Some thoughts after getting thru the first 12...

It's not taken long for us to learn a few lessons and to figure out just how the 120 in 12 is going to go.  We started this journey on August 1 and have to be finished by July 31, 2011.  In twenty one days, we have seen twelve counties out of one hundred and twenty.  I'm glad we have gotten off on such a good start, because life is about to slow us down.  School has started, soccer has started and basketball isn't that far off.  Our time is really going to be limited and we won't be able to see counties in groups of four or five like we have been.  The problem is, we have to average 10 counties a month.  Thats 2.5 per week and with all that is going on till the end of the year, we will be lucky to average 2 per week.  If that ends up being the case, we will be way behind by the first of the year.  But never fear, we will persevere and get through them all!  The map above shows the counties we have visited so far.

I'm not sure our rules for this project have been completely laid out, I will list them here, so as you read our posts you will know why we may have done what we did.

1. Put our feet on the ground in all 120 Kentucky Counties in 12 months time.
2. We don't have to visit anything in particular, just visit the county.
3. Take a few pictures to record our visit.

4. Lastly, we have to learn something we did not know about the county.

Pretty simple rules.  The down side is, some counties will really be shorted because of the time factor and others will see a lot more of us because there is so much to do or we have had something recommened to us.

If you've been reading all of our posts, I have been listing some of the issues we have faced so far.  The biggest issue is time.  Although it's not one of the rules, we want to take the road less traveled and avoid the Interstates or major highways as much as possible.  This truly allows us to see the counties we are visiting.  Unfortunately, traveling takes a little longer on these roads.

The other issue I have notice is, the first county we visit on a multiple county day gets the longest visit.  By the time we reach our last county we are out of time and have stop, look around, take a picture and head home.  Hopefully we will get better at planning our trips and distribute our time more evenly.  This will be a neccesity with the limited time we are going to have over the next few months.  My guess is, we will be making some short nearby county trips in the evenings to help keep our average up.

The last "problem" is the amount of time it takes to research the background info on each county.  I have up to two hours of writing time in each post.  A few of them are under an hour but the average is probably about 90 minutes.  I have to figure out how to become a better researcher.

Those are about all the issues we have experienced.  And those issues pale in comparison to the time we have spent together and the things we have learned.  I would rank this as some of the best Family Time we have ever had.

Just a few thoughts on the counties we have visited so far.  I have traveled a lot more than mom and the boys, so I have been to several of the places we have visited and will visit.  But there are a few that I had not been to and some things that have stood out to me.

One of the first things that comes to mind is, I had no idea there was a Federal Prison in McCreary County.  I had never been to the University of the Cumberlands campus.  I have been to Bell County and the Cumberland Gap, but I did not know that Middlesboro was built entirely in a meterorite crater.  Like I mentioned in my Laurel County post, I had eaten at the original Kentucky Fried Chicken before, but didn't mind doing it again with the boys.  That place is rightfully a National Landmark.  KFC is a huge part of American pop culture.  Living in Central Kentucky I have heard of Bybee Pottery and have even owned a piece, but had never been there.  I never realized the long history that they have.  What can I say about Rabbit Hash?  We loved it there!  It's places like that we wished we had more time.  Then there was the Jackass Farm.  How do we ever beat that?

Don't take it as these are the only places we have liked.  In fact, we have enjoyed each and every stop.  You'll notice on the right side of the page an ever growing list of places we will return to when this is all over.  I'm afraid by the time this over, that list will be over 100 items long.  This project could go on for years!

I hope all of you are enjoying this as much as we are.  I encourage you to sign up and follow the 120 in 12.  The response we have gotten so far has been amazing.  Everyone wants to know where we've been and where we are headed next.  I can't speak for the rest of them, but I love talking about it.  If you have any suggestions on places to visit, places to avoid, places to eat or if you want to join us sometime, please let us know.  For those of you who don't know us, I'm sure you'll recognize Roadkill if you see him.  If you do, come on over and say hello.

See you on the road...