After an 11 day visit with family in Illinois and Missouri, we hit the road. When Bill began researching the routes to and from Illinois, he discovered that Kentucky has 37 state parks! That intrigued him, so he wants to visit as many as we can in a six-week period. We are going to travel west to east through Kentucky on our way back to Virginia. We did stop in Land between the Lakes, a national recreation park on our way to Illinois.
Kentucky State Parks Regional Map from Kentucky Official Visitor Guide – 2016 Digital Edition
We started with a five-day stay in the “Western Waterlands,” in what we think is one of the most beautiful state parks we’ve visited so far, Columbus-Belmont State Park. Just remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but for us at this time, this is the park we needed.
WARNING, this short post will have lots of pictures…
The trip here was as I tweeted and posted on FaceBook, a bit harrowing! We are so glad Bill can control the steering wheel so much better after the repairs a few weeks ago at the Tiffin Service Center. Otherwise, he would not have been able to keep us on the road a number of times. Especially that narrow bridge that started with and ended with sharp turns/curves….but we’ve decided it was worth is. So sit back and enjoy a few pics as I explain what it took to get here….
We started out from Mt. Vernon, Illinois on I-57. We thought it would be a breeze…until we hit 12 miles of road construction.
It only gets nerve wrecking when other big rigs come at us like this….
Aw, what a sweet town, Cairo, Illinois. No surprises here, just patriotism and lots of churches!
Uh oh, what’s this sharp turn???? Is this where “the bridge” is?
Bill KNEW there would be a bridge, but not after that sharp turn and this narrow. I didn’t take any pics as we drove on the bridge….Bill needed no distractions….he was silent and concentrating!
Bill’s biggest challenge, now a curve while big rigs coming at him as we ease off the bridge! He’s holding his breathe and I’m praying…..
We made it to Kentucky!
How much further? This was just a 125 mile trip. We only have about 30 miles left, thankfully. But little did we know, it only gets worse….
Ok, so the road is a bit narrow, we like the yellow double line and white lines. And interesting tractors on display. We are in rural farmland Kentucky!
I feel like I’m in the front seat on a roller coaster! This was a climb up to and over the railroad tracks…We’re entering Bardwell, Kentucky.
Oh no, the white line disappeared. Not much room on the right side for error.
Thankfully, there were signs every five miles, letting us know we are on the right road! Only 10 miles left…
Decided to check the weather. Oh no, hope we get there before the thunderstorms….
Yay, we are almost there! So grateful for the signs….
Wow, this is Columbus?! Note the road….rural Kentucky!
Looks like a storm downed a few trees. What you can’t see is a pick up truck blocking our way. I didn’t want to take a picture of it since the owners were mulling around it. It took a while, but they finally moved it off the road.
Seriously? We’re so close, but is this still a road to the park?
Finally, we made it! Turn to the left to enter the campground.
It wasn’t clear, but this is the entrance.
We just pulled into what we later learned was the “overflow” camping sites. Bill is going to unhook the car while I see where we check in. As it turned out, no real check in needed since we had reservations.
Part of our welcome committee. He greeted me and then confirmed this was our site. He’s mowing before we park.
The view from the campground. It’s a few sites down from us.
Our full hook up site for two days, #33
Oh my, it arrived soon after we were all set up! We had hail and a torrential downpour.
This was a faith journey! We made it, we’re exhausted from the stress of unknown and challenging roads. But it didn’t take us long to fall in love with this beautiful park. It was well worth the drive. But we have to figure out how to leave, on different roads, hopefully!
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7
Follow the Tumble Lees! 
Glad you made it:) I can’t stand driving through construction. Sometimes I have to so in the back so I can’t watch. Jersey walls are my biggest scare. I don’t mind the narrow country roads as much because there usually isn’t any traffic. But those were some very narrow roads. Looks like a beautiful site:) Enjoy!
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Thank you! We’ve been trying to leave there on better roads. Someone knowledgeable of the area gave us a route out, so we took the car that way. Seemed great. But today as we were well on the way, our truck GPS said “Warning! 15 ton weight limit!” We’re on one of those narrow roads….had to un hook and back into a field to turn around. And had to do it another time after not following a recommended turn….ill have to do a PS to this post!
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