Tom and I have lived all over the US working for the National Parks. The welcome we received from the Appalachian people we met at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park was the warmest and friendliest of any we have experienced. We felt more connected to the people in the Appalachian community after four months than …
Lots of Ways to Camp at Wilderness Road Campground
There are lots of ways to camp. Camping can range from people sleeping on pads on the ground to Full-timers in big rigs who hardly ever sit outside. Over our summer at Wilderness Road Campground, we saw a huge variety of ways for people to camp. Class A’s are generally the biggest motorhomes. We didn’t …
Seen at the Visitors Center
When you are working at a National Park Visitors Center, you never know what you will see. Here are some random things that didn’t fit into any of my other posts about Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. A big part of our job at the Information Desk was taking reservations for tours. Starting at 9 …
Heritage Days at Cumberland Gap
The last weekend Tom and I worked at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park were the Heritage Days. In the past, these days have celebrated the Appalachian way of life around the time of the Hensley Settlement – 1900 and later. This year, Ranger Layton was in charge of Heritage Days and he decided we would …
Breaks Interstate Park: Grand Canyon of Virginia
What is the Grand Canyon of Virginia and Kentucky? Breaks Interstate Park. In fact, Breaks Interstate Park is so grand that they claim to be the Grand Canyon of the South. Tom and I headed to Breaks Interstate Park on one of our last days off at Cumberland Gap. We didn’t intentionally save it for …
JR Hoe and Sons Iron Foundry
While Tom and I were at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, we had the opportunity to tour JR Hoe and Sons Iron Foundry. Tom had been doing the Iron Furnace talk and was interested in finding out more about the iron heritage in Middlesboro. Middlesboro was founded as an iron town, “The Pittsburgh of the …
Restoring a Historic Loom at Cumberland Gap
One of the projects Tom and I had at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park was restoring a historic loom and setting it up in the Visitors Center. The loom had been stored up at Hensley Settlement for years and the mice had gotten to it and eaten most of the strings. When we first arrived …
Your “We” Is Too Small: A Challenge
Tom and I are back at our home in Ohio and got to attend worship at Lewis Center United Methodist Church yesterday. Rev. Phil Rode preached on Romans 15 and it was a good sermon. As often happens when I am listening to a sermon, Rev. Phil mentioned something – not a major point in …
Henderson Settlement in Frakes, Kentucky
While Karen Graham was visiting, we decided to make a trip to Henderson Settlement in Frakes, Kentucky. Henderson Settlement is a United Methodist Mission and Work Camp located “up the mountain” from Middlesboro. Karen had been there before because her sister, Pam, had worked there and Pam and Chuck lived in Frakes for years. Henderson …
Cumberland Gap Visitors and Some Shades
One week in August, Tom and I had four Cumberland Gap Visitors. We were feeling the love! Our first visitors were Jeanette Meleen and her new family. We worked with Jeanette in Death Valley National Park and got together when she was working at William Howard Taft National Historic Site. She is currently working at …