Henderson, Ky March 1998

Time for the first road trip, also known as a trial run, in the VW van, aka Ziggy.

Day 1
To Kentucky
I picked up Mary and realized I hadn't gotten the oil changed in Ziggy. So our first stop was for a quick oil change. Then 50 miles later we arrived in Little Rock. If we are on a road trip it must be ok to stop for fast food so we picked up hamburgers and French fries. We noticed an oil puddle but there was no turning back now. Later I learned they had switched the plugs in the van...not a good idea with the VW. As we drove through Memphis, Mary reminisced about her college days there.
At the Home of the Throwed Rolls in Missouri we had a very fine home cooked dinner, something neither of us finds at home. Mary had prepared our map from a computer program but when she told me to turn right on "unmarked road" I couldn't for the life of me figure out where she intended for me to turn. So much for the navigator and her computer program. I got out the map and decided to proceed to Illinois and cross into Kentucky on the Shawnee Bridge over the Ohio River.
Dark descended and we commented on how pretty the Shawnee National Forest must be in the daytime. The headlights on the van are not the most powerful and we did well to see the road in front of us. Mary finally suggested we turn at one camping sign and camp in the forest. We did drive a few miles down the road but never saw the camping area. I was going to follow my original plan and go on to Henderson and find the Audubon State Park campground and hope there would be a place for us. After squabbling over her choice to camp in the national forest and my determination to drive on we continued.
We arrived in Henderson at 9 p.m. and were relieved to find a spot at the campground.

Day 2
To Sugartree
We went looking for our old Kentucky home in Smith Mills. As we turned up the drive that had once been lined with maple trees I knew this was Sugar Tree. At the old homeplace, built in the mid 1800's, pigeons were flying about, chickens living in the front room, and a goose in charge of the porch. We toured the dilapidated building that had been left to gracefully decline and picked up a few wooden souvenirs with tears in our eyes.

To the farm
We meandered on down to the Ohio River and decided to check on the local crop production. The soybeans were growing nicely and as Mary got lost in the corn, I guess it was doing rather well also.

Day 3
To the musem and cemetery
Cousins Beth and Alex joined us for a visit to the Audubon Museum. Most enjoyable were the birds hovering all about the wildflower gardens and bird feeders.

I guess one would expect this at an Audubon Museum. Audubon had spent a portion of his life living in Henderson.


Afterwards we joined the rest of the family for a visit to Fernwood Cemetery. We planned to go back the next morning and take some photos but the rain changed those plans. We were disappointed to find the top of the grandfather's tombstone lying on the ground.


Day 4
To Arkansas
We had slept so soundly we did not know it was raining, but the rain had leaked in the sun roof and had also blown in the open window. Mary kindly plugged in the hair dryer and dried the wet spots. After all this was a trial run for Ziggy. We ventured south meandering across Kentucky taking a different route back to Memphis. The road trip was a great success as a test for the next adventure.