Touring

With our first real extended stay (we stayed at Mammoth for two full weeks), we got the chance to see and do a bunch of stuff, AND relax. What a blessing! On our way in, we passed Abraham Lincoln's birthplace. We knew we wanted to visit that, but we also took out our atlas to figure out what else we could do. Thought about the Louisville Slugger museum, but Bill was taken with the Toyota factory. We had been told after our trip to WV in January that we should have checked out the Toyota factory tour in Indiana or Illinois, I can't remember. Turns out, there's a factory in Kentucky, too! So Louisville Sluggers were off the list, Toyotas were on!

Foolishly, I thought we could do both the birthplace and the factory tour in one day. Our tour time was at 11:30 (call WAY in advance for this one, we lucked into spots opened up because of a cancellation), so I thought we'd spend an hour or so with Abe and then get on our way. Pesky time zone changes, that idea was thrown out the window. But we did get to go to Costco again and fill our coolers once again!

The Toyota tour was AMAZING. No cameras or cell phones are allowed on the tour, so you'll just have to go on one yourself, but trust me, it's pretty darn cool. They have huge robots for part of the assembly, they stamp a lot of the metal right there, such cool ways of making their jobs more efficient. Really cool to see such thoughtful procedures. Totally worth the two hour trip we took to get there!

We did get to see Abe's birthplace, we just did it the next day. We had originally planned on leaving Mammoth on the 19th, but with the reservations for the Toyota tour, we extended our stay until the morning of the 23rd, so we had plenty of time to share with Abe!

K at Lincoln

They have a smaller version of the Lincoln Memorial on site. Teddy Roosevelt laid the cornerstone. There are 56 steps up to the building, representing the 56 years of Mr. Lincoln's life. There are so many different sites to see related to Abraham Lincoln, and this was the only one we visited. The changing daylight is messing with our schedule, and our days just slip by us.

Cabin

This cabin is inside the memorial. It's not a true size version of the cabin he was born in, but it's close. Bill was disappointed to read it wasn't the real size. Even so, he was born in a small house. We did learn, though, that the Lincolns were more of an upper middle class family, which was surprising to us, given the emphasis on his being born in a one-room cabin and his humble beginnings. It's nice to learn more and dispel some myths. Truths are much more impressive.

Sinking Spring

Sinking Spring, the spring where the Lincoln family got their water. It's really cool that it's still running. And then we got to wondering if it flows into an underground cavern. And if that cavern connects to Mammoth. Probably not, but fun to imagine nonetheless!

Fall Foliage

We spent more time in the park, as well. We went on the Cedar Sink trail. It's only a mile and a bit, but it's really cool. The leaves are only just beginning to change colors, but I love pointing them out to the kids, because we have so few trees with leaves in CO.

Sinkhole

In the middle of the loop, there is a sinkhole. Seems huge to me, but it's really the only one I've ever seen. The kids are all in this picture. Can you see them? I'm so glad we took the time to explore this one. It was a hot and humid day, but when we got down to the bottom, we found a small entrance to the cave system (too small, and they ask that you not try to enter the cave) that blew cool air at us. Nice.

Bill

Bill loved listening to the water dripping into the caves. There was water at the bottom that the drops would sometimes hit, making a much larger noise. The sink apparently fills with water during heavy rains, and then drains again into the caves. So cool to see this different geology. Karst geology--so amazing! I'm glad I picked up the geology book I did so that we can explore geology more fully. And to get to see the range of geology that we have just so far on our trip. Wow.