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Click on each specimen picture to enlarge Click on each specimen picture to enlarge The following pictures were taken by Everett to show some of his more noteworthy specimens from this location Click on each specimen picture to enlarge On our drive back to our campground from the lake, I couldn't resist stopping to take a picture of a full moon rising over an old barn - rural Kentucky at its best. You could probably guess where we had supper after our Lake Cumberland event. Yep, Golden Corral again - I lost count of the plates that Everett used - that boy can eat! Our plan for Monday, our last day of collecting, was to head north to do some prospecting in Garrard, Boyle and Lincoln Counties. On our way north, we wanted to check out the US-27 road construction site that Chrissy and I had discovered during the Thanksgiving holiday. Everett stopped there briefly on his way down Saturday and found a decent specimen with dogtooth phantom calcite crystals. We arranged to meet there around 9:00 AM. When we arrived at the US-27 road construction site, Everett was already there prying and swinging his sledge hammer.      Seeing that a large volume of rain water had collected and the muddy conditions, Chrissy and I put on our rubber boots and slogged our way over to where Everett was busy working. Everett showed me some excellent specimens with dogtooth calcite, pink dolomite and pyrite. I took advantage of my rubber boots to wade to areas that Everett, with his work shoes, could not reach, and was able to recover a few keepers to add to our collection. Click on each specimen picture to enlarge Click on each specimen picture to enlarge By lunchtime, we had exhausted the obvious mineral prospects in the relatively small area, so we headed north to Stanford where we enjoyed a hearty meal at Mickey D's. After that, we traveled north and west into Garrard and Boyle Counties, respectively. We stopped at several road cuts that I had found listed in the literature, but we didn't find much of anything. So, by late-afternoon, we bid our farewell to Everett and Celia and they headed north toward Michigan and we headed south back toward our campground. On our way, we were treated to one of the most beautiful sunsets that either of us could remember - a fitting end to a terrific three days of Kentucky rockhounding. Christmas Eve Sunset over Lake Cumberland Somerset, Kentucky We fell asleep or, more accurately, passed out at around 9:00 PM that evening, so we woke up very early on Christmas day. We took down the camper, showered and were on the road before dawn. We passed right by Cumberland Falls on Hwy-90 just as the morning sun was beginning to peak over the horizon, so we decided to stop and see for ourselves why it attracted so many tourists. Much to our delight, we had the entire place to ourselves and were thrilled with the views of the picturesque falls. Cumberland Falls, Kentucky Never to be outdone as a dog model, Opal perched herself on a huge water-worn boulder with the famous Cumberland Falls as a backdrop. We made it home just in time to head back out to Chrissy's parent's house where we enjoyed a fantastic meal of turkey and all the fixin's. It'd be hard to beat this Christmas holiday, but we'll give it our best try next year! CLICK THE LITTLE MINER TO RETURN TO THE FIELD TRIP PAGE