The photos below are what we saw.
There
were a number of incredibly fat folks in the campground.
During my conversations with one of the campers, she said that
with the exception of Kathleen and I, the balance of the campers
were "locals" and lived close by. These two caused me to
blink. Dirty-white-tee-shirt-guy could not bend over to pick
out his tent stakes, so he compensated by learning to lean to the
right while elevating his left leg to counterbalance his
overweight upper body. I failed in being able to capture
that stunt with my camera.
I
caught this fellow in profile on his way to the head, an act which
produces an uncomfortable visual image in my mind. Let's
just say that access to various equipment is blocked and that
raises process questions in my mind.
On
our way to Mammoth Cave, our path took us through a town that has
LA-class traffic. We passed bumper-to-bumper oncoming for
perhaps 10 miles. Along the way, we encountered this
military convoy.
Jed
was in front of us driving a rolling dumpster.
We
camped at the state park campground at Cumberland Falls. The
camp was marginal and the sites were very small. But, they
did have power and it was very, very hot making a/c an absolute
requirement. Next day we left the campsite and went to see
the falls. Our highway crossed the Cumberland River via this
cool stone bridge.
The
falls were interesting and the view point allowed us to see a
rainbow caused by spray from the falls.
There
were access trails that allowed visitors to get to the level of
the river.
This
caught my eye; some folks should not wear spandex and I think she
is one of them. The profile was MUCH worse than the rear
view.
The
access trails allowed an unobstructed view of Cumberland Falls.
The
side of the river channel had debris dams that were 20+ feet above
the current level of the river. Signs indicated that the
flow of the river has been observed from 5 cfs to 65,000 cfs.
We
left the Cumberland Falls area and headed directly to Mammoth Cave
National Park. The campground at the park was "primitive"
and the whole area was suffering an intense heat wave. Our
thermometer in the camper was well over 100 degrees and very high
humidity. The camp had not electrical and prohibited
generator operation past 2200 hrs. So, we hooked up or 3kw
Honda and fired up the a/c to cool off prior to quiet hours.
We were both VERY happy to have the generator.
The
camp did not have water at the sites and we were low, so we used
our siphon device to fill our tanks from the spare cans we carry.
Our
water system stopped working. My first thought was that the
tanks were dry despite our adding water. But the truth was
the water pump had given up the ghost. We had a spare with
us, so we replaced the bad unit.
The
pumps are pretty simple and there are no user-serviceable
parts. So, if it breaks, you have to replace the whole unit.
The
replacement was pretty simple and when we tested it, it ran as
expected. But, it failed to prime the system. After a
number of tests we concluded that the suction hose had either
broken or had a crack. If that was true, it was the cause of
the failure of the pump. In that case, the pump would
continue to run until it achieves prime (which would be never) and
then it burned up.
We
had to noodle on the situation for quite awhile before we came up
with a viable solution that did not require drilling extra holes
into the tank. Our plan was to construct a 3/8" copper tube
to fit inside the existing suction tube and connect that tube to
the existing plumbing. Our prototype solution was
constructed in the parking lot of the Ace Hardware in Bowling
Green, KY. I had to cut the existing suction hose to provide
an entrance for the tubing. The hole is visible on the floor
at the bottom center of the photo.
The
new tube was inserted into the old suction hose and tested.
It worked. So, we purchased some silicone caulking and
sealed up the fitting and headed on down the road back to the
Mammoth Cave area.
We
checked out Mammoth Cave and did not like what we saw. There
were no tours available due to the large number of tourists until
the following day. And to get that tour, we had to be an the
door in line at 0800. So, we bailed on that idea and instead
visited a small private cave that was nearby. Diamond Cave
was discovered in the late 1800s and has been a private enterprise
since then.
There
were only 5 folks on our tour. There were some nice
formations in the cave.
Many
of the formations have been damaged over the years. There
are several areas of damage visible in the photo above.
These
formations were quite high on the roof of the cave.
Further
into the cave, the formations were closer and therefore more
visible.
One
of the damaged stalactites. Note the black marks due to skin
oil from being touched.
Diamond
is a live cave and many areas of the cave were quite wet.
This formation appears damaged as well.
A
column being formed.
At
one point the roof consisted of dolomite that had been eroded by
the carbonic acid resulting in the honeycomb effect.
There
were some pretty nice drapes in the cave.
Note
the water at the bottom of the formation.
Some
of the formations were lighter colored.
Nice
drapes.
This
bank of drapes was quite long.
A
nice set of fins.
More
multi-colored formations.
More
nice drapes with some broken ends.
The
early cave owner had cut a formation and polished the exposed edge
showing the growth patterns.
Odd
erosion patterns in the dolomite roof.
Another
multi-color formation.
I
am not sure what this type of formation is called.
This
formation was also cut and polished. It appears that two
stalactites fused into one.
The
last time I saw a pink elephant was back in college and that
vision require the assistance of substantial alcohol. This
one was sitting in plain view outside a convenience store that we
passed on our way to Memphis.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2012, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.