Kentucky - Land Between the Lakes

As I mentioned in last week's post, I am at a different Army Corps of Engineer campground this week in the area called "land between the lakes". This was formed when the TVA dammed two rivers, the Tennessee and the Cumberland thus forming Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake. It is a beautiful campground and the fall colors have been on full display this week. I regret not having the dash cam as I would love to share the drive through the winding roads full of color. My camp site is on Lake Barkley/Cumberland River. 

View from campground in the morning

My first place to look for Big Foot this week was at the laundromat in Cadiz. It was also a car wash so I was able to blast off the layer of dirt and dead bugs that had formed since my last wash in South Dakota. Unsurprisingly there was no sign of Big Foot at the laundromat/car wash but at least my laundry was done. I then hit up the Burger Barn in Cadiz for lunch and a couple of cold refreshments in the form of a local ale. I searched for Big Foot extensively or at least until the rain let up but to no avail.

Behind the bar at the Burger Barn. No clue why I chose to take this picture but there you go.

I was able to check out a couple of breweries this week to look for my elusive prey. I had some initial indications that my first stop had potential. The Dam Brewhaus in Benton is in a old house that they had to completely gut to make it into something that was habitable. Based upon the pictures they shared, they had a lot of vision as my first reaction at seeing the before picture was that what it really needed was a gallon of gas and a match. Nevertheless they did have vision and opened for business not long after the county went "wet". As such they are still the only microbrewery in the entire county. It made me think of how lucky I was in Burlington which had two breweries - The Runaway and the other one. I had a nice salad with pulled chicken that was quite tasty. The beer was average by and large but the stout I had filled in my growler was excellent. Despite some nice conversations and hope, there was no sign of Big Foot so I made my way back to the campground.

Dam Brewhaus  - a mix of their own beers and guest taps

Based upon advice from the Dam Brewhaus, I checked out Paducah. This was my first visit to this western Kentucky city and I was actually pleasantly surprised. I shopped at the Midtown Market which was a high end grocer in the middle of the city that I stumbled upon. I then headed over to Dry Ground Brewing Company for their version of Oktoberfest. They brought in food trucks and I tried a pulled pork sandwich. It was not a traditional German serving, but I was not particularly convinced they could actual do a good job with the sausages. The sandwich was excellent so I made a good choice. The music was certainly far from German so it really more resembled a street party which worked too. The beer was very good at the brewery but there again no sign of Big Foot. Paducah had a number of breweries but I was short of time and had an hour drive back to the campground so I called it a day.

Dry Ground Oktoberfest

After this strenuous schedule, I rested around the campground as it was quite lovely. The sunsets were beautiful and waking up for another week with a view of a new lake was pleasant. I have found that I love Sunday afternoons the most. When I was in the work world, that was when the anxiety for the week started building up in anticipation of dealing with some inane issue. Now it is a time of great peace as the campgrounds clear out from the weekenders and there ends up being only a handful of people around and they are generally very quiet. I am including a couple of extraneous pictures to share how beautiful it was here.

Sunset

View from a campsite

I did go to the national recreation area for a nice hike. I left the dogs behind as I wanted to go for a longer five mile walk and didn't want to have to carry a certain dog for 4 miles. The recreation area was a bit of a drive as I had to get to where there is a bridge to cross the lake/river. The hike itself was relaxing and the forests were very thick and offered a lot of shade. There were not many people on the trail so I had the feeling of being all alone in the world and it was quite peaceful. 

Panoramic view of the forest

Constant lake views along the trail

We experienced a cold snap this week and I emptied one of my two 30 pound propane tanks (it has been over a month). It was as cold as Green Bay was three weeks ago so I know my time in the north is growing shorter. I have thought of adding a map of my location for these posts so people have a sense of where these occurred. I have set the location for most of the posts but I am not sure if that is viewable by people. If you want a dot on a map, please let me know. I have been tracking my trips (cost of sites, distances, states, etc) and will share that in the future. I have now been a vagabond for almost five months. I have had many great experiences so far along with some heartbreak (Heidi passing away) and I anticipate more of the same as whether one is a vagabond, a wage earner, a student, or just plain retired, life happens. Just have to keep a positive mental attitude and you can survive.

I am moving closer to Louisville next and I'll be closer to our friends, A&J. I have a list of chores that I need to take care of but I will not relent in my search for Big Foot or other cryptozoological creatures.

Thor

Braxwood.com

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