Gloria’s poison ivy hasn’t improved and, to me, seems to be getting worse. She says she’s fine and wants to motor on. So we motor on …
We made a fairly short journey to Kenlake State Park in Kentucky. We had only an inkling of an idea that we might rent a boat because we thought we’d arrive too late to go out on the lake. But that is something we’ve talked about doing since we started this journey.
When we got to the lodge and checked into our cabin we decided to go to the marina and see what might be available for the evening or in the morning. We went down with only the clothes on our backs thinking that we would simply be planning since it was a bit of a holiday weekend and they were expecting crowds. We never thought there might be a boat available.
When we asked about the boats it turns out they were available so we rented a pontoon boat for a few hours right there on the dock. After a “safety review and checklist” we headed out on to the lake in our boat to look for a cove of calm water for a swim. You see, we have no bathing suits so this is going to need to be G rated as far as the eye can see. Off we go to see what kind of trouble we can get into in the middle of the day. Turns out no one cares much about two 50-somethings swimming together in a big river.
I’ve been to this location before but stayed in a different state park which is closer to the new bridges they have constructed over the river. These bridges are long and massive, much different than the old ones. They took the new engineering project seriously.
Not far into the channel is a nesting pair of bald eagles. We didn’t get close enough to get a great picture of them but close enough to know what they were. They have built their nest on a channel marker. I alway like seeing bald eagles in the wild like this. Nothing like Alaska but very cool for Kentucky.
This evening we attended a local restaurant that has all the southern comfort foods you would ever want. It was called the Pond Restaurant where we both got catfish, a salad, hush puppies and fries. Of course, sweet tea. You have to water down the sugar in Kentucky. When they say “sweet tea” they really mean “brown sugar water”.
We head back to the lodge where there is a recreation of President Truman’s history by a local actor dressed in period attire and speaking as if he were Truman. That was more interesting than I thought it would be. He certainly gave it his all but had to read off queue cards a bit. That’s OK. Presidential history is a lot to cover in an hour.
Back to the cabin for some sleep. Gloria is in bed early. The poison ivy is not getting better. You can tell her skin and body is in overdrive trying to sort it out.