Just a snap shot of the campgrounds (in red) and the many different locations (in green) where e’ve visited. Click on the picture to go to our live map.

We are finally getting into rhythm with Kentucky! We had a rocky start when we first arrived in the Land Between the Lakes in late May.  Click here if you missed that post. We hoped our difficulty was not a sign of things to come while in Kentucky. Well, guess what? It was! We’ve had to turn around, unhook, go back, and make more u-turns in Kentucky than ever! But we are on roads less traveled and it has all been worth it!

Our trip to London, Kentucky from the Mammoth Cave area was just over 100 miles. We are actually enjoying the short trips between stops, and we have decided to stay longer at each location. Seven days per location has become comfortable, and we stayed eight days in the Mammoth Cave area.

Our plans here were pretty simple: hike as much as possible; visit the sweet town of Corbin where were would see the Cumberland Falls, the southern Niagara Falls; also visit the original Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant and museum; and, visit a salvage yard to get a part we needed after our blow out.  All accomplished!

We stayed in a basic campground, Westgate RV Campground, with full hook ups.  It is a family owned business, located right off of I-75 and Kentucky Highway 25. It was located in a bit busy location so it was a bit tricky figuring out how to pull into the campground.  We pulled in behind the Mini Food Mart and then I ran into the hotel office to ask if that was OK and to check in. We looked at it on Google Earth and knew it was doable.  We were welcomed with a warm greeting, which is always nice. We got to pick our site – I thought 143 as she said it was right next to the wifi booster – free wifi!

Map of the campground. 14 sites, but three are out of order, marked by the X.

Bill choose the biggest site and in the corner but the wifi was still strong. Now since it is so convenient to a highway, you will hear some road noise, but surprisingly it was not bothersome!

We’re in the corner on Site 145. The building is both a maintenance shed and bath house.

Bill is pointing to where London, Kentucky is located on the map.

After we set up, we ran over to the Laurel County Tourism center, which was so close to us, we could have walked to it. But we had another location to visit as soon as we were done.

Because we didn’t get to hike as much as we wanted while staying near Mammoth Cave, we decided to focus on where the best places were to hike! We were each helped by one of the Representatives. Bill focused on the big picture – wanting to learn the best way to go to our next location. Bill also collected brochures about Corbin to make our time there productive. I focused on the hiking an was given a number of maps that showed how to get to the trail heads. Sadly, we missed the opportunity to gather information about “Camp Wildcat,” the Civil War battle located about nine miles north of us. Here is a little about this battle on October 21, 1861, from this website where you can learn more if you are so inclined.

After collecting information from the Tourism Center, we drove a circuitous route to Visone Automart, an RV, marine and more Salvage Yard. Our GPS didn’t like the address.  Anyway, after our blow out, we had to search high and low for a replacement MCD Glide Trac for our wheel covers.  They are no longer manufactured.  The company holds the patent on it, so no one can make them.  We heard on a forum about this location after they had the same problem.  He found his replacement here, so this was one place we had to visit while in Kentucky. It was only about 15 minutes away from our campground. And then we learned they actually will let you park your RV there over night while you “shop” in their warehouse. But we only bought the salvaged MCD Glide Trac. It was scary looking around the salvage yard:

Scary seeing the damaged by fires and wrecks, motor homes.

This wheel was the one that blew out and not only did a lot of body damage, but it blew off the Glide Trac to hold the wheel cover. Bill installed it. I guess I should have taken photos of his handiwork. 😁

Next up: Day 2 where we’ll visit Corbin, see the Cumberland Falls, and hike. On our next three days, we’ll continue hiking on the Sheltowe Trace Trail. We hiked on this fabulous trail for 18 miles over three days….then on Sunday, church and rest!

 My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14