My Old Kentucky Home

For our first camping trip, we decided to go someplace close to home but far enough away to get some miles on the new trailer. We had bounced around several ideas over winter and couldn’t really settle on any particular place.

We finally decided to look up the Kentucky State Parks just as a way to narrow things down. My Old Kentucky Home came up as an option, and I mentioned to my wife that the name really worked for me. You know, one reason I got onboard with buying the RV trailer was to explore the Commonwealth that has welcomed me and has become my forever home. Plus, MOKH was about an hour away from the house and if we had issues my parents lived just a few miles away from the campground. Worst case, we could stay there if there was a problem.

My Old Kentucky Home Campground welcomed us in what I understand is the normal campground way. Everybody watches the new people pulling in. We had learned from various online groups that this is a normal pastime when camping at a campground. You watch how the new people drive in, back into their spot, and set up. There is usually some pointing and critiques made about it. Sometimes people will come up to help you back into your spot or just to watch what you are doing.

It felt a bit strange, but I didn’t worry too much about it. I swung around the campground until we found our reserved spot and stopped to take a look at it before we backed in. One of our neighbors said “Hi”. They were up the hill from us in a pop-up tent trailer. The spot had no obvious issues and should be pretty easy to back into.

The site was not very level, but I don’t think there is a level spot in that campground. This one was labeled ‘moderate’ on a scale of flat, slight, moderate and severe. There is only one spot in the whole place that is labeled flat, but for some reason is indefinitely out of service. Our spot would do. We have a set of drive on ramps and blocks that can help compensate for side-to-side level. Front-to-back level is handled with the front trailer jack.

I have installed a LevelMate Pro unit in the trailer. This allows an app on my phone to ask the trailer what its orientation currently is. Using the ramps and the LevelMate, I was able to get it pretty close but ran out of ramp. It showed we were 1 inch lower on the right side of the camper. This was close enough to not be too noticeable inside. It was even within the level required to run the refrigerator on propane if we had to. The only issue was the distance from the bottom step to the ground. It took a little extra effort going up or down the steps to avoid a mishap.

Before we bought the trailer, we read many different posts and watch many different videos from experienced RVers. This is one reason why we had the drive on ramps, and much of the other equipment we had brought along with us.

One of the things we learned from a YouTube video (you can learn anything on YouTube) was to purchase and bring along extra water hose and an extension cord for electrical. These two hookups are sometimes too far away and you will eventually need something extra to reach. I was very happy that we had brought this stuff along.

There were warnings on the campground page, and on the booking site, that hookups could be as much as 40 to 50 ft away. Our particular site had it listed as quite a bit closer, but then you have to wonder where are they measuring from. It turns out the 50-ft water hose just reached with about a foot and a half to spare. We had to use the additional 25 ft of extension cord for the 30 amp power. It was about 6 feet shy for the cord that came with the trailer.

This particular site was not a full hookup, which means water, power, and sewer. It was water and power only. We figured this was okay, as it was just the two of us this trip, and just two nights. They did have a dump station so we could empty the trailer on the way out. If we needed to, there was also a bath house on-site. It looked old, but clean.

My job on this trip was to get the outside setup work taken care of. This includes the previously mentioned power and water, but also getting the stabilizer jacks down in the corners and the x-chocks between the tires for stability. If we wanted any warm food, a hot shower, or heat, I also had to get the gas turned on.

While I did this work, my wife unpacked the outdoor table and folding chairs. She then got busy on getting the inside of the trailer prepped for use. I, for one, was looking forward to a shower. That thought reminded me that I needed to also turn on the water heater. I set it to use both electric and gas to get it hot faster and to make sure the gas portion worked. When it got hot enough, I turned off the gas heat and left the electric to do the job.

We sat out for a bit that first evening, but it was getting pretty chilly. The temperature was supposed to get below freezing, so we didn’t linger outside for very long. Besides, they didn’t have any firewood at the camp store/pro shop (the campground is nestled in a golf course). A light dinner, the aforementioned shower, and off to sleep we went.

The next morning we were awakened to the sound of Whoosh Whack and some light swearing. It turns out that right behind our trailer was the tee off spot for Hole 1 of the surrounding golf course. We got to listen to the various golfers talk, tease, and joke around for the rest of the day. The swearing happened just about every time a golfer shanked one off into the trees. Fore!

After breakfast we toured the Rowan Mansion, which sits on a property called Federal Hill. This is the location that supposedly inspired Stephen Foster to pen the song My Old Kentucky Home, but this notion is historically contested. The official line is that he is a family member who visited for several months. In any case, the song became the State Song of Kentucky, and the estate was sold to the Commonwealth as a historic site and state park.

There’s some history to go over. The original owner of the place, United States Senator John Rowan, owned slaves which he used to farm the property and build his wealth. They make it clear that while he was a slave owner, his son was not. Upon his death, his will distributed his slaves to several other people. The son suffered great financial hardship because of this, since he no longer had hands to work all 1200 acres of the farm. He and subsequent family members grew some small crops in gardens in and around the house. They also kept some livestock. It was just enough to feed themselves.

The visitors center and mansion are interesting, and I suggest a visit. During the warmer months they put on a play called The Stephen Foster Story, which is the longest running outdoor play in Kentucky. I have not seen it, but my wife says it is enjoyable. The costumes alone are worth the admission.

That evening we met up with my folks at BJ’s Steakhouse in Bardstown, KY. We had a good meal and got caught up on the various things going on. It was the first meal we had in a restaurant in over a year, which took a moment to get used to. They have very good steaks there and know how to cook them. I highly recommend the place.

My dad was kind enough to bring along some firewood, so we continued on to the campground and sat around the fire for a bit. We even roasted a few marshmallows for s’mores.

The next morning had us up at 8:00 am. It felt strange to sleep in that much, but good nonetheless. We had a breakfast of biscuits and eggs, then got busy with packing up the trailer. Check out time is 1:00 pm, but we were aiming for about 11:00 am, so we could avoid a line at the dump station.

I was a little nervous about using the dump station, as it was my first time with this trailer. I had dumped my parent’s 5th wheel trailer a few times, but that was close to 20 years ago. But, not to worry, pull the black tank and let it drain. Hook up the tank flush, which is something new to me, and flush out the black tank. Good thing we did, because some chunks went down the hose. Eww. The grey tank drained normally.

With that out of the way, we had an uneventful drive home. Since this was our first time out with the trailer,we had a list of things to do differently, and of course a shopping list. Amazon got a bit of a workout but we kind of expected that.