WHAT
A LONG, STRANGE TRIP IT’S BEEN
Six
years ago, Christy and I started our biggest adventure. Our goal was to adopt a child, preferably a
newborn. After years of frustration, one
failed adoption, and tremendous expense, we were on the verge of giving
up. Then, in June of 2022, we finally
got THE CALL. The call that we had given
up hope on. A pregnant woman and her
boyfriend in Iowa had PICKED US TO RAISE THEIR CHILD! It was finally going to happen!
The
adventure culminated in late December.
Our son was scheduled to be born on December 26th. We left for Iowa on the 24th,
intending to arrive in Iowa on Christmas Day.
Our dream nearly ended on an icy highway in Kentucky. A terrible accident left us stranded, without
a car. But thanks to an outpouring of
help from friends and the kindness of strangers, we made it to Cedar Rapids in
time for the birth.
The
adventure didn’t end there, of course. We
still had to return to Iowa and appear in court to finalize the adoption. The court date was scheduled for Friday, July
14th. We could’ve have flown
to Iowa, or planned a long weekend road trip, but that isn’t how we do
things. My task was to come up with a
2-week family road trip, finishing up in Iowa for “Adoption Day”.
My
initial thought was actually a 4-week road trip to
Wyoming, but Christy rejected that idea.
She thought it would be too much with a 6-month old
child, and she was probably right.
My
second suggestion was a road trip to Michigan and Minnesota. That would be more geographically convenient,
and we could do it in two weeks. It
would also take care of some unfinished business. We had planned to visit that area in October
of 2022, after meeting our birth parents in Iowa. Sadly, Christy’s Grandfather passed away at
the beginning of that trip, requiring a change in plans.
Christy
approved this plan, as it also meant that we would get a chance to visit our friends,
Marsha and Ian, in St. Joseph, Michigan. Oddly, we visit them every five years, and we
were right on schedule.
I
only had a few weeks to plan the trip.
Fortunately, I knew where I wanted to go based on the previous trip that
we cancelled. I was concerned about
finding campsites, but we were able to find sites near Pictured Rocks National
Lakeshore (MI), Porcupine Mountains State Park (MI), and the Sawtooth Mountains
north of Duluth, MN.
In
the good old days, we would’ve driven all the way to St. Joseph, MI in one
day. However, that didn’t seem like a
good plan with a 6-month old. Instead, we decided to leave Friday afternoon
and split the drive across two days. A
short hike on Saturday would be the ideal way to break up all
of the driving. A friend of ours
suggested Carter Caves State Park in northeast Kentucky. That looked ideal, and I was able to get a
free room at a hotel outside of Huntington, West Virginia. I did have some misgivings about driving
through Kentucky again, but at least there wouldn’t be any ice this time.
We
got a late start on Friday. Packing was
a major undertaking, and holiday weekend traffic was terrible. It was almost midnight when we reached the
hotel. That didn’t help us get an early
start the next morning. Because of that,
we skipped the restaurant in Huntington that I had picked for breakfast and
settled for Denny’s instead.
It
was raining that morning, but it looked like the wet weather would clear by the
time we reached Carter Caves. We headed
there after breakfast and arrived late that morning. My plan for the first hike of our trip was a
4-mile loop on the Three Bridges Trail.
That would take us to Fern, Raven, and Smoky Natural Bridges.
It
was hot and humid despite the clouds when we started from the Visitor’s Center. I put Jackson in his pack and loaded the
bottom with everything else we might need.
Jackson loves having me carry him around. We decided to do the loop clockwise, for no particular reason. We
passed the entrance to one of the park’s many caves and followed the trail away
from the road. Before long, we found
ourselves on top of an escarpment. It
was heavily wooded, but we still got occasional views of the cliffs below
us. The park’s official rock climbing area looked particularly impressive.
Before
long we began a long descent on steep, slippery steps. We dropped down to the base of the cliffs and
passed some large boulders before arriving at the base of massive Fern
Bridge. This was easily our favorite of
the three natural bridges on the hike.
We spent a lot of time there, and even had it to ourselves for a while.
The
rain started shortly after we left. I
thought that all of the rain had passed through that
morning, but I was wrong. Initially it
was a pleasant change from the oppressive heat and humidity. It didn’t faze any of us, including
Jackson. That didn’t last long
though. A few minutes later it picked
up. We stopped to put the pack cover on
to keep Jackson out of the rain. That’s
when we discovered that the pack cover wasn’t in the pack. We found it in the car after we returned –
apparently it had fallen out when we were packing.
What
to do? I had my rain jacket, and we were
able to arrange it over the pack to keep Jackson dry. That was good, because it was pouring by the time we reached Raven Bridge. We could barely see it, and we certainly
didn’t get any photos. Christy and I
were drenched, but at least Jackson was dry.
A few minutes later I spotted a recession under a small cliff. We scrambled under the rock overhang and had
lunch out of the rain.
The
storm passed, and we resumed the hike.
We followed the base of more cliffs to Smoky Bridge, which is large but
less scenic than Fern Bridge. From
there, it was a short hike back to the trailhead. The heat returned on that last stretch, and
Christy and I were drenched from both rain and sweat by the time we
finished. We changed clothes in the
bathroom, and luckily Marsha and Ian let us use their washing machine the next
day. We didn’t want those clothes
stinking up the car over the next two weeks!
I’d
like to return to Carter Caves State Park over a full weekend. There is a large trail network there, and a
bunch of caves. Spring or Fall would be
better though – it’s way too hot in the summer there.
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