Park City, Kentucky Day 4 (GA486)

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.

Because we have 5,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 23rd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

---

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails RV Resort in Seaside, Oregon. I’m scheduled to depart October 22nd.

 

 

 

Since my RVing life is changing (see above), I’m starting to re-visit previously visited places. So rather than constantly re-blogging past entries, I’ve decided to do something different.

  In 2011-2013, Mary and I did a 682 day, 12,679 miles in the motorhome and 8,000 miles in the Bronco, circumnavigation of the United States, which I called The Great Adventure. I called it so because other than my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in June in Connecticut, I didn’t know where we would be going or when we would be there!

So, unless I do something really different and unusual warranting a new blog entry, I’ll be posting entries from that trip.

This entry was posted May 10, 2013…

The motorhome is still parked at the Thousand Trails Diamond Caverns RV Resort at Park City, Kentucky. We expect to leave here later this morning.

 

 

The day before yesterday I drove the Bronco the about seven miles to the visitors center at Mammouth Cave National Park. At 400 miles, it is the longest known cave system in the world. What makes it more amazing is that it is all contained in about a seven mile diameter area and only goes down a maximum of 400 feet into the earth.

 

 

Because of Mary’s ongoing physical pains and problems we only took the “old folks” tour…1/4 mile in and out. We were in the cave for about 45 minutes. At the end there are 49 steps that go down to the bottom. Mary did not attempt those steps for which I am glad. I managed them okay.

 

 

Yesterday I showed you the photos from the visitors center. Today you get to see the actual cave photos…but first a word about the photos. I really dislike flash photography and hence keep the flash feature of my camera shut off. No flash photography for me! Park rules do not allow tripods on tours…so all the photos were taken in a hand-held mode.

 

 

The cave was very dark and lit by variously colored spotlights. So the color in any particular photo was directly controlled by the color frequency of the illuminating light. Because of the color of the lights, formations of the rocks and shadows, some of the photos approach an abstract perspective. I hope you enjoy them!

 

 

Here are some of the photos that I took…

 

 

 

 

 

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To read about Mammouth Cave National Park, click this link…
http://www.nps.gov/maca/index.htm

 

 

You can also get more information from this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_Cave_National_Park

 

 

Enjoying beautiful national parks is another joy of the full-timing lifestyle!

 

 

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Kentucky. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

 

 

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

 

 

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

 

 

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

 

 

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! MARY WROTE A MANY GREAT BLOGS…SO WHENEVER SHE PUBLISHED A BLOG POSTING THE SAME DAY THAT I DID…YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ HER BLOG BY CLICKING THE BELOW LINK! DO IT NOW!

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/mammouth-cave-kentucky-photos/

 

 

 

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

Forecast for today is sunny and 74 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Oregon. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

 

 

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

 

 

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

 

 

There are more than 700 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273?source=pwa

 

 

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

 

 

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

 

 

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2018

Mammouth Cave National Park – Kentucky

The motorhome is currently parked at Mary’s home in Murphys, California. My current departure date is scheduled for December 1st.

During this time I’ll be attending to my cataract surgery, cleaning, routine maintenance and minor repairs to the motorhome and Bronco in addition to assisting Mary with her activities. None of these items are particularly exciting to write about…so…instead I’ll be showing Picasa Web Albums from our 682 day, 2011-2013 circumnavigation of the United States. It was Mary’s second circumnavigation and the sixth for myself.

Unless we do something unusual, this Blog will feature a photo album from the circumnavigation and will change daily. So come back tomorrow.

To read about today’s photo album location, click this link…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_Cave_National_Park

CLICK ON THE BELOW PHOTO. ONCE YOU ARRIVE AT THE PHOTO ALBUM, SIMPLY CLICK “SLIDESHOW” AND ENJOY!

Mammouth Cave National Park, Kentucky

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

The cataract surgery of my right eye was conducted on October 9th. It appears to have been successful and my last exam on October 24th had it at 20/25, down from 20/200 prior to the surgery. Surgery on my left eye is now scheduled for November 6th.

Yesterday was a partly sunny day and 77 degrees. Forecast for today is cloudy with afternoon showers and 65 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2014

Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado – Day 3

Yesterday was our second full day of exploration in this huge national park. We drove our Ford Bronco II the about 50 miles round-trip and explored the eastern-most of the two “legs” into the park…Chapin Mesa. First stop was at the museum and then to Cliff Palace…at 150 rooms…the largest cliff dwelling in the park.

Here’s the official government website link…

http://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm

and a Wikipedia informational link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesa_Verde_National_Park

Under terrible photography conditions…brilliant sunshine and dark shadows…we ventured forth.

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Here are some photos that I took…

To see the other 79 photos that I took, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/MesaVerdeNationalParkChapinMesaColorado

During our outing yesterday, I started feeling a little weary. I believe it was from over-doing things the day before. It’s hard for me to remember the terrible accident occurred just 15 days ago and that it will take a little while yet before I’m completely healed. Pains in my chest and a shortness of breath (accident related) limited our outing yesterday. I really should not be out climbing up and down mountainsides,,,especially at 7,000+ feet elevation…quite yet.

It’s  been 15 days since the accident during which I took a severe hit to my right rib cage. The rib cage is still quite swollen, tender and sore. With absolutely no warning I’m still subject to a stabbing-like pain. Not as bad as the first few days which felt like a sharp knife. Now it feels like a dull knife! Any burp, sneeze, cough, turning or bending over motion can bring it on. I’m still wrapping my chest daily with the elastic bandage which I remove 2-3 times a day to ice the swollen area for 20 minutes. I remove the elastic bandage for sleeping. Still taking my pain medication, but at a reduced dosage. I’m trying to stretch out my dwindling supply hoping not to run out of medication before I run out of pain.  Moving slowly seems to be the best way to minimize the pain attacks.

Today we’ll move on to Durango, Colorado.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado – Day 2

Yesterday was our first full day of exploration in this huge national park. We drove our Ford Bronco II the 50 miles round-trip and explored the western-most of the two “legs” into the park…Wetherill Mesa. The roads were so steep and winding, I drove the entire trip in second gear.

To help illustrate how large this park is, I’m providing first, a Google Earth Image…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

The “X” marks our campsite…

And then a map…

Here’s the official government website link…
http://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm

and a Wikipedia informational link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesa_Verde_National_Park

Under terrible photography conditions…brilliant sunshine and dark shadows…we ventured forth.

Here are some photos that I took…

To see the other 75 photos that I took, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/MesaVerdeNationalParkWetherillMesa

I’m happy to report that despite the somewhat strenuous activities of the day, I made it through without any major pain attacks. Today is 14 days since the terrible accident. I remain still wrapping my chest with the elastic bandage and still taking my pain medications. Today we expect to have a day similar to yesterday.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

New Bedford, Massachusetts – Whaling National Historical Park

Jim says:

On Thursday, we drove about 30 miles to arrive in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. We parked in the back yard of my cousin Bob and Donna’s.

Parked in my cousin’s back yard.

On Friday we went to the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park about 10 miles distant. During the 1800’s it was the whaling capital of the world. Also famous for being the home-port of Captain Ahab who sought the great white whale…Moby Dick. They have a great whaling museum which is part of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. We spent about three hours wandering through this National Historical Park.

Here’s some photos…

During the 1800’s, New Bedford was known as The City That Lit The World.

Many Quakers lived in New Bedford during the 1800’s.

The whaling ships amongst their prey.

Taking care of business.

Seamen’s Bethel (House of God)

A tablet dedicated to lost seamen.

To see the other 49 photos I took, click this link…
http://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver/NewBedfordMA060410_1#

Here’s the official government website link for the park…
http://www.nps.gov/nebe

Here’s a Wikipedia informational link about New Bedford…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Bedford,_Massachusetts

After our park visit, we crossed the river to the City of Fairhaven where I lived when I was 4-10 years old. In Fairhaven, Gene’s Famous Seafoods serves the best Fish and Chips meal in the entire world! Ymmmm!!!! Gene’s has been there since 1964 and I always stop and enjoy a great meal every time I come to this area.

Mary tastes the New England Clam Chowder before attacking our seafood platter which contains scallops, shrimp, clams, fish and french fries.

After our meal I showed Mary the area of Fairhaven where I lived as a young boy. My grand-father and father built our home at 29 Sconticut Neck road.

My home when I was 5-10 years old.

Fairhaven has its own famous history. Here’s a Wikipedia informational link about Fairhaven…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairhaven,_Massachusetts

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com