It's about time, eh?

I know what you’re thinking. “Oh my God, a blog entry! He hasn’t written forever.” You’re right, and I owe it to Larry Clark, whom I met in the parking lot of the Mammoth Caves National Park. But don’t worry, I’m not doing this for Larry (or you), but rather myself.

You see, Larry is another full-timer, and we were talking about travel and family and keeping in touch and all, and Larry tells me he writes a blog, so his kids and friends can keep up with him. And I told him that I used to keep a blog, but due to (and I’m ashamed to admit to this)…the instant gratification of Facebook and being able to just quickly post a picture or an update and be done with it….that I hadn’t taken the time to update my blog in a while. And then Larry says something very profound – he says that he finds his blog works great as a journal. When he and his wife are discussing things that happened two or three years ago, they can go back and see when it really was and who was involved. I’VE DONE THAT! I’ve gone to find a shop owner’s name when I’m going back to an area, or to remember where that really great restaurant was with the liver and onions. So I told Larry that he just gave me the incentive to get back to my blog. Be damned with Facebook!

So, how is it that I was in the Mammoth Cave National Park to meet Larry in the first place? We’ll I was out on the new little Dual-sport motorcycle that I bought while in Michigan. A “Dual-Sport” used to be called and “Enduro” when I was growing up. It’s a motorcycle that is licensed to ride on the roads, but at the same time is equipped to ride in the trails and hills. I’ve been shopping for one for almost two years when I sold my “second bike”, the Sabre. The Valkyrie has been good (obviously so, since I bought another one after totaling my first in May), but is not very well equipped for some of the dirt roads and trails I’ve taken it down. Anyway, I was out riding back roads of Kentucky and came to a ferry crossing run by the National Forest Service. The river was about 100 feet wide, so this was a short but cool ride. I got talking to the ferry boat driver afterward (he was heading up the hill to also do some weed-eating – yes, this was WAY in the boonies and his job was to maintain the place, as well as drive the boat. DARN – I just realized that I should have asked him if *I* could drive the boat?! Well, I guess I was having too much fun running around the back roads and trails with the new bike, that I missed that adventure.)

But I digress. While talking to the driver, he told me of another ferry, that does even more river crossings “up to 300 a day” versus his 40. Turns out, it is near the Mammoth Caves, which is also just up the road. And he says “if you haven’t seen it, you really should” (talking about the caves, not the ferry, but frankly I already knew I’d be riding that other ferry as well). So, I rode to the Caves and parked in the Visitor Center and toured and read. It’s the world’s largest underground caves. They have this cool picture showing the 300 miles of caves. Very cool. (Literally, too.)

It was after walking around and clicking a few pictures that I met Larry (you remember Larry, right?) and we talked in the parking lot for a half hour or so.

So I’m back. I’m going to not only keep up with the blog, but I’m going to try to work my way backwards and post some of the events that occurred since I last wrote. I’ll continue to post the pictures on Facebook, so if you want to see all of them, you’ll have to become my friend.

And yes, I DID ride that other ferry. I was still the only vehicle on it, so I got to visit with the driver for the entire 30 second ride.

Why am I in NoWhere, Kentucky riding a dirt bike and visiting with Ferry Boat Drivers? Oh, yeah, if you haven’t been keeping up on Facebook, maybe I should fill that little tidbit in.
Stay Tuned.
Life is Good, and I’m happy to be back.