Southern Kentucky - Last Few Weeks

As the weather got nicer and nicer every day, I started going for daily walks to a Barren River Park to hike the longest trail next to the golf course. The in-and-out trail would get me close to my 10,000 steps and got me out of the house. It was definitely the routine I enjoyed in the world where routine is hard to set because of constant moving from place to place.

I also could now work from my porch more often.

The host took great pride in her flowers around the house, so I got the enjoy the full bloom of some of them.

The last full week was pretty ordinary, but the weekend was supposed to be quite exciting. A friend of mine who I haven't seen for over a year was traveling cross-country and decided to stop by for a day or wo. We spent a nice evening on Friday catching up and on Saturday went to Nashville. It was great experiencing the city with someone else. We walked around like in old times when the two of us hiked together, had lunch and walked more. I realized how lonely I have been living in an isolated place for over a month.

This was also the weekend when one of the Amish stores opened up offering their amazing produce. I was so excited! We bought fresh eggs and a variety of produce. The prices were very reasonable compared to a grocery store, and the quality - like produce I remember grown at home. The following week I also explored other stores. It was fascinating seeing old style cash machines that function without electricity. Everything was paid in cash as most Amish stores don't accept credit cards. Obviously. The Amish were very friendly, but non-invasive. They gave you time to look around without being rushed. I really enjoyed seeing them working in the fields together with their children. I started to be more and more interested in their culture and even watched a few documentaries about their traditions. I have a lot of respect for them for their hard work and the inclination to stick to the old style living. Interestingly enough, not all of them avoided civilization. Some of them were driving cars while others still stuck to their horse and buggy. Before my departure from this area, I went shopping. Let's just say I really liked their jams, and flour, and handmade soap...

My last week in southern Kentucky was coming up, and during their last weekend I wanted to go one last time to Nashville not knowing when I will be back again. On Sunday, I checked out Warner parks and hiked almost 10 miles in different trails. On Saturday I decided to go to Mammoth Cave National Park once again with a Violet City Lantern tour. The tour was led by another guide who was not as engaging as the first one, but walking with lanterns with no other lighting was quite fascinating. You could not grasp the idea of how big the cave was when you couldn't see it. Really, the only thing I could see was the ground in front of me, which is why I was glad that my first tour showed what the cave actually looked like. Only when the guide pointed out that we were in a gigantic room within a cave did I lift my head and look up. This was a shorter tour of about 2 1/2 hours, but the ambiance was completely different from the first one. I was glad I decided to register for it.

The evening before heading out from Southern Kentucky, I loaded my car. I was just starting to understand how to arrange boxes to fit everything. The morning of the move day, I cleaned the house (while typically you don't need to clean the Airbnb where you stay, I felt like I had to at least tidy it up), loaded last few things, put my screaming cat in the carrier and loaded him on the back seat and started driving. Within 30 minutes of screaming, he vomited and pooped all over the blanket leaving me with another lesson learned - better coverage of the carrier AND the blanket with paper towels is needed. Also, need to stop 15 minutes after the start of the drive to allow the cat to use the litter box. Finally, pet him once in a while for the first hour. We had another 3 hours to go, but he calmed down after that. We successfully left our first long term Airbnb on to the next one. This one would be near home back in Tennessee...