Barren River Loop + Peter's Creek Trail in Barren River Lake State Park

I have not been doing well with my hiking this year. With four seasons there is definitely less time to hike in good conditions compared to California. Here in Kentucky I have seen a few nice days, but typically they were pretty cold. Rainy days still prevail, I guess that is what spring is all about, but I am getting a bit sick of bad weather. 

I needed to get out today, so I chose the closest trail to my Airbnb, Barren River Loop in Barren River Lake State Park (not sure who named the park that way, river AND lake?). It was a shorter trail, but I needed to walk.

I arrived at the trailhead, but had to park in the parking lot next to the lodge as it was the nearest parking lot. I walked towards the trailhead and started the hike. The first mile was parallel to the road, so cars were passing by just a hundred feet beside me. This was not the most pleasant experience, but I continued and soon found a restroom (yes, this was the highlight of the first mile). Right before that a pasture with a few horses was to the left of me. I approached them, but they were too far away.

Horses on the pasture

The trail turned sharply left and I finally was in the woods. Interestingly enough, the trail also goes through the golf course. I wondered how safe it is during a golf season, but was not worried about it now. I found an unpaved road (the trail is paved) leading deeper into the woods, Peter's Creek Trail, and decided to take a turn here. Finally, a real hike. I soon got the lake (or maybe river?), but could not really approach it closely because of the embankment. The trail looped back after a mile and a half and connected to the original spot where I entered it. 

I continued along the paved road through the golf course in the woods (well, partially, as there were spots where the trees were completely cleared out). The birds were very alive today, and I enjoyed listening to the nature sounds as I got back to the trailhead. 

I would call it a semi-urban hike with some development, but still areas left untouched by humans. And let's be realistic, most areas that come in contact with humans somehow end up being destroyed.

Lost River Cave in Bowling Green, KY

There are quite a few caves in Kentucky. I had to make a list of those nearby my Airbnb that I wanted to visit. The first one, Lost River Cave, is in Bowling Green, the closest town in the area that has a variety of grocery stores and a decent number of restaurants. I had to get a few items, so I decided to start with it.

I bought my ticket online on their website and arrived at the visitor center about 15 minutes prior to the tour. Although the confirmation email stated a minimum of 30 minutes, they probably want you to browse in the gift shop. There is a short walk towards the meeting point, but it takes about 5 min at most. The big sign below clearly indicates where you need to wait.

Our tour guide was punctual, and the tour started at 10.30 am. He checked everyone in by last names, gave a bit of history info and led us to the blue/green stream. He explained that because of recent rain, the water is muddy, but typically it has a nice bluish color. It seriously looked green today, but I trust his word.

We slowly walked along the river (can it be called a river? what are the qualifications for a body of water to be called a river?) towards the cave entrance.

At the entrance the guide provided us with additional history on the cave. It used to be a hiding spot for the military and then a trash site and had to be cleaned up. There was also a mill at some point in the past, but because of flooding (apparently, the water level could easily go way above our heads), the mill was destroyed. Now the cave entrance has a dance area; a weird location to go dancing, but heck, to each their own.

We waited to get on the boat as another group finished their tour.

Once on the boat, we slowly started moving into the cave. At the entrance we had to lower our heads in order to get through.

The tour was short and sweet. We got more history shared with us, looked at two sad brown bats sleeping on the wall (who the hell wants to live in a cave where the dance club is right at the entrance, right?), got to the end of the cave where there was a water drop and headed back.

Cool formations with stalactites hanging from the ceiling. They don't get to long because of constant flooding that brings broken branches in breaking stalactites off.

Overall, a good tour, short and sweet with a good amount of info, but not excessive.

Moving Out and First Long Term Airbnb

On Friday morning, I rented a U-Haul truck and with my friend’s help loaded all packed boxes and newly acquired furniture to drive it to the nearby storage facility. The process turned out to be easier than I thought as the storage facility offered large carts to move furniture, even as large as my futon. The unit was fully loaded and locked as I headed back to the apartment. The next day, Saturday, was the actual move out day. I was planning to hand off the keys to the new renter and leave for Southern Kentucky by late morning, but with an hour or two delay on her part I was on the road by 1:00 PM. My car was not as heavily loaded as during the cross country trip, although my cat definitely let me know that he was not happy with this ordeal. After a three hour drive, I arrived at the rental house in the middle of nowhere. 

The house was big. The first floor offered a large living room/office combo, master bedroom, kitchen, large laundry room, small storage room and a bathroom. The second floor had two bedrooms that were  part of larger loft space. It was peaceful and quiet compared to my apartment in Knoxville. After turning up the heat, I felt at home, and even Kitty was happy to explore. I immediately changed the sheets to my flannel set which I brought for personal comforts together with a few other non-essential items like my espresso maker and a heavy cast iron pot to bake my sourdough bread in. I unloaded several boxes and two suitcases with my clothing and started to arrange the kitchen to better suit my needs. 

Living room/office combo

The rental required to sign a rental agreement, but the host was not going to be home until the next morning. After settling in a bit I sat down to truly enjoy the peace and quiet of the place. On both sides of the house there were large properties with horses eating grass. It was such a contrast to my busy Knoxville apartment building that I genuinely started to enjoy that. 

Unfortunately, I had to go back to Knoxville for two days to get a procedure done as I started to develop some GI issues that were concerning. Of course, health issues come up when they are least welcomed or expected. I had to stay overnight in a hotel before my procedure and drive home then following day. I took my cat with me, which ultimately turned out to be a bad idea as he got very stressed out. We left as early as we could and headed back to Southern Kentucky. The life in the country began…

Sunrise

How It All Started...

I had a normal job in operations coming to work day after day with a somewhat flexible schedule. I've always worked on site with no thought I could ever work remotely. "I should have gone to school to become a web developer or programmer", I would tell myself. "A job in operations will always require you to be on site." Indeed, none of the operations positions I've seen online had an option of work from home.

In March of 2020, when the first signs of COVID-19 pandemic started to evolve into something much more significant, the majority of the US workforce (well, not just the US, but across the world) started working remotely to avoid exposure to the virus. I was not one of them. In fact, my job in hospital operations just got bigger as I led the Incident Command Center meetings trying to figure out how to protect our staff and patients. In 2021, I resigned my position and switched to another role in operations, this time in veterinary emergency hospital. While the workload was not as high, this was another ER hospital with odd hours.

In mid-2021, just a few months into my new position managing a veterinary hospital, I saw an article in one of the news aggregators "Live Anywhere on Airbnb". I got curious and opened it. This was the first time when the idea of living anywhere while working remotely genuinely became an idea in my head.

I applied to this opportunity, but soon got a notification that I was not one of the winners. Disappointed, but with still the thought in my head that this is a possibility, I started looking for ways to get a remote position. I expressed my desire to relocate from California due to the high cost of living to my manager and told him I would be interested in any roles that are remote within our corporation which did not require regular travel for work. The reason was that I have a cat who is medically compromised.

My cat was diagnosed with feline hyperesthesia syndrome when he was only 2 years old. He is now 13 years old and requires medication to be given twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, to manage his symptoms. He is doing well, but every time I travel, I need to find a pet sitter for him to stay overnight.

I soon was told my my manager that the position I was interested in was open and after a series of interviews, I was offered a remote job with 10-15% travel. I was ecstatic! At this point, I had no ambition to live in Airbnb, but simply to relocate to Tennessee and rent an apartment.

Two months later in December 2021, I got rid of all of my furniture, packed my things in twelve 50 lbs. Home Depot medium boxes, shipped them across the country with FedEx and drove 5 days to my new residence in Knoxville, TN with a fully stuffed Honda Civic and a screaming cat in the back seat under more stuff.

The apartment I subleased was new, but as with many new buildings the construction was just not the same - thin walls and noisy neighbors! I could not wait to get out of there, and after just 3 months I started thinking about my recently forgotten dream - living in Airbnb full-time. 

My lease was ending at the end of May 2022, so after some serious soul searching and deliberation, I started my research of listings. Where did I want to go? Where would I forward my mail? How does it work with residency? How would my cat deal with moving constantly? So many questions...

I decided I would have to stay a month at a time (or 28 days) to be able to get a monthly discount that many hosts offer. It also allowed me to truly get to know the area and would not be as stressful on my cat as moving every few weeks. I settled on my first stay in Greensboro, NC renting a studio above someone's garage. After a bit more research two other listings peaked my interest and were also booked. I could not believe I was actually going to do that! I now had to start planning... Nah, not just yet, still have plenty of time.

In mid-February of 2021, I expressed my interest to move out to the property manager who later sent me contact information for a lady who was looking for a rental unit. We texted back and forth. I was not mentally ready to move out, but knew that she needed to move in sooner rather than later. We agreed on mid-March. Mid-March??? Was I crazy??? I needed to find an Airbnb starting in mid-March!!! I started looking and quickly made my decision on the property in Southern Kentucky I previously researched followed by a rental in Tennessee. I booked both. I was moving...

Emory Gap Trail in Frozen Head State Park

Frozen Head State Park has been on my list of Tennessee parks to visit, and finally I had a chance to visit it on a beautiful abnormally warm 70 degree day in early March. There were a few trails on my list, but I chose an easy one today, Emory Gap Trail.

The hike was quite easy with little elevation gain. I loved the warm weather, and for the first time in a while I was able to take my jacket off.

The waterfall at the end of the trail was very pretty, but not much water was really flowing. I wonder if it ever gets bigger.