Trip Report
OP here.
I returned from my road trip on Wednesday afternoon. I had a great trip that went exactly as planned.
Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio was a very nice afternoon. I spent a few hours walking the main trails into the cool ravines and did some hiking up to the upper portions as well. This is well worth a visit.
Mammoth Cave National Park was also very nice. I spent an afternoon walking some of the above-ground trails in the visitor center area. Then the next morning, I went down into the cave on the Modified Extended Historic Tour (self-paced) that they are using during Covid. I had to buy timed entry tickets and I did this a few weeks in advance. On the day of the tour, I was able to exchange my 1:30 pm ticket for an 11:15 ticket since I was already there.
As far as caves go, I enjoyed Carlsbad Caverns much better. Carlsbad has more water-built features that seem more interesting to me. Mammoth is a pretty dry cave as most of the water is now below it. I don't think I even saw a stalactite! Luray Caverns in Virginia was also more interesting, I think. But still, Mammoth's immensity is impressive and well worth the day. But it's mostly dry rock chunks that are exposed and walked through. I kind of felt like I was walking through a underground canyon in Utah. Still better than a day at the office!
I then did the long drive to Hot Springs, Arkansas where I spent a day and a half. As expected, Hot Springs National Park isn't all that impressive compared to many other National Parks, but I enjoyed walking the Bath House Row and reading about the various Baths. The scenic drives were nice, but nothing to write home about. But at least I can now say that I've "Been There" to that National Park.
Next, I was off to St. Louis to visit Gateway Arch National Park. I found this to be very exciting. Due to Covid, there are a limited number of tickets sold to go up in the arch, so I had purchased mine in advance. Upon arrival at the Park, I only had about 30 minutes to spare before my time slot. So up I went. They are only using one side of the arch to go up and down during Covid (but a Ranger told me that they are likely to start using the other side of the arch in the near future). There are only 8 (or was it 10?) VERY compact cars that pull you up to the top on each side. Due to Covid, each party has their own car. Since I was solo, I had a car all to myself. I'm 6'4" and about 350#, so that car felt pretty small. My head only had about an inch to spare while sitting down. I can't imaging being crammed in there with 4 other people (they hold 5). Once to the top, each car was also assigned a specific set of windows to look out. I had a window all to myself on both sides of the arch that I could go back and forth with. As a Ranger said, because of the Covid restrictions, the experience at the top is actually more pleasant. Instead of competing with 100+ other people for window views, there were only about 30 people at the top with me and there was no jostling around for window time. However, we were not permitted to stay up top for more than 10 minutes or so. Everyone goes up together and then goes down together. Well worth visiting.
Then I was on to Dayton, Ohio to visit the United States Air Force Museum. This place is huge and a must-see if you have any interest in the history of flight and the Air Force, in particular. There are several large hangars that have been linked together and converted into museum space. They hold hundreds (thousands?) of aircraft as well as many, many written and/or video exhibits about every aspect of the Air Force and wars that we have experienced. If you want to visit every aircraft and exhibit enough to read all the signs, you better plan on spending a few days here. I only had a few hours, so I did a pretty quick pass through all of the buildings and focused on reading about a few key things that caught my eye. I will definitely go back and visit again with a more dedicated agenda.
The next day, I returned to Pennsylvania and mowed my jungle of a yard.
I drove the 2020 Ram 1500 for 2,714.9 miles (53+ hours of driving time) and got 22.7 miles per gallon.