Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.
Wildlife in Yellowstone National Park is incredibly diverse. There are many iconic American species. From bison and elk to bears and wolves, Yellowstone’s animals are a major draw for visitors from all over the world.
Last Updated: September 3, 2026
Eminence is in the center of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. It’s one of the nation’s first protected waterways — in fact it was the first of them, established in 1964, four years before the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act existed at all. The park encompasses the Current and Jacks Fork rivers. These rivers are known for their clear, calm and cool water which is ideal for swimming, fishing, paddling and tubing. Eminence is a small town, less than 600 people live here. The post office was established in 1844. We knew this because we needed it to mail our taxes on time.
Last Updated: September 3, 2026
Hardin was our last westward stop in Kentucky on our way to spring in the Rocky Mountains. From the Red River Gorge to Corbin, it was a couple hour drive in the rain. It was also our last chance to see elk again until the Rockies. Three stops across the width of the state — Cumberland Falls in the east, Bowling Green in the middle, Hardin out on Kentucky Lake — and between them a sinkhole that ate eight Corvettes, a fenced prairie with elk in it, and the scar of one of the worst tornadoes in American history.
Last Updated: August 6, 2026
Lexington, Kentucky is known as the “Horse Capital of the World”. It’s also the second largest city in the bluegrass state and known for Keeneland, one of the most picturesque race parks in the country. Unfortunately the track wasn’t open yet — Keeneland only races two short meets a year, fifteen days in April and seventeen in October, and we were a few days early. We finished our bourbon trail in Lexington.
Last Updated: August 3, 2026
Land Between the Lakes is a National Recreation Area in western Kentucky and Tennessee. The area is formed by Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, which run parallel to each other for more than 50 miles. Lake Barkley, 58,000 acres, was formed by Barkley Dam impounding the Cumberland River, completed in 1966 by the Army Corps of Engineers. Kentucky Lake, 160,000 acres, was formed by Kentucky Dam impounding the Tennessee River in 1944, a TVA project and still the largest artificial lake by surface area in the eastern United States. At Grand Rivers the two come within about a mile of each other and are joined by a canal, which means a boat can pass from one river system to the other. The 170,000 acres left standing between them make up the largest inland peninsula in the country. It is very popular for water sports, hunting, fishing, mountain biking and hiking. From Cave City, Kentucky it was about a two-and-a-half hour drive.
Last Updated: August 3, 2026
Kentucky gave us two stops that have almost nothing in common except that both are underrated. Cumberland Falls throws a moonbow — a lunar rainbow — on clear nights around the full moon, and it is one of only two places on earth where that happens on a predictable schedule. Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system in the world by a very wide margin, and it is still getting longer every year as surveyors push further into it. Between the two of them we found the original Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Stonehenge in somebody’s front yard. From Pigeon Forge it was a straightforward run north.
