kentucky

Turns out we bypassed Nashville, and headed straight for Bowling Green, Kentucky.

First was dinner at Blaze Pizza, followed by a trip to the Conundrum Workshop.

We've been to Escape Rooms before, but this one was different.

We spent an hour in the Mad Hatter's Tea room, and between Kooka's intensity, Punk's thinking outside of the box, and Tiny's attention to detail, we managed to escape (with just a three minute bonus). Despite trips to Disney, and Universal this was one of the highlights of our trip. One hour, locked in a room with nothing but each other and our collective wits was what we always hope for when we road trip. The owner Ken showed us around when we were finished. We got to check out the jailbreak room, the mad scientist room, the bank robbery room and even his gigantic drum set that he let all of us try.

After ice cream at McDonald's and a good night's sleep, we packed up and headed north to Horse Cave, Kentucky because of this place:

Kentucky Down Under.

We spent four hours galavanting with kangaroos, emus, lorikeets, tortoises, wallabies and peacocks. We followed it up with a cave tour and mining for gems.

 The lorikeets were our favorite. "Molty" had a special affinity for Punk, while "Iago" scared the crap out of all of us. 

Both big kids said it was one of the best parts of our trip, which made the 90 uphill hike worth it.

One more stop for ice cream and we're in Mount Vernon, Illinois, where the pool is crystal clear and the barbecue joint next door is killer.