Spring Break 2022 - Part 1

In the past, we have not taken very many "Spring Break" vacations as a family.  The kids were small (lots of things to pack, naps to work around) and my teaching Spring Break never lines up with the kids' school Spring Break.  Last year, we attempted to make some plans but the weather was questionable and a lot of places were closed or had limited occupancy due to COVID.  

This year, because I was still teaching online courses, I had more flexibility to travel and the kids are all old enough to enjoy traveling (and walking!) more.  Steve suggested a trip to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky and we started making plans this last Winter.  

We headed out on Sunday morning for our 7-hour drive knowing that we would be stopping partway for lunch.  We packed games and movies for the ride and the kids did very well!  Really, the ride down there didn't seem to take too long and we checked into our hotel room right on time.

It was amazing to see how much greener the grass was already down there, compared to up in Michigan.  We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the town and showing the kids the damage that a tornado had done back in December.  

We also stopped by the Aviation Heritage Park to see real flight vehicles on display:

The sun was bright, but we weren't complaining one bit because it was actually snowing when we left Michigan ...

The next day was our official day to explore Mammoth Caves.  I bought the tickets ahead of time online and I am sure glad that I did!  Most of the tours were sold out and it would have been disappointing to find that out once we arrived.  

The entrance sign made a great photo opportunity for us before we spent time walking down trails in the National Park:

Part of the trails had hand railings and ramps because it was pretty steep:

Spring vegetation, just starting to come to life:

Kind of a precarious situation, but check out that view!

That is a sink hole in the background, where the earth opened up and sunk many, many years ago.

We walked down the stairs in the background and the walk BACK UP was intense.  

Such a fun picture!

Take note of Samantha's Michigan State sweatshirt, as it will be important soon.

I would love to go back in the summer and see how green the foliage is in the background.

A couple in their travel trailer pulled in right where we were taking pictures and got out to walk around.  The man was wearing an MSU hat and immediately noticed that Sam was wearing an MSU sweatshirt.  We struck up a conversation with them (they are from East Lansing, but were traveling for the summer) and they offered to take a family picture for us.