My Old Kentucky Trip -- Do YouThink I Can Do It?

The trip I have dreamed about for a long time is reaching its finalization stage. I am going to travel to Kentucky before the end of 2011 and I am excited. It is going to be great to visit the land of many of my ancestors. They are mostly my paternal ancestors but there are a few on my maternal side as well. I am lucky they stayed pretty much in the central part of Kentucky, although they did move around enough to make it a challenge for me. The map is showing the route I want to cover.

The very top is Louisville, Jefferson Co Kentucky and the very bottom is Albany, Clinton Co Kentucky. The far left is Leitchfield, Grayson Co Kentucky and the far right is Barbourville,Knox County Kentucky. The places are numbered (for my own sanity). #1 at the top is where the Marders, Poulters, Arterburns and Cornwells lived. #5 is the far western county I will visit in Kentucky, its where the Collard, Storms, Morgan and Pryor families lived. #7 and #8 is where the Campbell, Craig, Brown and Hannah families lived. #11 is the far eastern county I will visit and it is where the Craig and Linn families lived.

The event that inspired this trip in the first place was when I found the 1787 Virginia Land Grant for John Goulden. He and the family of Sally Williams lived in the areas of #14, #15, #16, and #17 Scott, Franklin, Fayette and Jessamine counties. I want to find that land and see it for myself. I only hope its not a shopping center now or some other kind of asphalt jungle.

In between the #'s mentioned above I will be checking on other Kentucky families I know. I expect to spend quite a bit of time at the Kentucky State Archives and Historical Society in Frankfort.

My trip is inspired by a movie I saw not so long ago. It is called "The World's Fastest Indian". It's the story of a man in New Zealand (Anthony Perkins) that was nearing the end of his life and he had many heart problems. His dream was to travel to the United States and race his 1929 Indian motorcycle at the salt flats in Utah. The movie was about his adventures getting there -- and winning the race. It was something he was driven to do and the risk was not ever in the equation. I recommend the movie to everyone. It is a good one.

I don't especially feel I am nearing the end of my life -- but it is inevitable at some point. I am driven to take this trip. I am blessed that I am in good enough physical and mental health to do it. Any risk involved is immaterial to me. Do you think I can do it? Of course, I will report back when the trip is a memory. patj