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...

Bell County

We were on the road and traveling towards Bell County by 9:00 am Monday morning.  We headed east out of Williamsburg (Whitley County) on Hwy 92.  We decided to spend the last day of our vacation trying to hit as many counties as we could.  So, we opted to start in Bell County, run north on US 25, catch I-75 in Corbin and head north towards home from there.  There is a TON to do in Bell County, but first a touch of history:

BELL COUNTY BACKGROUND

Bell County was formed in August of 1867 from parts of Harlan and Knox Counties.  The county is named after Joshua Frye Bell a former Congressman and Kentucky Secretary of State.  Pineville is the county seat, but Middlesboro is the largest city in the county with a population just over 13,000. 

Large amounts of county records were destroyed in fires in 1914 and 1918.  Again, more records were destroyed in 1977 during a flood.  Pineville is located on the Cumberland River were it passes by Pine Mountain.  Middlesboro is located just on the Kentucky side of the Cumberland Gap.

Middlesboro has a claim to fame that no other city can claim.  It is built completely in a meteorite crater.  The other unique bit about Middlesboro is, it does not have a Main Street.  It's equivilent is Cumberland Avenue.

As with most of the counties in the area, early industries included coal and timber. 

The Cumberland Gap was first discovered by Dr. Thomas Walker in 1750.  The Gap had long been used by Native Americans and was widened by a group of loggers led by none other than Daniel Boone.  It is estimated that between 200,000 - 300,000 immigrants passed through the gap before 1810.

The Cumberland Gap Tunnel was complete in 1996 under the gap, at which time, the original trail was restored.  The Gap was added to the National Historic Register on May 28, 1980.

Bell County is also home to Pine Mountain State Resort Park.  Pine Mountain has the distinction of being named Kentucky's first state park in 1924.  Originally named Cumberland State Park, it's name was changed in 1938, so it wouldn't be confused with nearby Cumberland Falls.

As you leave US 25 headed towards Pine Mountain, you pass by Clear Creek Bible College.  Clear Creek was founded in 1926 by Dr. Lloyd Caswell Kelly, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Pineville.  Clear Creek's objective is to provide theological preperation for adults called of God to Christian Service.

OUR VISIT

We bypassed everything and headed straight for The Cumberland Gap Tunnel.  We drove through the Tunnel into Tennessee and immediately turned around and came straight back.  Once we were back in Kentucky, we stopped at the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.  While we were there, we spent some time looking around the Visitor's Center and gathering information for the rest of our Monday excursion.  Browsing through some of the local informational pamphlets, that we learned that the City of Middlesboro is built completely inside a meteorite crater.  Once the 120 in 12 is finished and time allows, we will plan to revisit the Park to hike some of the over 80 miles of trails they have mapped.

After we left the Park, we stopped off in Middlesboro at the Bell County Historical Society Museum.  When we walked in the door, we were welcomed  by the most pleasant man with a strange accent.  He told us his name was David Thompson and that he was originally from Russia.  We explained to him our 120 in 12 project and that we didn't have much time, but we were interested in the fact that Middlesboro was built inside a crater.  He was so helpful and accomodating, showing us the information we were looking for.  We thoroughly enjoyed talking with him and could have stayed and chatted all day, but time was ticking by.  He had such a wide range of knowledge that went beyond the call of the Bell County Museum.  If you ever get the chance, we highly recommend stopping in.

Jumping back on US 25 North, we were on our way to Pine Mountain.  Once we made the turn and were headed towards the park, we realized we would be going by Clear Creek Bible College.  We couldn't wait to stop since we have a friend who graduated from there.  But, just like every other college we've been to the last two weeks, it's summer break.  So there wasn't anyone around except for a few administrative and maintenance people.  We got out, took a few pictures and moved on.  If you look real close, that's Roadkill sitting on top of the wall.

Driving just around the bend and up the mountain, the next thing we knew, we were at Pine Mountain State Resort Park.  Knowing we were short on time, hiking the trails were not going to be an option today, so we drove on up to the lodge, looked around, took a few pictures and moved on.  But the facilities looked extremely nice.  They were completely remodeled in 1999.  On the corner of US 25 is the Wasioto Winds Golf Course.  Wasioto was ranked as the 4th Best New Affordable Golf Course in 2004, by Golf Digest.

We wrapped up our tour of Bell County, by driving through Pineville.  Pineville seems to be a great little mountain town.  It reminds me of other communities in the area I have visited in the past.

Time was against us and we had over a hundred miles to cover and four more counties to see, before the day was over.  We stayed on US 25 North and were on our way to Knox County.  See you there!