We have always enjoyed hiking. But, since hitting the road, we LOVE it. Getting to go for a hike in the areas we are exploring has been a favorite of ours on this adventure. At the beginning of this journey we talked about it and said that we would like to go on at least one hike per week. Unfortunately this has not happened because of weather, jobs, location, and so forth.

This Amazon job that Korey is currently working in Lexington Kentucky was a 12 week contract. He is working nights, sleeping during the day. I (Michelle) work days, sleep nights. Finding time to go for a hike, when the weather was cooperating, has been difficult. Luckily we had a nice Saturday where it was dry and not too cold a few weeks back, so we took full advantage of this and took the day trip out to the Natural Bridge.

The Natural Bridge is in Slade Kentucky. It was roughly 80 miles from where we are staying in Frankfort, and a great day trip! Since it is off season, the gondola was closed down. We didn’t plan on riding it up to the bridge, we planned to hike it, but it would have been fun to take the ride for the views alone. We chose one of the moderate hiking trails, and so enjoyed it.

Starting out we crossed over a stream on a cable bridge to get to the trail head where we started climbing. You go right into the woods and at a bit of an incline. Winding up and through the woods you pass multiple areas to rest, signs talking about the foliage and wild animals you could potentially see and so much beauty. This was a pretty popular trail so we were not alone, but it wasn’t so busy where you could feel rushed.

When you arrive at the Natural Bridge you have some pretty amazing views overlooking the hills and trees. The bridge itself was beautiful and definitely a natural wonder. At this point in the hike you have a couple options, you could continue the climb and head up to the top of the bridge, or take different trails back down the hill. After the work to get up there, we were definitely going to climb to the top. To get there you squeeze through a pretty tight area between rocks. There was standing water from the previous days rain, so we did get a little wet, but that was OK. Getting wet feet was worth it once we got to the top.

The views from the top of the bridge were beautiful. We spent a few minutes taking it all in and noticed a look out point across the way so we hopped on that trail to make our way over there. Once we arrived at the look out, we plopped down on the rocks to enjoy a break with some snacks and water and enjoyed the views. We were there with about 10 others doing the same thing. It was the cherry on top for this hike.

After our hike we were ready for some FOOD. It was around lunchtime, but we both wanted breakfast, so we set out to find a restaurant that was serving this option. Unfortunately a lot of the cafes were closed for the winter. We were a little surprised because of how busy the trails were that these places would be closed, but we luckily found a great little spot to eat, and they had breakfast! It was actually a little general store that had 5 tables. The cashier was also our waitress and the cook. We were the only ones there, the service was fast and good and the food was exactly what we craving.

Soon we will be heading to Asheville North Carolina and plan on going on a hike while there. We are very much looking forward to this trip, not only for the hike and getting to visit the Biltmore, but also because we are really getting antsy to move onto our next location. It’s funny how you can live in one place for years and not feel antsy to get out, and now that we are traveling full time, staying in one place for that many weeks really makes you want to move on. Maybe it is the excitement of the unexplored for us. We are enjoying our travels so much and want to keep moving. We also know that we have to work so it is at a much slower pace than some. For the next few months Korey will be off. I will still be working Mon-Fri so we will stay in different stops for at least 2 weeks, giving us a full weekend and evenings to venture out and see the different attractions. Our next long stint will be the summer, where Korey will be working at an RV Resort in Virginia, we will be there for 4 months. It is longer than this current stop but we think that it will be OK because we will be right on Chesapeake Bay with so many places to explore…plus it will be summer, so the weather will make the long stay that much more enjoyable.

Thanks for following along on our journey!

Korey & Michelle