ECLECTIC SUMMER! Eclectic: composed of elements drawn from various sources. If you have followed our summer travel blog in the past, you'll know that we usually do 10,000 miles over about 50 something days. This year we have something new! It's short different trips a little closer to home. We have two grandsons we want to spend some time with and we have a new granddaughter arriving mid-July.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Oh! Kentucky!
Back on the road again and headed for Kentucky! We'll be spending the night in Berea. Knowing we weren't going to be sight-seeing, we checked for another spot so we didn't have to unhook. Our campground is called Oh! Kentucky.
Back on the road and it's very windy. Glad I'm not driving!
Re-run of yesterday, but with one different stop. WalMart! I'd run out of a prescription and needed to get it refilled. It took about an hour to get it transferred and that gave me plenty of time to shop! David waited with Chrissy in the truck. We have a couple of new $5.00 movies and a much longer cable for the TV. 50' should be sufficient!
While I was waiting, I got to talking to a young woman at the prescription counter. She was waiting for some medicine for her sick daughter. I learned she had three children, her father is homeless, and she hat a pit bull. Interesting people!
We got to the campground and got setup. No cable, but local TV is warning us about the possibility of severe weather for our area. We're not close to where the shelter is, so I decided to sleep in my clothes. Yes, I know....
David keeps saying he's been to this campground before! Turns out he had! He was in the Airstream and stopped here for the night a few years ago. Unusual for him to remember campgrounds.
The weather radio is set, the cell phones have alarms set for weather alerts in Berea. About 3:30 a.m. it came through. Some lightning, lots of rain, and lots of wind, but nothing severe. The radar was still showing a line of severe storms that we would drive through to get to our destination - Louisville or rather Indiana!
Quick breakfast and back on the road. It's all interstate to where we're headed, but we keep an eye on the weather. Actually, David kept an eye on the weather and I napped!
There is a lot to visit here...Lexington - Horse Capital of the World, Bourbon Trail (all the distilleries have tours), Wineries, etc. We're also on the Purple Heart Highway.
We get to Louisville and have to pick up I-65. Just one problem. Some guy in a big Mercedes won't let us in! We can't get over so we have no choice, but to keep going. Fortunately the GPS routed us back to where we needed to cross the Ohio River. The bridges are neat looking, but it also looks like it's about to really storm!
On to Indiana. We're staying at the KOA on the Indiana side of the river. We were headed to the campground when a guy in a city truck stopped us. He told us to turn left and go up several blocks and then come back the direction we were headed. Turns out there is a LOW overpass at the campground and we never would have cleared it!
We get to the campground and find we have lots of company. Seems there is a PGA Tournament going on and lots of people are staying here. There is also a train track next to us.
We almost finished setting up when the rain came. It was windy and raining, but not severe! Glad of that. Decided it was lunch time, so we had lunch and waited out the storm. Waited and waited and waited. Finally it quit. Couldn't get the cable to work, so one of the workers came over and got it working! YEA!
No plans for the evening, but many tomorrow! Museums and a reunion! Can't wait!
Catch us down the road!
Jenny :)
Back on the road and it's very windy. Glad I'm not driving!
Welcome to Tennessee!
Re-run of yesterday, but with one different stop. WalMart! I'd run out of a prescription and needed to get it refilled. It took about an hour to get it transferred and that gave me plenty of time to shop! David waited with Chrissy in the truck. We have a couple of new $5.00 movies and a much longer cable for the TV. 50' should be sufficient!
While I was waiting, I got to talking to a young woman at the prescription counter. She was waiting for some medicine for her sick daughter. I learned she had three children, her father is homeless, and she hat a pit bull. Interesting people!
We got to the campground and got setup. No cable, but local TV is warning us about the possibility of severe weather for our area. We're not close to where the shelter is, so I decided to sleep in my clothes. Yes, I know....
David keeps saying he's been to this campground before! Turns out he had! He was in the Airstream and stopped here for the night a few years ago. Unusual for him to remember campgrounds.
The weather radio is set, the cell phones have alarms set for weather alerts in Berea. About 3:30 a.m. it came through. Some lightning, lots of rain, and lots of wind, but nothing severe. The radar was still showing a line of severe storms that we would drive through to get to our destination - Louisville or rather Indiana!
Quick breakfast and back on the road. It's all interstate to where we're headed, but we keep an eye on the weather. Actually, David kept an eye on the weather and I napped!
There is a lot to visit here...Lexington - Horse Capital of the World, Bourbon Trail (all the distilleries have tours), Wineries, etc. We're also on the Purple Heart Highway.
We get to Louisville and have to pick up I-65. Just one problem. Some guy in a big Mercedes won't let us in! We can't get over so we have no choice, but to keep going. Fortunately the GPS routed us back to where we needed to cross the Ohio River. The bridges are neat looking, but it also looks like it's about to really storm!
We get to the campground and find we have lots of company. Seems there is a PGA Tournament going on and lots of people are staying here. There is also a train track next to us.
We almost finished setting up when the rain came. It was windy and raining, but not severe! Glad of that. Decided it was lunch time, so we had lunch and waited out the storm. Waited and waited and waited. Finally it quit. Couldn't get the cable to work, so one of the workers came over and got it working! YEA!
No plans for the evening, but many tomorrow! Museums and a reunion! Can't wait!
Catch us down the road!
Jenny :)
North Carolina!
We're actually headed to Louisville, KY, but will spend a couple of nights on the road before we get there. Our next stop is Candler, NC, just outside Asheville, NC.
It has been hot and humid in South Carolina and we're hoping the mountains will be somewhat cooler.
As we were leaving the campground, we saw a big Mercedes alongside us. The guy in it was reading his I-Pad!
The trip was pretty uneventful. Stop for fuel...stop for a break....stop for lunch. Lunch was something quick and then back on the road.
We've seen lots of beautiful flowers already. Poppies, Queen Anne's Lace, Coreopsis, etc. gorgeous!
We picked a campground right on I-40 so it was an easy on and easy off for the night. We didn't even have to unhook the rig for the night. Makes it easier to leave the next day.
Remember I hoped for cooler weather? We opened the windows and turned on the fan. It got quite cool during the night. HAD TO TURN THE HEAT ON!
Quick breakfast and back on the road!
Catch us down the road!
Jenny :)
It has been hot and humid in South Carolina and we're hoping the mountains will be somewhat cooler.
As we were leaving the campground, we saw a big Mercedes alongside us. The guy in it was reading his I-Pad!
The trip was pretty uneventful. Stop for fuel...stop for a break....stop for lunch. Lunch was something quick and then back on the road.
We've seen lots of beautiful flowers already. Poppies, Queen Anne's Lace, Coreopsis, etc. gorgeous!
We picked a campground right on I-40 so it was an easy on and easy off for the night. We didn't even have to unhook the rig for the night. Makes it easier to leave the next day.
Remember I hoped for cooler weather? We opened the windows and turned on the fan. It got quite cool during the night. HAD TO TURN THE HEAT ON!
Quick breakfast and back on the road!
Catch us down the road!
Jenny :)
You still gotta clean....sigh...
Even though you're on vacation and you aren't in your home, you do have to clean your home on wheels. Clean the floors, clean the bathroom, and then do laundry.
The laundry area of the campground was just a little way from our RV. Got the clothes together and we walked over to the building. The building also houses the shower area. The laundry is actually located outside the building, but the washers and dryers were very clean.
Three loads of laundry. How can you get that much dirty in a week's time? Oh well.....There was a sign above the washers and dryers that told how long each one took to clean and dry. Since it was so humid, we set the alarm on our cell phones and headed back to the camper between loads. On the way back to ours, we noticed we had neighbors who have a the same kind of camper we have.
This is David in our spot.
This one belongs to Jim and Linda. They are from Michigan via North Carolina. We decided to have dinner together tonight, so we headed to the store for more supplies.
We had a great dinner of grilled hot dogs, beans, and strawberry shortcake. The strawberries were courtesy of our friends Brenda and Dennis. We had a great time at dinner! We discovered Linda and Jim's unit was a different layout from ours. The color scheme was similar. All too quickly it was time to head to bed for our trip to North Carolina tomorrow.
David packed up as much as possible and I put away inside things. Off to bed and on the road tomorrow!
Catch us down the road!
Jenny :)
The laundry area of the campground was just a little way from our RV. Got the clothes together and we walked over to the building. The building also houses the shower area. The laundry is actually located outside the building, but the washers and dryers were very clean.
Three loads of laundry. How can you get that much dirty in a week's time? Oh well.....There was a sign above the washers and dryers that told how long each one took to clean and dry. Since it was so humid, we set the alarm on our cell phones and headed back to the camper between loads. On the way back to ours, we noticed we had neighbors who have a the same kind of camper we have.
This is David in our spot.
This one belongs to Jim and Linda. They are from Michigan via North Carolina. We decided to have dinner together tonight, so we headed to the store for more supplies.
We had a great dinner of grilled hot dogs, beans, and strawberry shortcake. The strawberries were courtesy of our friends Brenda and Dennis. We had a great time at dinner! We discovered Linda and Jim's unit was a different layout from ours. The color scheme was similar. All too quickly it was time to head to bed for our trip to North Carolina tomorrow.
David packed up as much as possible and I put away inside things. Off to bed and on the road tomorrow!
Catch us down the road!
Jenny :)
Monday, May 23, 2011
Carriage Tours and One Hot Horse!
We decided to take our carriage tour with Eddie and Susan today. Off we go to find a parking place in Charleston. We eventually found one nearby at a closed bank. The lady working the deck was kind enough to let us park in "RESERVED" parking spaces.
The horses pulling the carriages are HUGE. The brown ones are Belgian Draft horses gotten from the Amish. The black and dappled ones are Percheron horses. They are so large! The workers there explained how well cared for these horses are.
You board the carriage from a ramp that doesn't require you to climb up. You just watch straight in! There are 3 different tours, but even the carriage driver doesn't know which tour will be taken until you stop at the next corner. A "bingo" system of balls pops up and that determines which tour you are on. They attach a small metal plate to the back to show which one you are. The drivers can be fined for backing up traffic or straying from their designated tour route.
There is so much to see in Charleston and you really need weeks to see it all, the next pictures are from the tour....some described, some not.
One of the original stone streets. The stones were actually ballast from the incoming ships. The city had to dig up part of the road to fix something and each stone was numbered and placed back where it had been originally. There is a hefty fine for trying to take one of the stones.
Earthquake bolt on left and Fire Insurance Medal on right. You paid for fire insurance and they put a medal on your house so you could prove you had paid. No medal, no firefighters. There are many different fire medals in the city.
The border around the windows and door is a rope. It was an indication that the person was a merchant. The more rope and more detailed rope marked a well-to-do merchant.
The horses pulling the carriages are HUGE. The brown ones are Belgian Draft horses gotten from the Amish. The black and dappled ones are Percheron horses. They are so large! The workers there explained how well cared for these horses are.
You board the carriage from a ramp that doesn't require you to climb up. You just watch straight in! There are 3 different tours, but even the carriage driver doesn't know which tour will be taken until you stop at the next corner. A "bingo" system of balls pops up and that determines which tour you are on. They attach a small metal plate to the back to show which one you are. The drivers can be fined for backing up traffic or straying from their designated tour route.
Some of the horses might bite, so you see this sign as you load up.
This is our carriage and guide.
Closeup....how would you like to drive or walk that everyday?
Dueler's Alley - Duels actually took place here and bullets are still being found.
The black iron on the building is a set of earthquake bolts. Not there to hold the house together during an earthquake, but to hold the house together following a large earthquake in the 1800's.
Can you find the 16 hats in this painting on a building?
Blue man group...sort of
The steeple on this church leans 3 degrees following the 1800's earthquake
.
Fancy moulding on house
More medals
Beautiful gate and a beautiful garden beyond
All the lions on this building are different.
This beautiful entry was featured in the movie "The Notebook."
More wrought iron
The Pink House...pink walls, pink pool, pink dogs.
A warning to pirates on The Battery.
Rainbow Houses
No particular house....just liked it a lot!
The hour for the tour was nearing an end and our horse, Laddie, knew it! He started to almost run pulling the carriage and all of us! Amazingly, he parallel parked himself at the carriage stop and began drinking his water! Smart horse!
This is Susan petting Laddie. We all did and realized immediately that we all needed to wash our hands! That was one warm horse that smelled like he'd been working out!
We stopped for a quick lunch at Jason's Deli and started back to the campground. We remembered a church we wanted to photograph, so Eddie drove us back to the Catholic Church for photos. Here we go pictures of the church and the iron work on the house next door.
Then Susan and Eddie had to go home. They dropped us back at the campground and headed home.
But...more friends coming! Dennis and Brenda McGowan came to visit us! We know Dennis from our work with Alabama Raceway Ministries. David and Brenda had not met before, so we had a great time eating and talking into the evening. Managed to get a quick picture before they headed back home. They live nearby, so it wasn't toooo far for them to go!
Tomorrow is cleaning day...laundry, dishes, floors, etc. We do have plans to visit the dog park and the beach!
Catch us down the road!
Jenny :)
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