My Backpacking Trip, Day -1

Friday March 21, 2008 Day -1

On Friday I got up at 4 am, finished loading the car, woke up the kids, and hit the road. We were westward bound by 6am. It was an uneventful trip to Indiana and we arrived in Mitchell, IN around 7pm. I exchanged the kids at the McDonalds at the intersection of Indiana routes 37 and 60, then took 60 back to Scottsburg and onto I-65. At this point I still had no idea where I was going to drive to so I could start my trip. I decided to drive and think it over. I had seen a Dicks Sporting Goods on I-65 as soon as you crossed into Indiana from Kentucky and I needed a few last-minute items so I decided to drive down there, get the stuff, and decide where to go.

When I got off the highway I saw a Bass Pro Shop near the Dicks. Perfect. They have comparable prices and a much larger selection than Dicks. I went into the Bass Pro Shop and found the camping section. I bought some freeze-dried spaghettiand Pad Thai meals and I got a Lexan drinking cup. I also got some jerky that I thought would make a good lunch to eat on the go.

Leaving the Bass Pro Shop I found a Wal Mart so I stopped there. I got some food items like a box of Power Bars, a can of Hormel Chili and some Beanie Weenies. I went to the sporting goods section and bought an inflatable memory foam pillow, a water resistant stuff sack, a pair of rain pants, and a few other little things. I noticed hand warmerson sale and I bought several packs of the hand, foot, and body warmers. I went by the footwear section and couldn't find any hiking boots my size but I found a pair that were on clearance that were half a size too big. I figured that with an extra pair of socks on they would be fine. Boy was I wrong about that.

I paid for the stuff then I went back to my car and opened a Kentucky road map. I added the distances to each of the four locations and decided I had enough gas and time to make it to the Big South Fork in Kentucky, but Tennessee might be pushing it too far. I decided on the Big South Fork in Stearns, Kentucky. Earlier that morning I had printed the weather forecasts for Big South Fork and Mammoth Cave and the Big South Fork had the favorable forecast. It would be in the 60's during the day and 40's each night in the Big South Fork. Mammoth Cave was 50's/30's and had some snow forecast.

Somewhere around 10:15 pm I pulled out of the Wal Mart parking lot and drove into Louisville on I-65, then took I-64 East toward the Big South Fork. I got to I-75 in Lexington and took I-75 south. By this time I was getting very tired. I made it somewhere near Berea and finally saw a sign for a rest stop. It was the first rest stop since I got onto I-75 and I was pretty desperate to find one at this point. I got to the rest area and saw that it was more of a cultural center that sold local folk art to tourists. It closed at 8pm and it was somewhere around 2am by now. There was a truck in the parking lot with a large camper hitched to it and the occupants were asleep, so I parked my car and decided to sleep there. I broke out the inflatable pillow I bought at Wal Mart and used it with a few fleece blankets I had in the back for the kids. I took off my shoes and socks, put the seat all the way back, and fell asleep in no time.