Bedford/Mitchell/Orleans

 8-12-2021 - Thursday

We were hoping for an earlier start this morning because Joe Myers had given us a pretty full agenda, starting with breakfast at a bakery in Bedford that he highly recommended.  We left the RV at 10:00, stopped at the gate to ask about a waiting list to stay longer. She said there was a site, 116, open but she did not have the ability to "extend" our stay and suggested we get online, or try the office at the entrance where we did the other day. We drove up there, yes it was available, but she couldn't "extend" our stay, because she couldn't take the money if the office was open (when we got here on Tuesday, the office at the gate didn't open until 3:00 so she could take our credit card then, go figure). But she came up with the magic word -- we could “transfer" to that site, but we had to move today. But she couldn’t do that either, but they could back at the gate where we started out. So we went back to the gate, yes she could transfer us, but we had to move today. So we did all that, are now good until Monday morning. So 45 minutes later, we are heading out again.  What a mickey mouse way of doing things!!!

 Anyway, at 10:45, we are finally on our way, going across the causeway toward Bedford.  Water on both sides of us, very pretty.

On the way to  Bedford, we encountered our first Amish horse and buggy.  I always get excited when I see these, always think I have to take a picture of them.

in Bedford, we drove part way around the square (the buildings surrounding the square are beautiful Bedford stone), and found the bakery that Joe had raved about.  Another 11:30 breakfast. The choices were immense, 4 cases full of yummies.  

We settled on cinnamon rolls, and they were delicious.  We could see why this is one of Joe Myers' favorite places.

Joe had encouraged us to drive completely around the courthouse square and check out the beautiful limestone buildings, so we headed back to the square.  Bedford is the limestone capital of the world, and the limestone buildings last forever, and still look new.

Joe parked in front of the courthouse and I got out to take a couple of pictures.  There were some beautiful flowers here on the grounds.

There was also a buffalo statue on the grounds.  At one time, buffalo roamed Indiana, and parts of Highway 50 are also known as the Buffalo Trace. There are 200 of these painted buffalo around the state.  The second picture, which is on the courthouse side, has a beautiful covered bridge painted on it.

There are also a lot of beautiful limestone churches in town, some of them are huge.

As we headed out of town again, we saw an Amish produce wagon set up.  Joe stopped and looked at their cantaloupes but said they were all cracked on the bottom so he didn't buy any.

Along the way we came past this house -- looks like mother nature won this battle.

Next we headed to Mitchell, but we got sidetracked by a sign about Blue Springs Cave.  So we pulled in there and did a 1-hour boat ride tour in the cave.  Pretty awesome.

entrance

small stalagtites

other tour boat coming in, so we waited to leave until it was unloaded

You can barely see our opening here, where the boat goes through

There were several rock formations, everything is covered with a coat of mud but every once in a while you could see the limestone peeking through, especially in the few places the boat scrapes the side occasionally.

this is a good picture of the mud coating

Our guide/boat driver did a couple of "things" at the turn-around point.  She had us turn off all our flashlights, watches, phones, etc., and put us in total darkness.  With the lights back on, she smacked a floatable seat against the floor so we could hear the echoes.  Pretty cool.  The whole experience was pretty cool, very relaxing.  But the short walk up the steep incline back to the gift shop about did us in.  We have learned every cave we have toured ends with a walk up an incline, this one was particularly steep.  

Once we got our breaths back, we went back to the turnoff and continued on to Mitchell, home of astronaut Gus Grissom, the second American to travel in space and who perished in a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission in 1967.  We didn't go far enough the first time, toured Spring Mill Park instead, then drove back to town and tried it again.  This time we asked someone, and were successful.   

we didn't go inside the house

I love these pink flowers, called Naked Lady Lilies, Resurrection Lilies and Pink Surprise Lilies.  We have seen them all over southern Indiana, and they were also alongside the Grissom home.

On to Orleans, where I used to go to church camp.  It was fun driving through there, and I believe there are still some of the buildings being used, although a different church owns the grounds now.  I think this is the dorm we stayed in.

I believe this is the tabernacle we went to.  I looked inside and the bleachers looked familiar but I think they have upgraded the front altar area.

A

The landscaping in front of the tabernacle was very nice, including this planter filled with flowers in the shape of a cross.

and sure enough, the White Castle is just across the road.  It didn't like anyone was working today when we drove around the building.  We were told it is there processing plant, I believe.

also along the road here was one of those caution road signs, this one with a horse and buggy.  but we didn't see any of them here.

We made so many trips back and forth today, in the campground, in Mitchell, in Bedford.  And we do this everywhere we go.  I'm sure all over the country there are people saying “there goes that little white jeep again." 

We finished the day with pizza in town, another recommendation from Joe and Cathy.  They didn't join us, they have a broken board on their back steps and wanted to get that fixed -- I'm sure they were thinking they didn't want us falling through it.  But we were exhausted.  I was in bed by 8:30, and Joe followed shortly after.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a "down day" -- we need one.  But we are not very good with those, so we will see.