Spur of the Moment | Natural Bridge State Park | Kentucky

Or more aptly titled... What the Hell Was I Thinking.  Also TONS of photos...

Friday afternoon both my girls went to spend the weekend with their grandparents.  The house was strangely quiet with only one child in it.  We rented Oculus.  We were confused.  We give it a "meh" rating.

Saturday morning I sat drinking my coffee and I said to myself...

"Self, we don't get out of the house enough.  We should do something today because we have only one child to forcibly remove from his cozy bed and make spend time with us.  Let's explore Kentucky on a little road trip."

No one else was really on board with this idea.  My son didn't want to get out of bed and told me that instead of pretending we were a family with one kid, "go pretend you are a family with no kids."  Got to love teenagers, right?  The husband was very serious about not driving 3 or 4 hours, but I convinced him.  And by "convince" I mean, I didn't tell him.  Away we went to view the beauty of Kentucky via the Appalachian region and the Natural Bridge State Park.

Small panorama while sitting under the Natural Bridge.

The shortest (supposedly easiest) route to the bridge was stated as being only a half mile long on the sign at the trailhead, but several other places said it was 3/4 of a mile.  Longest half mile hike I have ever taken (probably closer to that 3/4 mile mark).  Thank goodness there are several small little huts with benches along the way.  I would never have made it to the top without several breaks.

Yes, I totally selfie'd when I got there.  But not before I was like... I claim this rock for my old, tired ass.  Get outta my way!  You can't tell from this picture, but I was completely drenched in sweat and my face was as red at a beet.

There was a tiny staircase carved out of the rock (just out of the shot in the panorama photo).  The husband and son decided they were going to continue climbing.  I decided to let them do that all by themselves.  The prospect of climbing up anything else was not on the menu.  Then this...

My view.  My husband leaning over the edge telling me that I needed to get up there.  I was terrified.  But not terrified enough that I didn't tell him to hold on, let me take a picture!

His view.  That's a wee little me.  So up the tiny little staircase I went.  The tiny little staircase that turns into the scary, equally as tiny, squeeze between huge, millions of years old, walls of rock.

When I got to the top... it was breathtaking.

Suddenly, that exhausting hike was forgotten.

He graced me with a photo op.  How gracious of him.

Yep.  Did it again.

I wish I would have made a photo sphere while I was there, but new phone.  I haven't downloaded the Google Camera yet.  *kicks self in ass*  Instead I did a full 360 degree panorama.  It looks a bit strange so I cropped it a couple of times to split it up.

Not far from the bridge was the skylift.  We had nearly convinced ourselves that we were going to take the skylift down because... exhausted.  But then we saw the skylift and my heart fell into my stomach.

It really was humid and hazy though the distant hills didn't look quite so blue in reality.  Whatcha gonna do?  It was my husband's cell phone.  I was too busy rocking in a corner while crying.  NO WAY in hell was I getting on that thing.  I'm scared of heights as it is, but DO YOU SEE THAT?!  Nope.  So I sucked it up, took a little breather, and began the journey back down the trail.  Going down wasn't as hard as going up, but it sure wasn't easy either.

After a quick stop for gas and snacks, the Nada Tunnel, a one-lane, 900 ft. long tunnel that is 12 ft. wide and 13 ft. high.

Not ominous at all, right?

They built this tunnel for the logging trains to move timber.  They drove TRAINS THROUGH HERE!  There must have been no room on any sides of the locomotives.

I feel like we barely scratched the surface.  For a spur of the moment idea, I think it actually went well.  My husband and I both agreed that we need to return.  With more planning and a hotel room.