We were surrounded by all these beautiful pine trees.
It was hot the 5 days we were there, in the 90's sunny and humid. Which I hear was pretty much what you had in Indiana too. We were determined to get out and enjoy what this area had to offer. We hiked and rode our bikes. First day we decided to get to a place where we could see Kentucky Lake. So off we went, bottled water in hand. The trails were supposed to be well marked and mowed, not so, most were waist high in grass. That wasn't the worst part, we had to watch for ticks. Needless to say, every time something brushed our legs we did the dance and checked for ticks.
Here is a picture of one of the very large house boats that you see on the lake.
It was so hazy that day it was hard to get a good picture of the lake itself. It was beautiful though. We also came across a very old cemetery.
These two headstones were on the top of one of the ridges. There are over a dozen family cemeteries in the recreation area. That's because this land was originally occupied by several small communities before the government took control and built canals and the damn.
After this hike we headed back to our trailer and decided we needed to cool off with a swim in the lake.
This is the campground beach area.
The next day we took a 5 mile bike ride on a paved path that followed "The Trace" which is the main road that travels from north to south through the park. It was a lot more strenuous then we had imagined, but we made it. It was good to sweat :)
A very nice lady at the welcome center told us about Fort Donelson and the Iron Furnace. We took a drive and were very glad we did. Fort Donelson was the site of a very important battle toward the end of the Civil War. General Ulysses Grant took control of the Confederate Fort in 1862. It is located on the banks of the Cumberland River.
The gunner's point of view.
The Union soldiers were buried at the National Cemetery in Dover. The Confederates were not, this monument was erected in their memory.
We drove into Dover and went to the National Cemetery.
We also visited the site of the official surrender. The Dover Hotel.
This is it, doesn't look that old does it?
On the way back we stopped at the Iron Furnace. These were built to make iron, that's a surprise, isn't it...
Slaves loaded the pig iron in from the top
Never saw anything like it, very interesting.
Also located on The Trace is the Nature Center, operated by the park. We stopped here and enjoyed their wildlife refuge. All the animals had been injured or abandoned and now live at the center.
American Eagle
No, I wasn't injured or abandoned :) The tree canopy provided shelter from the rain.
The butterflies and hummingbirds were amazing, but I couldn't get a picture of them.
Coyote.
Back at the campground...
We did try out our dutch oven for the first time. (thanks to Heather and Rob)
The Sausage 5 bean bake was nummy! We were tired, sweaty and very hungry.
The are murals painted on the walls by the river.
This is a functioning still..
Land Between the Lakes is a very natural, beautiful untouched area. If you really want to get away from it all this is the place for you. No Wi-fi, no cell coverage, no tv signal, unless you have satellite. You are isolated and nature is in control. We will go back someday. This area has an abundance of campsites, everything from primitive to the full hook up pull throughs like we had.
Next we are headed to Prophetstown State Park in Lafayette, Indiana to enjoy some time with family.
Until next time, Keep Grabnlife!
