My Old Kentucky Home

 At Sand Cave--I remember before the boardwalk and fence were built, you were actually allowed to walk up and go into the entrance of Sand Cave. You know you're old when you can remember a time before a new regulation is enforced....

So, you know, staying too long in the same place can be boring. En route between Michigan and Florida, my family stopped in Kentucky.

Kentucky plays an interesting role in my story--it was a relatively short but oh-so memorable portion of my life. When my family first moved to Kentucky, we lived in a motorhome. And yes, I said lived, not vacationed.

We were moving due to my dad's job, and the house we were supposed to stay in wasn't ready for us to live in until 9 weeks after he was supposed to start his new position. No problem, we're flexible people. We decided to to drive my grandparents' 1970s-era motorhome to a campground and live there for 9 weeks while we didn't have a house.

Let me paint you a picture: An ancient motorhome, a Jellystone campground in the midst of a Kentucky summer, and 5 children aged 9, 7, 5, 3, and 1, for 9 weeks. (I had my 10th birthday while living in the motorhome).

Ya'll, my family isn't scared of anything.

The workers at the campground had never met a family who intended to stay for the entire summer, but we became a fixture in their lives; present at nearly every children's activity that the campground hosted. Actually, we were asked to host game and face-painting activities on a few occasions when staffing was a little short. Us kids drove bargains with the managers and picked up trash around the grounds in exchange for free ice cream sundaes. I remember doing schoolwork, too, part of Mom's favorite method of keeping us all busy through long summer days when we couldn't go anywhere outside the campground.

My Mom made dinners for 7 on the tiny motorhome stove; we ate a lot of cereal, hot dogs, and hamburger helper that summer. On Sundays, we splurged and went out to O'Charleys, because they offered 2 free kids meals for every adult meal purchased. We did laundry at the laundromat and took showers in campground's shower hall. On weekends, when my dad wasn't working, we'd drive the motorhome to a different campground and explore a new city, just for a change in scenery.

It was only 9 weeks, but that's a 9 week chunk of my life I know I'll never forget!

So yeah, it was an adventure, but from what you've come to know of my family, it's not altogether surprising, is it? Personally, I think it was a great practice for all the adventures that have come our way since!