. Oh heck, the trail down looks to be about a mile, so let’s ride up and hike down. The trip up was gorgeous, with lots of blooming wildflowers and ferns below us, mountain laurel in bloom, even some Sweetbay magnolias blooming. At the top we hopped off and hiked over the sandstone bridge and then circled down and under the arch. Very cool spot and some pretty narrow stone stairways and passages. And although the hike down to the parking area was mostly downhill and the blooming mountain laurel was colorful, we are certain it was much longer than the “1.75 miles” noted on the trail sign. Jackie was ready to crash as we finally saw the parking lot, with more steps yet to go! Wow, that took the last of our energy. Watch the video of the hike here: Hiking Natural Bridge
And yes, back in the RV our bedding had finally dried and we could get a proper night’s sleep.
The next of our two days here was a kayak adventure through an underground, flooded mine. Certainly not something we have ever done. Several layers of light clothing, water shoes and the GoPro camera – we were set. After our safety briefing, suited up with life jackets and helmets, we grabbed our paddles, slipped gracefully into the kayaks and off we went into the cold darkness. What fun. As we paddled along the 40 degree water that went as deep as 12 feet, we saw some of the large rainbow trout that were stocked and fed in the waterway. This wasn’t a wild, natural cave system, but it was certainly a unique experience that we loved. A video of the trip is posted here: Kayaking Gorge Underground
As if that wasn’t enough exercise for one day, we headed out after lunch for a drive around the Red River Gorge and the Daniel Boone National Forest to do some short hikes to arches and sandstone rock outcroppings. The weather prediction is for more rain and thunderstorms, so we wanted to get out before the rain hit. But somehow the rumbling stayed in another valley and we stayed dry. A short hike to Angel’s Windows and then Whispering Arch (half miles out and back) convinced us that we had seen enough of rock walls, arches and outcroppings for now. But one cool drive through a tunnel on the way back to check out the lodge, I hear they have a Trails End Tavern that would be a nice end to the day. Yeah, but it’s closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so we were left to sit in the lobby and connect to WIFI.
That’s ok, we had a nice bottle of wine and a steak on the grill back at camp, with a cool evening to sit by the river and wonder about the coming rain and flash floods.
Final day in camp was spent editing pictures and writing updates for the blog, once again heading to the lodge for a WI FI upload. Thunderstorms rolled through the park and maybe 200 yards below our spot several trees came down. One hit a camper’s car and the wind blew a canopy into the creek. Lucky all we had was rain at our campsite.
The next morning we pulled out and headed home, with one last stop outside Knoxville at a KOA. Big storms on the drive. We both reflected on this 3 week trip and decided that it was really pretty great. We were able to follow the spring awakening through a part of the country we had not yet explored. The caves, caverns, rock formations, waterways and hiking trails really made this exploration special. And of course we love staying in National and State parks when we can. Wildflowers in bloom, spring birds singing, even the rainstorms all refresh the spirit and make you thankful to be able to enjoy it all.
This is probably the last post of this adventure. Thanks for coming along with us. Sign up for notifications so you don’t miss our next adventure. And yes, check out some of the many videos I posted on our YouTube channel. I hope to post video highlights soon.
What’s next? We have some repair work we will be doing in the RV. The carpet ripped during our Pigeon Forge trip so we have plans to replace the carpet and flooring in the main part of the motorhome. We have a few days reserved at our nearby lake this summer when we will have our two grandsons stay with us and a fall break cruise aboard the new Utopia of the Seas ship. Oh, and another trip to St. Andrews State Park on the Florida panhandle in the fall. Stay tuned.
Adventures with Doug and Jackie 
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