Location: Jenny Wiley State Park Campground, Prestonsburg, Kentucky

Dates: July 17 to 21, 2017

We traveled on Monday, the 17th, from Lexington to Jenny Wiley State Park in eastern Kentucky. We were heading there to visit Malcolm’s brother and family and to see our niece, Jazzlyn, perform in a children’s theater production.

When we arrived, we saw that Malcolm’s brother’s RV was already set up next door but nobody was around. They were all out at play practice. Malcolm went to call his brother to let them know we were here and that’s when we found out that there was practically no cell service in the campground. There was also no wi-fi except near the front check-in area.

The lack of connectivity posed minor issues with Malcolm’s work, but we got by using the central campground wi-fi when needed. In the afternoons, we would often drive to the nearby lodge and use the wi-fi there, as needed. Otherwise, we enjoyed each others’ company as well as a couple different play performances.

On Monday afternoon we got together and cooked out. We put up our bug screen over the picnic table and we enjoyed a dinner together.

On our way to Lexington, we had picked up some items at Camping World to fix the power cord on David’s RV as well as some self-leveling sealant for the roof seams. One afternoon, Malcolm and his brother climbed up on the rig to look at the air conditioner and seal up some seams. Earlier, Malcolm had repaired their power cord.

On Tuesday night, we went to the nearby outdoor Jenny Wiley amphitheater to see a production of Tarzan. We had a good time and, even though it was very warm and humid, the show was worth it. You couldn’t take pictures during the performance, so we only have a picture of the stage.

We also did a family selfie in the audience.

We all met for lunch on Wednesday in downtown Prestonsburg at Billy Ray’s. It was good food. Afterwards, David, Marsha and Jazzlyn headed on to play practice while we headed back to the trailer.

On Thursday, Jazzlyn had her first performance that was a full dress rehearsal that only one parent could attend. Marsha went with her and David hung around with us all day. We left around 4:00 and, running a bit early, we did some sightseeing in Pikeville, which is where the play was being put on.

We drove up to the top of a hill and went to an overlook for the “Big Cut-Through”. That was a project that started in 1973 and went on for 14 years, removing millions of cubic yards of earth to widen the valley below and helping to prevent the disastrous flooding of Pikeville by the Big Sandy River. It was the largest single project of its kind in the US and second in the world, with only the Panama Canal being larger.

Here are some pictures taken from the overlook into the valley, below.

After doing our sightseeing, we headed on down into town to see the play. Jazzlyn played the part of Fiona in a performance of Shrek. She did great and it was a very fun play. We got pictures out in the lobby afterwards. We also stopped for dinner on the way back to the campground after Jazzlyn got out of costume.

On Friday, we slowly got ready to leave since we had a short drive to our next destination. We said goodbyes and headed up the hill around 11:00 AM to stop by the dump station before heading up US 23 to our next destination.