Kentucky, Oct. 9, 1995, part 1

In October 1995, I received a long card from Grammie.  She detailed the events of her trip to Kentucky with Grampa and her brother and sister-in-law, Arthur and Jo King.  This is the first part of that letter.

We started our trip early in the morning (5:30) - rainy, foggy morning on Sept. 26.  Jo and I slept in the back while Grampa Bob drove with Uncle Artie keeping him company.  We went 300 miles before we stopped at a diner for breakfast, in Scranton.  This is a place Grampa and I often stop at on our way South.  By then, of course, everyone was starving.  Then on to West Virginia where we spent our first night in Cacapon State Park.  Lots of deer and all very friendly - looking for handouts from the admiring public.  Signs all over saying "Please don't feed the deer." But it is surprising how many people can't read.

 

Then onto Kentucky - our first impression - not so good.  We went into Ashland where there were so many huge commercial plants - things looked dirty, but when we got out of Ashland, it was a different story.  The valleys between the mountains were lovely.  We stayed at Greenbo State Park - rooms and lodge on a cliff - beautiful view - more deer.  Nice gift shop - bought an owl chime.

The next day, it was Natural Bridge State Park where there is a natural bridge, but you have to walk about a mile to see it, and as Jo and Grampa couldn't make it - we hardy Kings didn't go either.  I was a bit disappointed...  We stayed in a rustic cabin on a cliff.  There were rough stones going up to the cabin and you can imagine Grampa going up those steps.  We were higher than the trees, and there were trees further up the mountain.  Today we went for a walk and saw a red-headed woodpecker, a red-bellied woodpecker, a nuthatch, and several blue birds and some warblers.  All these State Parks are really beautiful and very well kept.  The next morning I wore a pink & grey sweatshirt with pink pants and I made a hit with all the old ladies.  One lady asked Grampa if he was with the party with the "lady in pink" and he said, "The one with the white hair is my wife."  He didn't realize I had on pink [he was colorblind].

Then we went to Frankfort, to see the Vietnam War Memorial - a huge sundial your Dad had said to see.  It was very impressive and in a beautiful setting, the Capital building in the background.  The sundial was done by computers.  The gnomon casts a shadow on the date of the deaths of all the veterans' names on the base.

 

Next we went to Rough River Dam State Park - did not see a rough river, though, it seemed very peaceful.  We went for a walk and got a good view of a red-headed woodpecker - we don't have them here in Connecticut.  The next morning we watched the sun come up - it looked like a huge ball of fire - more like a sunset than a sunrise.

The food has been great - too much - all the people are very pleasant and friendly.  We were given a dish of ice cream for free because I have 67 people on my Christmas list.

Gram and Grampa, at this time, had been to almost every state in the US, except Alaska.  They loved to travel by car and see the countryside, stopping at local diners in small towns off the beaten track.  Both of them enjoyed meeting people, chatting easily together.

Grammie really did have at least 67 people on her Christmas list.  She had 8 children, 29 grandchildren, and at least 35 great-grandchildren by 1995.  When she married Bob Braman, whom I call Grampa, he brought his own 8 children and many grandchildren into the family.   Gram did her best to remember everyone at the holidays, whether with a gift or a card.  She did her shopping on these trips throughout the year - usually at little gift shops and drugstores, where she would find small treasures for those she loved.