Ruth and the sunset at the island of Dhiffushi, Maldives.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Sunday, December 3, 2017

We're here to see the moonbow!

Just a short drive yesterday to Cumberland Falls State Resort Park.

The campground here is open year round, which we found kind of strange since most of the sites are geared towards small trailers or tents. But, they are on a self pay system in the winter and the water lines are shut off. Most sites have both 20 and 30 amp electric, and one site even has 50 amp, even though a big rig might have a difficult time getting up here.

Also, all sites are at a flat fee $20 USD ($26.40 CAD) per night. We wouldn't normally pay that much, but there's a reason we are here!

And, at least there is fast free wifi! We were pleasantly surprised at that.

We pulled up to the campground and had a quick look at the sites. Only two other small trailers here. The sites are packed really close together, and they are small, even for Sherman! They also aren't very level.

I had to get creative to get Sherman level.
And that was in one of the better sites!

No idea how anybody could get level in these sites!

Anyhow, we got ourselves set up, and put our $20 in the envelope. Not a very good campground, and $20 is too much. We wouldn't have stayed here except for the moonbow. Never heard of a moonbow? Either had we. Read on...

We decided to hop on the bikes and ride down to the falls. First stop though, was the lodge.

All decorated for Christmas.

Nice and cozy inside.

Beautiful view of the Cumberland River.

The reason people come here is because of the waterfalls. Nicknamed the southern Niagara Falls, Cumberland Falls can be spectacular in spring when the river is flooding. And even at this time of year they are worth seeing.

But there is something special about these waterfalls... 


I had read about this a couple of days ago, and Ruth and I looked at each other and said "hey, the full moon is Saturday night"!

So that's why we're here... to see the moonbow! Apparently there are only two places in the world where this phenomenon ocurs... one here, and one at Victoria Falls in Africa.

We rode our bikes down a very long steep section. That's great when you're going downhill, but it was going to be a long hard walk back up pushing the bikes! We came up with another plan.

There's the falls!


Tough to get a decent picture of the falls because the sun was totally at the wrong angle. 

The mist produces a normal rainbow during the day.

We went for a little stroll along the river.

We will be crossing this bridge with Sherman today.

Nice little picnic spot. Wish we could have parked Sherman here instead of at the campground!

There was a hiking trail leading back up to the lodge. We locked the bikes up at the bottom, and decided to walk back to the campground and then drive Sherman down to the parking area late afternoon, and we could pick up the bikes at the same time. So after doing all that work getting Sherman level, it was all for nothing!

We drove Sherman down to the lower parking area, had our dinner there, and waited for it to get dark. We were told that the moonbow would happen between 6:00pm and 8:00pm this particular evening. But we went out there at about 6:15pm, and the moon wasn't high enough in the sky yet.

Sherman, watching the moon come up.

We went back out at about 7:15pm and sure enough, there was the moonbow. 

Not quite as colorful as a normal daytime rainbow, but it was definitely there. Really tough to take a photo of it though. I mean, the only available light is from the moon. So it takes a long exposure time. I increased the ASA speed, and set the longest shutter speed on my camera which is only 4 seconds. I braced the camera and the railing, and after a couple of tries this is the best I could do...

A little grainy, but not bad!

Today, we're heading for Bowling Green, Kentucky and the National Corvette Museum!

Yesterday's drive, only 30 miles (50 kms).

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The highly rated WonderSleep Air Mattress is on sale today...


And in Canada...




12 comments:

  1. The lodge and falls are both beautiful. I see why you stopped.

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    1. Yes, it was definitely a worthwhile stop.

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  2. Beautiful falls. Moo bow not so bad either!

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    1. Thanks! We need a better camera to really capture that moonbow properly but Kevin did a pretty good job with what he had.

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  3. What a pretty spot! I have never heard of a moon bow, thanks for sharing.

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    1. Very pretty spot indeed and lots of great hiking. We hadn't heard of a moonbow until we did a little research on Cumberland Falls to see if it was worth the slight detour to our route. Guess it was! :-)

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  4. Very neat, never heard of moon bows - good for you to be able to capture it on camera

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    1. Neither had we! Kevin did a good job with what he had to work with.

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  5. How amazing! I love how you guys always find the most interesting features/places. If you end up in the Mena, Arkansas area, there is a beautiful lodge with awesome views at the top of the mountain above town. We lived here for about a year and loved this state park. Well worth the drive up to the top and they decorate the lodge for Christmas! http://www.queenwilhelmina.com/photo-gallery/default.aspx And in nearby Heavener, OK, ancient rune stones

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    1. Unfortunately we are not headed that way. The Natchez Trace ends up in Natchez, Mississippi so we will be too far south for a visit there. I will put this on my list though because Arkansas is another state that we really haven't spent much time in and it looks like it has lots of interesting places that we would love to hike, bike and kayak in. Thanks for the suggestions! :-)

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  6. Moonbow - hmmmm very interesting - never heard of it either!

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    1. We are always finding neat things when we are traveling along. :-)

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