Travels With Clancy: Kentucky Follies and Delhi Flowers

Clancy and I decided to head across the Ohio river to Kentucky for our latest Travels, and visit Big Bone Lick State Park. That was the plan, anyway. That's not exactly how it turned out.

The morning started out beautifully, as we couldn't have asked for better weather. After an extremely wet spring and a terribly hot summer, we've had the best fall in recent memory, with clear days and seasonally cool temperatures. Now that the leaves have started to change, the days are simply gorgeous.

I'd planned to go to some Kentucky parks over the summer, but a massive construction project along the interstate kept me on the Ohio side of the river. There is still construction going on, but I decided to take the Anderson Ferry across the river to avoid it.

The ferry has been in operation since 1817, and runs daily, going back and forth across the river continuously from early in the morning until late in the evening. The cost is minimal, and you rarely have to wait more than a few minutes to catch one of the boats.

Clancy and I drove up just as a boat was loading, so we got on immediately. That was the end of our good luck for the day.

Things started to go haywire while we were on the boat, as Clancy was scared to death of it. Since he loves riding in the car I figured he would be fine with this, as we never left our car during the ride across the river. But, Clancy seemed sure I was driving us into a watery grave from the second we boarded the boat. He wasn't convinced otherwise until we got to the Kentucky side of the river and were back on dry land.

While Clancy obviously wouldn't agree, it was a great morning to be on the ferry. There was fog along the river, and the sun looked gorgeous, and at times a little eerie, breaking through it.

Once we got to Kentucky and Clancy calmed down, I figured we were on our way and we'd soon have a great morning at the park. We drove about 30 minutes from the ferry to where I thought the park was supposed to be, only to find that it wasn't actually there at all. I kept driving, thinking we'd come upon it at any moment, but no such luck. We went on and on along various Kentucky state routes, and finally had to stop and turn around.

I'm wondering now if I was on some sort of unknown hallucinogenic drug last night when I looked up the directions. Maybe someone slipped something into my drink when I had dinner. It's hard telling what I must have entered into Google to get the directions I was following.

After my mishap trying to find the Long Branch Farm, my sister gave me an old GPS she had, so I now have one and could have used it to find Big Bone Lick. But, my fake directions to the park seemed so simple I couldn't see any reason to bring it. I left the GPS at home, and spent most of the morning driving around Northern Kentucky as a result.

When Clancy and I were driving home after I gave up and surrendered to my stupidity, we headed towards the Cincinnati Airport, which is actually in Northern Kentucky, as the road back to the ferry is off the airport road. I got off at the airport exit without thinking that the road off the exit is one way, and only leads to one place - the airport. So, we had to go all the way to the airport and circle the terminals before turning around and going back in the opposite direction, and finally getting to the ferry road.

I knew Clancy was mad about getting back on the Ferry, but I told him we didn't have much choice, as the last thing I felt like doing was sitting in construction traffic. We had to wait a bit for the boat for the return trip, and we ended up the first car on board. I told Clancy I was a little nervous this time too, as this was how it looked out our windshield

Thankfully, my brakes were working just fine.  

When we finally made it back to Ohio, I really didn't want to waste the beautiful weather by just heading home after driving all over creation for no reason. Plus, I knew Clancy was fed up with being in the car and wanted to get out and actually do something. So, I drove to our local park, in Delhi Township.

Clancy and I walk at this park regularly, so it is not exactly something new for us. But, the park has a lovely flower garden that is always a pleasure to walk through, so I decided to try and salvage our morning by at least enjoying the flowers.

The garden is maintained entirely by volunteers, and I think they do an amazing job. We did have a great walk, and Clancy enjoyed smelling around and checking to make sure everything in the park was still the same as the last time we'd been there. He seemed satisfied that all was in order.

We had a really nice walk, and got to enjoy the beautiful weather. But I'm not sure I'll ever live down the fact that Clancy and I rode a ferry back and forth across the Ohio river, drove for a solid hour around Northern Kentucky, and went to the airport, only to end up at a park that is less than two miles from our house. I know Clancy was worn out, and no doubt thought I was completely nuts by the time we finished our trip.

It's taken several brick walls to fall on my head, but I've finally learned my lesson. I won't leave home without my GPS again.