Van-Tramp adventures 2017

[Van-Tramp]

Hangin’ with baby goats
http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/hangin-with-baby-goats/

[size=large]It was a very long drive from the Smoky Mountains to our next destination in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.  We could have pulled it off on a single day, but when an opportunity arose to take advantage of a Harvest Host along the way, and that place was a goat farm, there was no discussion. Kerri loves baby goats – I mean *really* loves them. There was no doubt that she was looking forward to this overnight stay and to be honest, so was I. I may not have as strong an affection for them, but I seriously like them as well. But then who doesn’t?

Down some gravel back roads, along a  gentle creek in the middle-of-no-where-Tennessee is Mountain Hollow Farm. We backed the trailer into a small gravel lot and opened the door to a small pen full of chickens, two Momma goats and their four baby goats. The babies immediately hopped and jumped their way to us to meet-and-greet. Kerri lit up like a child in a candy store. We met Beth, the operator of the farm, who welcomed us to the farm. We discussed life on the farm, and the goats, of course. Beth took the opportunity to pass some of chores onto us, which we gladly accepted.
Chore #1 – feed a baby goat! Kerri was able to handle this chore on her own. I know this was one of those melt-your-heart things for her so I just snapped as many pictures as I could.[/size]

[size=large]Embedded Instagram image at http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/hangin-with-baby-goats/

Chore #2 – milk a goat! It was the following morning, just before we were packed up and ready to leave, but Beth wanted to show us how to milk a goat. One of the Momma goats had to be milked each morning, so other baby goats, not of hers, can be fed each day. Both Kerri and I took our turn at milking… a task that didn’t feel anywhere near as awkward as I thought it might, but it does give you a heckuva hand workout.[/size]

[size=large][size=large]Embedded Instagram image at http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/hangin-with-baby-goats/[/SIZE]

Just imagine how good it was to fall asleep to the tiny bleating of the baby goats that night. It was a great night, of course.
We moved on in the late morning to our final destination a few hours down the road, but I am so happy Kerri added this farm to our life. Special thanks to Beth and her goats for the many smiles during our stay.

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[Van-Tramp]

Arriving in Kentucky
http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/arriving-in-kentucky/

[size=large]Leaving the baby goats behind, we continued our North West. Within a few short minutes of driving a brown sign was inviting us to stop in at Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. Here we were able to drop the trailer at the visitor’s center, drive the truck up to the top of the mountain, and peer back down for our last look at Tennessee. It being a dog friendly park we all got out onto the trail out to the overlook before settling into the truck for the drive to our week’s destination. The gap – just a notch in the small mountain range which was easier to travel through on foot then the higher peaks – was the border of the three (!!!) states of Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky. The highway passing through was in Tennessee, the parking lot for the hike was in Kentucky, and the overlook that we hiked out too was in Virginia. I’ve never been to Virginia…



While hitching back up in the visitor’s center parking lot, parked in one of the only dozen or so places a trailer or bus can park, a small passenger car pulls up next to us and parks in a RV parking space, even though it is further from the visitor’s center, and there are literally dozens of car-spaces available. I snapped… and walked up to the car, tapped on the window and calmly exclaimed, “It only takes a few more passenger cars to park in the RV spaces like you did to prevent any RV or bus from parking here. There are many other places for you to park, yet we have only these very few spots. Can you please think of others and park in a normal space?” I figured that was about as polite as I was going to get. They did move. I firmly believe that the NPS Rangers should be issuing tickets to these people. I will no longer sit quietly while they do this extremely selfish act. I plan to confront everyone person I see doing it.

We arrived in Elizabethtown, KY expecting to stay two full weeks since we had all of Bourbon Country and Mammoth Cave National Park to explore. Elizabethtown was roughly in the middle of all of that adventuring, or so we thought, which is why it was our destination. Although Elizabethtown was nothing more than a launching point to these other places, it did turn out to serve us well, with regular visits to the gym down the street, oil change on the truck, and a coffee shop or two for some extreme downloading of movies and TV shows.[/size]
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We passed yet another surprise National Park on the way into town so I set out to conquer it, by myself, on the very next day. Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace is a tiny park with a big job. Since the early 1900’s a small log cabin has been protected within the four walls of a building – the first memorial to Lincoln. The cabin was moved to this location from elsewhere in Kentucky and for over 100 years this cabin was pitched as Lincoln’s birth-cabin. Yet, in 2004, after dating the wood the NPS found that the wood used to build the cabin was from the 1860’s! Now the placards around the cabin simply state it is a cabin “like” Lincoln’s cabin. And that is about as dramatic as this park got. I even had to enter the memorial building using the back entrance as the iconic front entrance was being repaired.


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[Ballenxj]

What a TREAT to observe those three states from the Cumberland Gap! It's good you informed those people parking in the RV space. They probably hadn't given it much thought till you informed them. Maybe they will remember that next time too?
Abe Lincolns log cabin? Sounds like some "ahem" entrepreneurs that caught by modern technology? 
You guys are having so much fun! I must admit, I'm a bit envious.

 

[masterplumber]

Along with parking in RV spots, my pet peeve is when there is only one combo diesel/gasoline pump and several empty gasoline only pumps and a small car pulls to the diesel pump in front of me. But the time I finally got fed up enough to say something the nice young lady in a Jetta explained that her car was a diesel - oops.
Great pictures as always, and Moose looks happy.

 

[Ballenxj]

But the time I finally got fed up enough to say something the nice young lady in a Jetta explained that her car was a diesel - oops.

That was almost a GOTCHA!
  Speaking of pet peeves, does anybody anymore know they are supposed to park "between" lines, as opposed to on them, next to them, or across them?

 

[ArtW]

It'd help if the lines were spaced for cars, instead of go carts
also slant parking is helpful with this

 

[Ballenxj]

It'd help if the lines were spaced for cars, instead of go carts
also slant parking is helpful with this

It seems that as the average size of car has shrunk, so have the size of allotted parking spaces. When I did car shows, we skipped every other space.
We that have full size vans or trucks are better off parking further out. Besides, I need the exercise.  
Still, I wish people would learn how to park.

 

[rvpopeye]

Nice pics!
I made it to Acadia yesterday , drove up the mountain for the view . It didn't seem all that high but was thrown off by the altitude of the road entrance. There was a cruise ship in the harbor and it looked like a small lobster boat , with 9 decks...skuh kuh kuh kuh kuh

Oh yeah , picked up my geezer pass !
And a pin. My first , I've always gone for the patch before.

 

[Van-Tramp]

Leaving Kentucky
http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/leaving-kentucky/

[size=large]Yep, our visit to Kentucky was that quick. Actually a week long, but other than a work week we had only two days in the state that we did any sight seeing. We originally planned to stay two weeks, but instead decided to move at a faster route to cram in a few other adventures later in our year.

Before leaving the state, and after our work week in Elizabethtown, Kerri and I spent one afternoon dropping in to a few of the Louisville distilleries to get a flavor of the local bourbon – Kerri’s favorite (not mine). I kept it sober to do the driving so Kerri could sample as much as she wanted.

The following morning, on our final day in town, we drove an hour south to Mammoth Cave National Park. This is another park that I have looked forward to visiting for many years. But, the romantic view of exploring this huge cave network all on my own has sense been crushed with reality. The idea of being in one of the ranger-led tours of a hundred tourists, their whining and snot-drooling children, moving at the pace of the slowest elderly person in line… well that is just not my sort of thing. Does this look fun?



We have been in our fair share of caves already, so instead Kerri and I decided to sample some of the trail up top, which was nearly vacant of tourists and was quite pretty. The dogs even got to come on our hike to the River Styx as the park is very dog friendly as well. It felt good to get up and move around after the hour long drive to get to the park. I wish I had known how nice the woods are in the park as there is some great back country camping that could have been had. Next time…



We returned back to camp, packed and hitched up, and left well before sunset (and a day early) to get some of the miles done so our next day’s drive would not be as long. We drove into Indiana, past Indianapolis, and to a Cracker Barrel for a meal and an overnight stay before moving on and into Michigan the following morning.
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[rvpopeye]

I passed on Carlsbad because of the mental image of a pay for tour but that pic looked really.....awful !
IMO
You chose wisely !
Nice hike pics too. Any day with the poochies is better than a day without them.

 

[Van-Tramp]

I passed on Carlsbad because of the mental image of a pay for tour but that pic looked really.....awful !

Carlsbad is the one cave/cavern that you can free-roam the cave (on trail of course). While it does cost money to go down, it is worth it. The only other one I recommend doing is Lehman caves in Great Basin Ntnl Park. Do it first as a candlelight tour, then do it the following day with a normal tour... amazing stuff.

 

[rvpopeye]

Guess I might have blown my only chance on that cave,,,I'll have to put it (both) back on my list. Good chance though , that area is in my/the main travel corridor for winter travels !

 

[Van-Tramp]

Putting on the Michigan mitten
http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/putting-on-the-michigan-mitten/

[size=large]Heading to the Great Lakes has been a feature of this year’s planned route since the beginning. Our reasoning has been partly to bypass the mid-west, partly to get some of that ocean-feeling, even without an ocean nearby. It has been working flawlessly, and we have both been enjoying the much nice climate all the way up here. There has been a bit more rain recently which is a plus, and the temperatures have cooled enough that we even felt the need to run our furnace a few times already.[/size]
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We entered into Michigan from the South, only getting an hour or so up the cuff of the mitten before finding our spot for the week. Van Buren State Park just outside of South Haven, Michigan is where we called home. Nothing really special about either place compared to others, but it was nice to feel ‘away from it all’ again. Although, Kerri and I did get into the town itself for an afternoon, exploring their local marina, lighthouse, and ice cream shop. The dogs got their first (and second) chance at a beach in some time as well.[/size]
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The work weeks slipped by quickly and next thing we knew we were packed up and on our way North. We have a lot of miles and places to cram in before our arrival at Voyagers National Park so we are maximizing the travel days to their fullest.

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[jimindenver]

Welcome to my home state! Spring time in the mitten is wonderful and only bested by the fall. I should be back there in just over a month to take care of some family business and I hope to run the coastline shooting light houses.

 

[Van-Tramp]

Welcome to my home state! Spring time in the mitten is wonderful and only bested by the fall. I should be back there in just over a month to take care of some family business and I hope to run the coastline shooting light houses.

Yep, I've been completely blown away with how beautiful it is up here. So many places I wish I had time to stay and explore. So many islands to be backpacked too

 

[Van-Tramp]

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/sleeping-bear-dunes-national-lakeshore/

[size=large]Thanks to Nina & Paul for turning us on to this great place. I had completely overlooked it in our route planning even though it is a National Lakeshore (part of the NPS). Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore would actually become my 100th National Park visited since I started this lifestyle back in 2010.[/size]
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As it turns out, it is a much larger park then I thought.  We stayed at the Platte River campground in the Southern area of the park land. From our site we had only a few feet of walking to access the that would lead us to the lakeshore itself. As we are finding out, Michigan is quite dog-friendly. Even in these ‘National parks’ the dogs have been allowed to hike many of the trails and go to some of the beaches as well. You can imagine just how happy those two were about a second week with beach access.

Kerri and took our single day-off to explore the surrounding area by car.  After admitting my laziness that day, the Ranger suggested the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive; a 12 miles, 1 hour long, drive into the forest holding the dunes back from the mainland and eventually onto the dunes 200+ feet above Lake Michigan. Of course, the wind was brutal up top but we hiked out to the overlook anyway. What actually is a “lake” appears much more like an “ocean” then I could have imagined. Huge is not a big enough word to describe the size of the great lakes. They account for more than 20% of the entire planet’s fresh water.[/size]
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Of course, the rest of the week was work and chores. Even some foul weather appeared to keep us indoors most of the time, which the dogs did not appreciate. The campground began to fill as the weekend (Memorial Day weekend) approached. By Friday evening, we decided to pack up and get a few hours driving in to avoid a six hour drive on Saturday. As we were leaving, I wondered just how many people caught on to the fact; Full-timers are easy to spot… they are the ones who leave a campground before the holiday weekend.[/size]
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In the end, after the week’s stay, we both began to feel a bit of regret of not allowing more time to explore Michigan. Although these were not our final days in the state, we had only a few more and they were booked solid with another National Lakeshore and a whole lot of driving. If we ever return, there are so many amazing islands that can be explored with a backpack and a short ferry ride. Here in this very park is one that called out to us every time we glanced at the map; complete with backcountry camping, a light house, and a ship wreck. How I would have loved to have had another week here, just for that island alone.

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[Van-Tramp]

Painted Rocks National Seashore
http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/painted-rocks-national-seashore/

[size=large]We arrived at the northern precipice of our 2017 travel route with ambitions to kayak along the shoreline during our two-day stay at Pictured Rocks National Seashore. It was not until the drive up from Sleeping Bear Dunes that we read of the kayak restrictions; 15 feet or longer and sea-kayaks with skirts only. They were quite adamant about it, and only my kayak met that standard (although I have no skirt). We considered renting a sea-kayak for Kerri, but the cost was excessive now that we were “in season” and in a national park. Eventually, we had to except that kayaking at Painted Rocks just wasn’t going to happen, so we came up with another plan.[/size]
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Stage one was to simply go auto-tour the seashore and hike a few short trails our to to see some of the local waterfalls and such. The rangers in the visitor’s center were extremely helpful in advice on which places to go see and in what order.[/size]
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continued in next post...

 

[Van-Tramp]

...continued from previous post

We only had a few short hours to tackle the land-based visit, as Kerri thought of a brilliant replacement for the kayaking that we could not do… Stage 2 was a sunset boat tour of the shoreline. The two and a half hour tour brought us up close to many of the major sights along the rocky shoreline. Even with kayaks some of these would have been outside our ability thanks to the distance, so in the end we were able to see more this way. This also meant we did not spend all the next day paddling so we had options for that day as well.


As before, I left feeling a bit of regret that we did not schedule more time to explore these places in Michigan. As with Sleeping Bear Dunes, Pictured Rocks would have been an ideal place to have set out for a multi-day backpacking trip. The trail that follows the shoreline looks beautiful, and the places to camp along the way – visible from the boat tour – looked amazing. Unfortunately, we had already reserved out campsites for a few weeks further up the road, which fixed us firmly in our timeline. And that is why I hate reservations. I’m just not accustomed to having to live up to actual deadlines anymore, such is the way of full-time nomadic living.

In the end, and because of Kerri’s quick thinking about the boat tour, we were able to high-tail it out of Painted Rocks after only a single night’s stay (as opposed to two) which allowed us to make it a more reasonable drive to Duluth, MN for the work week. Originally planned to make a 6+ drive all on Monday, we were instead able to break it up into two couple-hour days and we found a great, free, overnight spot along the way.



Next for us; Minnesota… aye!

 

[Ballenxj]

Painted Rocks National Seashore
http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/painted-rocks-national-seashore/

[size=large]We arrived at the northern precipice of our 2017 travel route with ambitions to kayak along the shoreline during our two-day stay at Pictured Rocks National Seashore. It was not until the drive up from Sleeping Bear Dunes that we read of the kayak restrictions; 15 feet or longer and sea-kayaks with skirts only. [/size]

Are you saying the minimum length for a kayak there was 15 ft? And have to have spray skirts? Things to consider when buying one I guess.
 Anyway, lovely photos of a neat place to visit.

 

[Van-Tramp]

Yes, actually 15 ft minimum and skirts required. My "sea kayak" barely fits that length. Kerri's "lake kayak" is 12 ft and has no skirt for it's larger opening. If either of us took water on (waves can be big) then we were be in serious trouble. Much of the Great Lakes kayaking requires that as it is basically like an ocean. Along the Painted Rocks shoreline there would be no place to swim to safety if you went in the water or lost the kayak. We have kayaked on the actual Pacific along rocky shoreline before, but now realize just how unsafe that was ... and how luck we were to have not had an emergency out there.