Into the Wild

Sometimes you wonder why you ever put it off.

In this case, it was this trip to Red River Gorge. Otherwise known as Kentucky's Rockies, I've heard about it before and have always wanted to see the fall foliage there. Missed the chance these last two years but was not about to miss it again this year. So on November 13, seven of us plied the 2.5 hours from Cincinnati to Slade, KY.

We started bright and early at 8am, converging at a Mcdonalds somewhere in KY to switch up passengers. Was it our imagination, or were people looking at us weird? Yep, we were definitely not in the city anymore.

Our first stopover was the Kentucky Horse Park. As the name suggests, it was all about our equine friends. Because of an err, navigational error, we ended up in a track meet at the other side of the park. In any case, we FINALLY (! - the park has 1,224 acres in all) found the stables where one could rent horses. We were too early for the next ride so we toured the museum. History of horses, anyone? It was good for whiling away the time till the horses were ready.

We got assigned horses according to 'riding experience' and build - needless to say, I got the largest horse of everyone in our group. It was a guided 45 minute trail ride, which was really a leisurely trot around the general area of the stable. It was good fun, the pain to the backside, aside. (Trivia: because of the recent drought and shortage of hay, one of the horses we were riding would have cost $500. Their monthly upkeep is ~$200 though).

The excitement worked up our appetites and we were ready for the buffet at the mountain lodge. But as fate and our GPS would have it, we ended up in the middle of a sub-urban community. We settled for a Chinese buffet instead.

After a hearty lunch, we proceeded to the Natural Bridge. The Natural Bridge is a 900 ton sandstone arch that does, in fact resemble a bridge. Getting to it was a rough, mostly vertical trek. What was supposedly a leisurely 30-minute hike had us wheezing from the exertion. Our full tummies were partly to blame as were, in Cathy's and my case, our heavy snow shoes (alright, it was my idea). In any case, we were not immediately appreciative of the display of colors and natural splendor (thirst and exhaustion does that to you) but we gradually succumbed to nature's charms. We took pictures knowing the camera would not capture the beauty of the scenery. In the end, everyone hied off home with sore muscles but filled with their memories of the day. All in all, it was a good day with friends, against a backdrop of nature's unabashed display.

Who's to say that all the anticipation from having put it off did not add to the excitement?