Kentucky and mostly Lincoln

We start this next post at the end of one of our driving days.  In looking for camping spots, I happened upon a place renting "wigwams," which in truth aren't really that but still a fun idea.  It's a solid, teepee-shaped room with a bed and bath, and the inside wasn't much to write home about, but the outside is quite entertaining:

From there we continued our tour of Roadside America with "Stonehenge Kentucky" - apparently this is someone's yard:

The "battleground" across the street, an excellent stone cannon:

We just happened upon this connection with our summer out west, so we had to stop and read how John Muir walked through Kentucky on his way to the Gulf of Mexico:

Another highlight of the morning was touring Abraham Lincoln's birthplace:

Perhaps we should have created something with the Lincoln logs before taking a photo...

A replica of where baby Lincoln first lived:

Two Lincoln life masks:

Checking out the spring the Lincoln family used on the property (still dripping clean water):

The building housing a replica of Lincoln's first cabin:

And the replica itself, quite a nice tiny house:

Statue of Lincoln in nearby Hodgenville:

Lincoln as a boy, reading a book:

The Gettysburg address in the pavement:

Trying to decide if John's beard makes him resemble Abe?  What about with this hat on?  Maybe a leprechaun then...

The rest of the day was spent driving across most of Kentucky and West Virginia, trying to get to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank before it closed.  Miscalculating the timing (basically, forgetting about the shift into the Eastern time zone) meant we would miss the last tour, but perhaps we could still get in the visitor center.

Starting to see pretty foliage along the way:

There is it!  Pretty dramatic.  Makes me want to see the movie Contact again sometime.  If we're ever back in that part of West Virginia we will have to return for an up-close tour:

Visitor Center displays explaining what a radio telescope does and all the discoveries that have been made here:

Love some of the interactive displays, especially the chance to take a "FLIR selfie" of ourselves in infrared:

I believe this one was created by a young scientist to prove how useful radio telescopes can be:

Another fun day on the road!