July 8th - 17th, Kentucky

Monday-July 8 Travel to Russell  Springs Kentucky

Driving here today was mostly interstate I-40 from Spartanburg SC, to Asheville NC, to Knoxville

TN, we passed through many green, forested, rolling hills.  I remember the first time I saw scenery like this from an airplane it reminded me of tons of heads of broccoli sprouting all over the countryside.  There was not much new having just traveled this route going south about 10 days ago.  With the warm, sweltering summer heat though I could see that many of the large patches of day lilies are past their prime (unlike the picture to the right in North Carolina).  It was quite a long day, 441 miles so about nine hours including two stops.  Much longer that we typically like, but there was not much we had planned along the way, so rather than make a one night stop for convenience to were up at 6 am and on the road by 7:20 am.  Kentucky is one of only four states that we haven't camped in (not including Hawaii), so after tonight we'll be down to three!!!!

Tuesday July 9-14 Hanging at Lake Cumberland

This week is all about more time with family.  We really enjoy spending time with Tony's brother Greg and his wife Melanie.  (Our many euchre games are pretty much tied over the years.)  Greg has been working diligently the past two years on prepping his piece of land to build a summer house on the shores of Lake Cumberland.  Well, as close as you can get since the first 300 feet up the steep cliffs from the water is owned by the Army Corps

of Engineers. (Cutting or clearing trees within that area can net fines of $10K per tree.)  Greg's place is framed and has electricity so it has also been a respite from the heat and humidity to cook and eat in.  The four grandkids, ages 9-14, have been sleeping in the basement while the adults sleep in our RV's.  We taught the kids to play Aggravation and are going to try the dice game Farkle later in the week.  When was the last time you sat down and colored with kids?  It is quite relaxing with colored pencils and markers providing additional options to crayons, that we did not have as kids. 

There is a GM dealer in Russell Springs, so I took the truck for an
oil change and tire rotation while Melanie shopped for groceries.  Meanwhile Tony and Greg hung some kitchen cabinets (acquired during a friend's remodel) in the basement of the Lake house.  The guys also helped a neighbor frame and hang a service door in his new pole barn.  This week we sat and marveled at lightening during thunderstorms, watched the stars come as day light faded away, and listened to the crickets, cicadas and frogs begin their evening chorus while rocking on the porch.  Bobbing in the water, Boating and Tubing and cruising around some of the 1200+ miles of shore line has filled in the rest of the time.  I even managed to play Queen of the Big Mable chair float for a while, successfully fending off all four grand boys at once.  One afternoon we cruised to Lilly Creek.  A good time was had by all. 

It is amazing how warm the water is, especially the top couple feet.
  Jumping off the boat or submerging to the cooler waters below was super refreshing.  Some adventurous people had mounted ropes and kids and adults could scale up the incline to a rock ledge where a small creek dumps into the lake.  The kids had a blast climbing and jumping for quite a while.  One of the funniest things was when one of the boys had to pee.  He thought he walked far enough away from the ledge to be inconspicuous.  However, we were far enough back from the ledge in the water that it seemed like he was a fountain with his back to us taking a leak and creating the waterfall.  We got quite a few chuckles out of that.

We even got a lesson in the intricacies and nuances of  the video game FortNite, the celebratory moves done when you advance in the game and how those moves translate to the latest gyrations at school dances including "The Floss".  We learned that though these boys think it is rated "E" for everyone ('because even 5 year olds play it!"), that it is really rated for 12 and over, that parents think there is blood and gore but since killed characters are hauled away by a robot and they vaporize; how could that be gore!  While some parents might purchase Vbucks for the kids, some kids resort to  stealing their parents credit cards to buy the Vbucks to buy weapons and such.  WHO KNEW!  For four boys who do not have Fort Nite in their houses they were quite savvy about it and pretty good at some of the dances like "the Shoe".  (Act like you are kicking off one shoe without putting your foot down in between kicks and you've got it.) 

Friday we made the 90 minute drive to Mammoth Cave National Park via the Cumberland National Parkway.  Tony, Greg and Melanie had been as kids but three of the four grandkids and I had never been.  With over 400 miles of mapped caves it is the longest cave in the World.  It is also an international biosphere reserve because of the many unique species of animals living there that have adapted to life in total darkness (i.e. shrimp without eyes).  Because most of the upper layers are relatively dry (protected by a thick sandstone cap) there are not the marvelous formations of many other caves.  We were however able to be underground for 2 hours, covering 2 miles on the Historic guided tour.  At 400+ feet below ground, it was a wonderful way to spend a hot, humid, muggy Kentucky afternoon;  going through such areas as Fat Man's Misery (very narrow), and Tall Man's Misery (low ceilings).  The  stairs were not bad
going down but coming back up into the damp, hot air had us all wanting a break.  With about 100 people on the tour and narrow stair cases in many places it was difficult to go at your own pace.  On the way home we found a great joint called Big Man's BBQ in Glasgow.  The little place with a walk up counter to order from had a limited menu but enough choices to satisfy kids and adults.  The prices were reasonable, and the portions huge and very tasty.  Check out my Pig Pie selection.  Corn bread topped with pulled pork and smothered in baked beans.  I ate my fill, Tony sampled quite a bit, and there is still enough left for lunch another day.

Tony and his brother did a few more small things at the cabin, with more euchre games and plenty of food filling the rest of the week.  Although I grew up with five younger brothers I had forgotten how loud and raucous preteen boy humor can be.  Think of Three Stooges antics on steroids with the volume cranked up and you get the picture.  At one point I resorted to bribing them with M & M's if they could play a whole game of Aggravation without raising their voices, and the winner got first choice from the piles I had lined up.  When we played Farkle we had a shoe box top to roll the dice in and if the dice went out of the box it was a lost turn.  I did give them all one pass before I enforced the rule.  See, I am not a total ogre!!!  No church today, Baptist Churches abound but the closest Catholic Church is quite a distance away.  It is only 1.6 miles to the town by water but there are not many Uber drivers in Jamestown, Kentucky to pick us up after we dock.

July 15-18 Monday-Travel to Louisville, KY

A short easy drive today up through Hodgenville, KY (birthplace of Abraham Lincoln) to Louisville.    Only one pit stop needed but we did see something I have never seen before.  An advertisement for a fried bologna and cheese sandwich!  Two tourist attractions I want to see here are the Louisville Slugger Bat Factory and Churchill Downs.  Today we will scope out the prices and times and make plans for the next couple of days.  Not sure if we will go to a bourbon distillery or not.  We have been to several before.  Hopefully the rain will hold off to get our sightseeing done.

Tuesday July 16

The early bird gets the worm, or in this case gets to see horses finishing morning practice at Churchill Downs (opened in 1895).  The Museum opened at 8am and includes a 30 minute general tour of the stands.  We did not want to be out in the sun later in the day as temps are pushing 90 here also.  There was time to watch the 20 minute video about the history of the race and some of its famous
winners  and with only 8 on the first tour at 8:30 it was nice.  It was kind of surreal to see all of the things we have only viewed on TV like the twin towers which are on the National Historic Register, the jumbo TV (as big as 3 football fields) where most of the people watch the race (but there are 6,000 TV's throughout the property), and the boxes where after a random number draw the horses line up to begin their parade to the starting gate. 

The horses finishing up morning practice on the track which is 25 feet deep and a mix of 75% Sand, 23% Silt, and 2% Clay.  After the horses were done the track was raked and watered like after every race.  Horses hooves only go in about 3-5 inches regardless of whether the track is muddy or not so only the top foot of the track is ever groomed.  The rest has been compacted for over a century and the mix actually provides a bit of spring back to the horses.  The museum has everything from fashion, local traditions and parties, famous Derby attendees, and also pays homage to winning horses, trainers and owners.  Winning trophies are on display, famous jockeys and their histories
are pictured, and you can scroll through and listen to the call of most of the Derby Races from this century while watching the race on a screen.  Amazing to learn that foals destined for race training are fitted with a halter within a couple of days after birth, to begin their imprinting.  One amazing phenomenon we learned is that while a normal thoroughbred horses heart might weigh 5-7 pounds, when Secretariat was autopsied his heart weighed over 20 pounds.  Theory is that is what gave him his incredible aerobic capacity and stamina.  Nicely done and informative but after couple of hours, we were horsed out.

The average price of a derby ticket is $88 and that is likely infield tickets.  Having done the infield for the Indy 500 for many years in college I doubt we will ever do the infield at the Derby and probably can't afford any other seats.  From galas, to fireworks, to parades and festivals, the whole city is one big party during Derby Week.  The day before the Derby there is a race called 'Lillies for the Fillies' (just the ladies), while in Derby history only two fillies have ever won.  My mom used to love the Kentucky Derby and for several years we sent money with a co-worker of mine to bet for her, but she never won.  Later in life my family would always pick from the field of horses so we had one to cheer from.  Less than 10 years ago was the advent of online betting for the Derby.

Not too far away in Downtown Louisville is the famed Louisville Slugger Bat Factory.  On our way there we passed what looked like a large church, but was actually the city transportation center.  Originally used the train station, it now is the bus depot.  It has beautiful woodwork, tile, stained glass windows, and marble.

Our tour at the bat factory showed us the bat making process from the tree
selection, and billet making to the differences between retail and MLB bats.  Ash, Birch and Maple are the three primary woods for MLB bats (birch most popular for strength and flexibility) and though there are over 30 companies that make wooden bats, H and B owners of the Lousiville Slugger Trademark  make approximately 40% of the Major League Bats.  The MLB Logo and Retail Logos are different and all bats are painted and logos applied by hand.  We got a mini souvenir bat and I (with gloves on) even got to step up to the plate with a bat that a beloved Detroit Tiger, Alan Trammel, actually

used in a game.  There were several stadiums and pictures of baseball players crafted out of Legos that were amazing.  There were lots of personalized bats being sold in the gift shop today but we stuck to our free mini bats.

Leaving the bat factory we headed down the street to the Main Street Cafe for Lunch.  It was close, got good reviews, and we could make it back to the truck before our time on the meter was up.  The sandwiches were tasty and hit the spot!  Since we were so close to the Ohio river we decided to take KY-31 and drive across to Indiana.  Unfortunately the bridge was being painted so the traffic was backed up and slow.  But I got a few pictures of the various bridges as we went across.  

Wednesday July 17-Sweltering in Louisville, Kentucky

It rained last night and this morning so we waited until after lunch to go out and about.  Stepping out the door was like stepping into a steamy sauna, or like walking through curtains of those warm steamy towels that used to be handed out on the airlines before you ate dinner.  There is a quirky new art exhibit in the Bernheim Arboretum (over 16K acres) called "Forest Giants" that we wanted to see.  They are really large wooden sculptures made from recycled wood from the area, like discarded pallets.  Placed along the various paths in the forest it took us about an hour to walk the two miles to the sculptures, take pictures and head back to the visitor center.  The family of giants, Little Nis, 

Little Elina, and Momma Loumar was fun and unique to see.  On any other day I would have really enjoyed the forest/arboretum with its ponds and flowers but we had barely reached the first sculpture and I had sweat dripping in my ears and I was torn between leaving my hat on to block the sun and taking it off because my head was dripping.  Luckily a few paths had some dappled shade which helped a bit. Some other cool features at the forest are an edible garden which has a watering system powered by solar power.  Lettuces and greens from the edible garden are used at the on site cafe.  The tables in the cafe have gorgeous pictures of some of their garden produce laminated onto tabletops.  There is also a 700 ft walkway further into the arboretum that is elevated at tree top level but we were DONE with no desire to stay outdoors any longer.

We were only a mile from the Jim Beam Distillery so "when in Rome".  It was too hot for the tour which can range from 20-30 degrees hotter in various parts of the distillery than the outdoor temperature.  We have been on other tours so that was a "no brainer".  The liquor taxes are pretty high in Kentucky so we were not tempted to buy anything, including the flavored liquors.  So we read the history and snapped a few pictures and moved on. The newest winery in Bullit County KY, Forest Edge Winery, was also en-route back to the Louisville South KOA so we stopped.  We looked around at the wine list but in the end I was still so overheated from the outdoor excursion that we did no regular

 wine tasting.  I sampled their port that was tasty, pricey, and really needed a chocolate chaser so we moved on down the road almost empty handed.  A $0.99 travel wine opener called to us.

For almost two months we have not watched TV due to poor reception or being too busy, but the last two nights I have been enjoying Wheel of  Fortune and Jeopardy.  Ellen's Game of Games was funny too.  Also learned that this is record breaking heat and after high heat for the last four days weathermen are calling this excessive heat!  I do not need a degree in meteorology to know this heat is excessive!  We leave tomorrow for Indiana to visit Tony's dad and will park the camper at Tony's brother's Greg's house in Martinsville.  Originally we planned to stay in the camper but they are also expecting record breaking heat, highest in 7 years, so we are going to wimp out and sleep in their house for the next four days.  It has been so hot the AC in our RV never really shuts off, even at night.  It is still pushing 90 here in Louisville at 10:30 pm.  My goodness with the humidity this is worse than Arizona.