Saturday 4-22-23 Exploring Levi Wilderness Road Park

 

Having fun camping

We had a front come in about midnight with lightening and rain. The rain stopped around 4:00 am. The day started at 41 degrees and got to 61 degrees. We had a little wind so it was chilly all day. 

I rolled out of bed about 7:15. It was chilly so I turned on the oven to bake cinnamon french toast sticks for breakfast. The oven helped the small heater warm up the Minnie. 

After breakfast we headed out on a hike. We checked out the hiking trail at the campground. Due to the rain it was muddy so we decided not the hike the trails. Instead we walked around the park and checked out a few things. We ended walking three miles. This is a large park that includes a camping area. We started out in the camping area and headed to the main road. The main road wasn't too busy but there was no sidewalk and the speed limit was 25 mph, it was a bit scary. There are trails to avoid the road but they were muddy. Fortunately we only had to follow the main road for a short distance, we then got to a cross street that was closed to traffic. Next to it was Treetop Adventures, it is an obstacle course, that is in the trees. We ducked under the gate and walked around looking at the course. When doing the course you have wear a safety harness but it still looked dangerous to me, it is far up in the trees. I guess if I was younger maybe it wouldn't look so scary. The Treetop Adventure is run by the City of London. Our next stop was the Mountain Life Museum and Kentucky Shop. It was closed for the season but we could still see the homesteads. The small village has a gift shop, log cabin, an old well, a couple other buildings and one of them had a covered wagon in front of it. If the museum was open we would know more of the history of the buildings. On the way to the mill we walked by the Defeated Camp Burial Ground of the McNitt Company. They were a group of early settlers who were massacred by a group of Indians on October 3, 1786. It was a small cemetery but it is well taken care of. The final stop was the McHargue's Mill. It's a small mill with a creek, that runs by it. In front of the mill there was a short walkway that told the history of the millstones and where they came from. The mill was also closed. After walking around we headed back. We had a wonderful walk through the park, 

Part of the Treetop course

Another section of the Treetop course

 

One of the buildings at the Mountain Life Museum

 

A building with the covered wagon

 

The homestead with a well

 

Defeated Camp Burial Ground of 1786

 

McHargue's Mill

Some of the millstones on the McHargue's Library of Mountain Millstones walkway

We were back by 9:30. Yesterday I developed a blister on my right heel. I had Larry cut it open and drain it. He was surprised it was so big. It felt a lot better. 

Afterwards we spent the rest of the day relaxing in the Minnie. 

For  lunch we had soup because it was cold outside.

After lunch I played my games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event today was Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 39 minutes and 50 seconds, which put me in 20th place in my group. Than I took a nap.

While I played games Larry read. He finished a book and started a new one.

For dinner we had bacon sandwiches on dinner rolls. After dinner I walked around for an hour and a fifteen minutes to get some steps. I ended up doing 27,000 steps which put me in 4th place in my group.

Last night I talked to our neighbors a bit. They were here because he was going to participate in the Redbud bicycle race. This morning we talked to his wife. She had dropped him off and he told her to come and get him around 4:00. This should give him enough time to finish 100 miles.

Every year London has the Redbud Race. The race was started in 2006, it was inspired by the Redbud trees in the area. The neighbor said there were over 400 riders. You can sign up to 25 miles, 50 miles, 75 miles and 100 miles. The route starts in downtown London and goes around the area. 

While I was walking around I stopped and congratulated the neighbor on completing the 100 miles. He said he was tired after doing 101 miles but had a super time.

We had a great day.