Prepared is better than not: MS and day trips.
So here we are in South Central Kentucky. We've been here about 10 days now and checking out the local sites is mandatory, just how? Today I'm sharing our process of planning trips and avoiding possible setbacks or obstacles. Feel free to adjust this to your liking, this system is not foolproof. It gives us and anybody who applies it options for adventure. You know after all, that's what we want.
Where do we begin?
Find your target area. Consider the region you are going to and pack according to the weather for that time of year. Then pull out a map or Google and start searching the area for activities. Remember to include all family members in this process. You don't want young, cranky, bored children on an adventure.
Consider what is around the local area. To be fair, we preplan our trips so we end up centralized to destinations we are interested in. For example, near our current location as previously mentioned, Southern Kentucky, are many sites to see. On our list are all the places we would "like to see", but not necessarily do all of them. At least all of the options are on the table.
Nashville
Music row
Pedestrian bridge
Butterfly wings
Record a song Walk the historic area Grand ole oprey
Bowling green
Do some bowling
Corvette factory
Corvette museum
River Caves Local parks
Kentucky downs
Mammoth cave np
Not to mention the many local parks that are amazing down here. I love how large the green areas are and how in tune with nature you feel. Many thanks to Franklin, Kentucky.
So when I look at that list, I first think of weather. Next is, what's indoors and what's outside. Then, what time of day we need to go? By looking at the list I easily knock a few things off.
A lot of downtown Nashville requires walking distances. Sometimes more than we want to do. It's not that Tammy can't make the walk, it's we know walking now means less energy later. She likes to reserve energy for the things we didn't plan, maybe dancing right? So some of the busy tourist trap areas were avoided. We did have some good Mexican food at Cilantro. Excellent food and service, a must visit if you like Spanish food.
I like trucks, and a Corvette museum may not like a Super duty Ford truck in the parking lot....j/k. The real reason is it most likely is a lot of walking and hearing about a car I think is cool, But it stops there. Nothing personal against corvettes, We're not into cars like that. So, I voted to skip this tour. Now if rides were part of the tour......hmmmmm.
Yes, maybe a song or two was recorded. I don't know if I released it before I post this or not. It's a few songs I wrote and I picked my best two. The songs were written during our learning process of MS. There is a lot of familiar feelings and pain for others that suffer from MS or other neurological disorders.
Mammoth cave np had a pleasant surprise in store for us. We didn't know but descending into the cave requires 180 steps down. You know that mean 180 up as well. That is too much for Tammy. She can safely do 18-25 if she has full energy. If she's fatigued, then less and also will need some assistance by person or cane. We almost left this one in the dust.... But out of the corner of my eye I seen an accessibility tour. ... Yes (fist pump).
After a bit of research we found they have an accessible tour. There's actually an elevator that brings you down 265ft that requires zero steps. And it brings you into the cave so you get a good tour. We've been to places where accessibility is unavailable for those that use assistive devices such as walkers or chairs. We don't like that, and feel it's unfair. Mammoth cave is ADA friendly and we recommend you check it out. Bring a coat, it's about 55 degrees down there. There are also flat, smooth, short walking trails as well.
Bowling in Bowling Green, Kentucky is a must have. So yes, we went bowling just to say that funny line. Pitiful, I know. Also in Bowling Green is the Lost River cave. The tour was cool, and we enjoyed the knowledgeable staff. There was more walking than anticipated here. It's right under the city. Apparently all of bowling green is on a giant sinkhole. There are a bunch of caves and waterways under the it that carve out the limestone below. Be on the lookout for that town sinking in, then you can say" Frankie called it".
There are a few other stops we want to do but our trip isn't over yet. We are still recovering from a big visit to the music city. That's all part of our plan (resting) and we recommend you always do the same. Plan time off. Plan time after events or stressful times to relax. Your body will always need more rest of than that of a non-ms'er. Is that even a word?
For this road trip you know we're traveling south to Arizona. That's a long drive from Maine, about 40 hours. So we break it up into sections. We'll drive until Tammy can't take anymore. That's around 6 hours road time. We can do 2 days like that which gets us about 10 hours away from our starting point. The drive will take us about 6-7 driving days, whew that's a hike.
What we did was we drove the two days, then rested for two days. Did that twice and it got us to South East Ohio. We stayed there for 4 nights near a beautiful state park called Salt Fork. This is an amazing resource available in South Eastern Ohio. There are a lot of trails, fishing, sights, Swimming, and apparently a Big Foot following..... Cool stuff to do that isn't too aggressive.
Our next stop was a short 3 hour drive to the New River Gorge National Park. We stayed two days and checked out the sites. It was an amazing stop, see for yourself.
That bridge is 800+ feet up and over 3000' long. It was the highest, biggest bridge I've ever seen. The hiking trails are easy and the views are incredible. The New River Gorge is the newest addition to the American National Park system. We are happy to have this addition, and hope to come back again so we can enjoy the valley floor. There were many trails for mountain biking that we did not have enough time for. This was our last stop before arriving here in Kentucky. Which brings us full circle to where this blog began.
The biggest take away from this is: pre planning allows you to do more and safely. It sets your parameters and your boundaries so expectations are not exceeding your ability. This allows you more adventure with less pain. But, you also need to plan in your rest time, we both know it's needed. That would be more important than the actual sites to visit. If you don't feel good, how the heck are you to have a good time. Make sure you plan rest after your long drives, your expeditions, and after stressful times. It's the difference between feeling blah, and feeling hoorah!
Let's feel good again, make a plan and do it!
Article by: Frankie Tea of TeamMSRV
Frankie and Tammy Tea live life to the fullest out of their fifth wheel camper. After Tammy was Diagnosed with RRMS life took a dramatic turn. We decided that we want to lead a life of service and adventure. We sold most of our belongings and now live full time on the road teaching people how to deal with Multiple Sclerosis symptoms and mental attitude for a better quality of life.
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