Day trip to Kentucky
I ran up to Pikeville, KY today to check out a Rockwood A Frame camper in person. I had already researched the living daylights out of it online but wanted to sit in one for real.
On the way there I headed up through Cumberland Gap National Park and went through Virginia for a good part of the way following the edge of the Cumberland Mountains which were capped with frost and snow.
From Cumberland Gap until I rounded back to I-75 I don’t know if there was a half mile stretch of straight road the entire way — 150 miles one way. I had to constantly be attentive to the constantly turning road that went up and down in elevation.
Rockwood Hard Side Campers
Pikeville RV had a Rockwood A128S, but they had not done anything to educate themselves on the product they were selling and it was clear I had learned a whole heck of lot more with my online research than they had bothered to figure out. Needless to say, they weren’t able to answer any of my questions, but at least I had the opportunity to check a Rockwood in detail and sit in one trying to determine if the dogs and I could happily co-exist for a week or two without me starting to feel homicidal. Or would that be caninicidal?
Of course, after the three of us camping in my 2 person tent several times with it being wall to wall sleeping bag and dogs, this tiny camper seemed like the Tag Mahal in comparison.
I have pretty much decided to switch from motorcycle travel (which requires serious dog sitting) to a mode of travel that includes the dogs. Rather than drive myself crazy trying to find cost effective dog care I figure the dogs are now 10 and 8 years old and not going to be here forever. Why not travel to fun places all three of us will enjoy.
Interesting things along the way
Even in the winter with all the leaves off the trees it was a beautiful sight all the way with the huge exception of a couple 
areas of surface coal mining where they had stripped the treed top from the mountain and left nothing but huge piles of rubble. It left me with a clear understanding of why people are opposed to surface mining for coal, but I was deep into coal country and their livelihoods are solely tied to the rise and fall of coal mining.
On the way into Pikeville I started seeing elk crossing signs, but the signs were different from what I had seen out west. Elk crossings in Kentucky?
When I got home I checked on the internet and Kentucky had actually chosen reindeer crossing signs. Cracked me up. A little further checking told me they started repopulating elk in 1997 and are now thrilled to death the herd has grown to over 5000.
[A side note: Elk Valley, where my dad grew up, has also started to repopulate elk into the valley.]
I went over a snow covered (and ice warnings on the road) pass with an scenic overlook. It was a true ramp up to a spectacular overlook on a frosty morning.
I wanted to take different routes up and back so on the return trip I headed west to take I-75 south and home. After getting lost, even with a GPS (it kept insisting I go back the same route I had taken up), it ended up taking me about and hour longer to get home. Pretty scenery though. You can see the inadvertent scenic loop on my GPS tracks.
When I passed Jellico (one of the places my dad often mentioned being) I looked off to the right and saw the terrain dropped off to a deep, beautiful valley — Elk Valley. Where daddy grew up. Even if you don’t get off the interstate and drive 297 through Elk Valley, the view from I-75 gives you a deep appreciation of the beauty of the area he lived in. Well, a deep appreciation for a passenger. The driver only gets fleeting glimpses. The views are still stunning and well worth a look. Especially to put my dad’s childhood in context.
Pictures
