Kentucky 2016

May 31, 2016

Made a phone call to a local trucking repair shop, they could check out the motor home to see why our warning light on the dash keeps coming on.   Got their about 8 but they can get to us until 10 or later.  So we waited in the lounge for about 2 hrs until they got it the shop.   They told us it would take a few hrs, so we went to the local outlet store, more like a strip mall.   Nothing worth buying.  

Got back around 12:30, still working on it.   They did find that we had a blown fuse that made them unable to talk to the transmission.  So we went across street to Wendy's for lunch.   Got back, they informed us that the transmission and engine are fine, zero codes but light still on.  Bob at the shop looked on line determined it might be the coolant tank or air separator.  I called Monaco and they said same thing.  So, they emptied the coolant, no problem there, did find about 1/4 cup of water in the separator.   The light still on.   We agreed that there's nothing else they can do but they reassured us that it's ok to drive.   We'll have to get it checked on our way back home.

These guys were so extremely helpful and they treated us so well.   They even reduced their rate from $125 hr to $70 hr for us.   The bill was just over $371.

Finally got on the road at 4:15, drove to Morehead, WV, spent night at Wal-Mart.   Heading to Charleston in the morning, a 2 hr drive.

May 30, 2016

Today is Memorial Day so we found out the hard way that most things are closed, even the historical parks. 

Our first stop was the Thoroughbred park in downtown Lex.  It depicts a race at one of the local tracks.   Got some great shots of the horses and jockeys!

We drove out the town of Richmond, which has a battlefield from the Civil War.   We did see a couple of homes, the field where the battle took place, but that's it.   We then tried to see the Whitehall Historical Site, but once again it was closed.  This house at over 10,000 was had modern amenities including central heat and indoor plumbing.  For a 1700's home, that's impressive.

We then drove to Fort Boonesbourgh State Park, as this is an area where Daniel Boone traveled through and explored.   Once again, it was closed.   By now I'm frustrated and decide to call it a day.

Hopefully we'll have better luck in the next town!!!

May 29, 2016

Spent the day walking around the Horse Park looking at the various activities, museums, events, etc that this park has on a daily basis. 

 You can get up close and personal to many of the horses that live on this farm, plus the trainers are always happy to let you pet them, should they be out walking them around the park.  Most of the horses were born on the farm, but they do have some that are on loan to them.   Most have been in the racing industry in one form or another.   Since their are so many different aspects to the racing world, you could see a variety of different
breeds.  Of course, the Arabians, Belgium's, & Clydesdales, are just two that we saw today.

They have a great museum, where you learn all about the park, the horses, history of the horses, owners and of course the jockeys.  

Some of the activities, you can see steeple chasing, jumping, rodeo, draft horses at work, etc.  If you can find something of interest, you don't like horses!!!

May 28, 2016




Drove around the Kentucky Horse Park to determine the location of things I want to see, it's extremely large park.   Found some horse working out, so watched them, then we had breakfast on the grounds.

Headed to Northside RV as we were told they might be able to help with the speedometer, nope.   So we'll continue looking for help.

Riding a horse

Decided we'd forget about the motorhome for this weekend, since most companies are closed do to the holiday.  So we drove downtown to find the local farmers market.   It's not a local market, most of the produce they had was either from TN, FL or CA.  Why, not sure!

This is the Horse Capital of the World, so we drove around the countryside looking at the horse farms.  The farms are spectacular with their white picket fences and mowed pastures, just beautiful. 

Found the Keeneland Race Track, went in to look around, no racing this time of the year but we did find a car show to walk around.

Decided to find the RedMile Race track, it's a harness track, but once again no racing this time of the year.  So, we drove back to the RV park.   They are having an RV sale, so we looked at new Tiffans.  Very expensive but beautiful.  Did not trade ours in.

Later in the afternoon, we went over the Horse Park, found the Man Of War memorial.   It's amazing how big his strike was, 28'.  Secretariat's was 25', mine is 2'.   No wonder he was such a tremendous champion.

They have statues of many of the great horses, plus museums, arena's, steeple chases, etc.   We'll spend many hours here tomorrow.



May 27, 2016

View from capital

Inside the capital

 Left Louisville around 8 and headed towards Frankfort, but about 30 minutes into our trip, Bobby noticed that the drivers side mirror was coming loose, so we came off the hwy into a Pilot Truck Stop.   Bobby was able to remove the mirror from its frame but need to
replace the double-sided tape.  Now that was a challenge, we finally found 1" wide roll, which worked great. 

Daniel Boones Grave

Then we headed to Frankfort.   Arrived at Walmart where we were going to park so we could tour around the capital and the downtown area, however we noticed that the warning light on the dash was back on and speedometer was going crazy again.   After speaking with friends, we decided we needed to head to Lexington and get the coach into a Freightliner dealer to see if they could determine the problem, they didn't find anything wrong.  So, we had to find a person that can work on our chassis and/or transmission.  Not as simple as we had anticipated!!!

While the coach was being looked at, we headed back to Frankfort to tour the capital.  It's the most stunning capital that we have ever seen.  Built 110 years ago with granite and marble.  The rotunda it absolutely gorgeous and they have lighting that changes colors, making it that much more striking.  Our tour guide Raymond, was knowledgeable and gave us a ton of information about the building, styles used and history of the building plus Frankfort.

Capital Clock

We then headed to Daniel Boones gravesite.  It's located on a hillside looking down on the capital.  Gorgeous views from the cemetery.

Next we headed into historic downtown, walked around and looked at some of the old historic buildings, then it was time to go get the coach.

Go to the Kentucky Horse Park where we'll spend the next four days.

May 26, 2016

Cell service is horrible tonight because of all the rain I guess, so will add photos tomorrow.

Mr. Payton creating pendant

Old L&N Station

Today is our last day in Louisville, so wanted to make sure I found a few things I wanted to see prior to our leaving.

First we stopped at the old L&N train depot.  This was build in 1891, took 11 years to build since they ran out of money.  By the time it was finished, they'd spent $350,000, that's a lot for that era.  In 1979, TRAC to over the building, refurbished it and now it's their headquarters.  They are a transportation company (buses).

Next was the glassworks, it's a glassblowing studio similar to what Chuhuly does, we saw his collection in Oklahoma City.  We had the opportunity to watch the owner, Mark Payton create a horse head pendant, which was extremely informative.   He walked us thru the process, step by step. He used tubes of glass vs. molten glass, like they used in another area of the studio.   It was stunning once finished.   If you ever get to Louisville, I highly recommend seeing this studio.

Confederate Statue

Next we walked around downtown, looked at some of the statues, art work, etc.   It has the basic same stuff as any of the large cities.


We had heard on the news that Louisville was going to remove a confederate statue because of the controversy going on with the confederates.  Sad that they are removing a piece of our history, but they are, so we went to take pics, since it won't be here if and when we return.

Winners Circle at Churchill

Showers came in the afternoon so we spent the afternoon at home waiting for rain to stop, as we want to go see the races tonight.  Left at 5 PM, go to track just as 1st race was ending.   The track was abuzz with people lurking around.  It's $1 beer day and free music.   When we go to ticket counter, they gave us free entry, then we went to find our seats, we got upgraded because they were sold out...sweet! 

Walked around, looked at the horses, took pics, watched people and of course, watched 5 races.  On the 3rd race we watched, we met Pat Day, a retired jockey.  He is the most winningest jockey of all times at Churchill Downs.  Everyone around us knew who he was, so we got a pic of him.  In his career, he won over $23 million, that's incredibly.


May 25, 2016

Started the day by touring the Louisville Slugger Bat Facility.  This place is fascinating in that they produce over 5,000 bats a day.  They supply every major team, plus most minor team, colleges, sporting goods stores, etc. with bats.  They even supply bats to specific players, mostly the pros.  We learned that they have many contracts with the pro players, so that they can use their signatures on the bats. 

The tour last 30 minutes and at the end, they give you a mini bat...thought about having a bat inscribed with my name, but what would I do with it living in a motorhome?  We watched the movie, toured the museum.   Here you can throw a pitch into a strike zone if you're luck enough.  Bobby was much better than I was, think he threw at 43 MPH, where I was only 34 MPH.   Obviously we won't be working for any team....lol.

Drove around town a little on our way to the Cave Hill Cemetery, I love old cemeteries.   This one is particularly old, some of the graves are from the early 1800 hundreds.   The headstones where very impressive as was the history.   I thought President Taylor was buried here but he's at the National Cemetery here in town.   So, we drove their, it's more like Arlington but has few of the gorgeous headstones that Cave Hill has.

 
We then drove to Locus Grove, it's was the home of William & Lucy Croghan, along with her brother, General George Rogers Clark.   Infamous in his own right.  The Croghan we infamous for helping Louisville become a city.   They

92  He was neighbors with the Taylors, their kids played with President Taylor.  They had many famous visitors, including Pres Monroe and Jack

May 24, 2016

Travel day, we only had about a 2 hr drive, so we were in no hurry to leave, however I forgot we gained an hr, as we are now in eastern time.   We had planned to stay at the Eagles lodge but when we arrived, all they had was 110 plugs vs. 30 amp.   With the hot weather coming, we decided to go where we could run the gen on electric.  We found Derby Expo RV Park, basically it a huge parking lot with electrical plugs.  We are the only rv, in fact even the office is closed but a maintenance man told us where to park.  

We need to look for a new hinge for our tonneau cover, so off we went.   Found a NAPA store but they weren't able to assist us.  We'll have to do some research to find it.  Went to Costou, had lunch and found a few things we needed...lol.

Later in the afternoon, headed to Churchill Downs to tour that facility.   It's is striking as you drive up

to, did not realize it was that huge!  Took the tour, it's a 30 minute walking tour where you learn about how the horses get ready, what the jockeys go through, history lesson on the facility and about the winners.   For those that don't know much about the Kentucky Derby, it's a great learning lesson.  We learned that the horses arrive 6 weeks prior to the race, that over 11 million was bet on derby day (they only take CASH...can't imagine the security here) and that there were over 175,000 in attendance.   Also the 6th floor, called millionaires row, is by invitational only, unless you are invited by Churchill Downs, you can't go up there, no matter who you are.

We also go to watch the movie, they've installed a state of the art movie theater and it has the only surround sound movie in the world like it.   We sat on swivel stools that allowed us to turn to see the 360 movie.  Very cool, plus the movie gave you the history on the race track and how it operates.

Next we toured the museum.  It also gives you detail on the track, the horses (has exhibits on the triple crown winners, plus many other items) and some of the owners of these champions.  Here you get to learn as much as you desire about this venue.   We loved all the interactive exhibits that they had.   I even got to dress up like a jockey and sit on a horse as it was at the gate! 

Almost forgot, went to the gift store, here I tried on several of the hats they had for sale.   Very expensive but fun to look like a millionaire coming to the derby!



May 23, 2016

Played 36 holes of golf, well at least Bobby did, I only played 31 and then stopped.   Bobby loved it.   First 18 it was just the two of us and then Fred (he was also staying in the rv park) joined us and then on the back 9, Eric, a worker from the course joined us.   I played from the tips (blue...furthest distance to the hole), so it was more like playing our course in AZ, except it was grass.   I always struggle with real grass these days!!!

On the back nine we saw this snake, the other two guys thought it was a water moccasin but honestly it was just a black snake to me.   I obviously stayed in the cart until we were way past it.

Got home and we did laundry as tomorrow is a travel day.

May 22, 2016

It's amazing to drive through the Kentucky countryside and see the amazing homes, with theirble lawns.  They're the most beautiful thing and you certainly wonder how they keep them manicured like they do.   Very impressive.

We drove about an 45 min to get to Hodgenville, where President Lincoln was born and lived until he was about 2, when the family had to move about 7 miles to Knob Creek.  At both facilities you get to see the two homes (replicas of the house he was born in).   The birthplace is extremely peaceful and beautiful.   They have a building that house the home, so it's protected.   There's is a singing spring, that the farm is named after.   A sinking spring is a spring karst window, an unusual land form, which means it a special type of sinkhole that gives us a view into a karst aquifer. 

We then drove into town and looked at the statue (a smaller bronze statue of the one that's in Washington, DC).  There's also one of Pres. Lincoln as a small boy reading a book, he loved to read and write.

Our next stop was the town of Bardstown, where we visited the Basilica of St Joseph Proto-Cathedral and the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History.  The church is the oldest church west of the Alleghany Mts.  The church was having a service, so only to a quick peek inside, however the museum was filled with whiskey history.  It has bottles, equipment, etc. that has been used for hundreds of years in the whiskey making industry.   Bardstown is considered the bourbon capital of the world.  Some of the famous distillery's include Jim Beam, Makers Mark, Heaven Hill, Bardstown, etc.  Most of the big names are located here or close by.

We then went and looked around town, since it's Sunday, not much open.  Next we drove to Heaven Hill, they manufacture Evans Williams, Elijah Craig (cheapest bottle we saw was $150), Fighting Cock, just to name so their brands.   One of the ladies we spoke to said they own 159 labels.  It was late in the afternoon and all the regular tours were over, so we just toured the museum and store.   You learn about the process, history, etc.   Three amazing things we learned, one they had a fire in 1996 that burnt 6 warehouses and their distillery.  They lost over 90,000 barrels, but never lost a days work.  Amazing.   Secondly, the 12 year aged stuff, each barrel loses 47% of it's content before it's done, they call this the "Angel's share".  The 21 year bourbon is so strong, that they have to cut it with mineral water to make it a proof they can sell.  Third but not least, they've manufactured over 1 trillion bottles since they started in 1935.

On the way home we drove past the Jim Beam facility but did not stop as it's late and we are90 min. from home.


May 21, 2016

Battle of Bridge home

Toured the Mammoth Caves today, took the domes and dripstone tour.  Once you get on the bus, they take you 4.5 miles to entrance.  Then you walk down 280 steps to enter the cave, over all you walk up  and down over 500 steps.  This is the world's largest cave, with over 405 miles explored and they think they have over 600 miles to explore

It's not as decorative as Kartchner or Carlsbad, as it has very few stalagmites or stalagtites.   But is very interesting in how long it is, it does not have a great room like these two did.

Kentucky Stonehenge

We then headed to Cave City, few miles away, went thru a couple of the shops, they have the usual tourist trinkets, not spectacular.   Then we drove to Munfordsville, where we looked at the site of "Battle of the Bridge" and looked around "Kentucky Stonehenge".  

Kentucky Stonehenge

The battle site was a house and a field where the battle of the L&N Railroad bridge took place.   Who
don't really see much.  Not worth you time to look at in our opinion.

However, the Kentucky Stonehenge is spectacular!    It's actually located on private land but is massive in size.  Not only to the have Stonehenge but also other areas to view.  Well worth the drive. 

We then went back into down, walked around the Court House, everything closed because it's Saturday.   Drove back to park via Glasgow, nice size town.   Got back around 2:30.

May 20, 2016

Left Hurricane Mills around 8:00 AM, arrived here in Park City, KY at around noon.  Had to make a stop in Bowling Green, as a warning light came on and once I spoke to the Monaco help line, he determined we are either low on coolant or oil.  So we stopped at Walmart and bought some coolant, we'll check it and add once the engine cools down.

We'll stay for 4 nights

It's raining cats and dogs, in fact flood warnings have been issued, so once we found a spot at Diamond Caverns RV & Golf Resort (choose spot A6), we just hooked up the electric and had lunch.  Waited about 2 hrs for the weather to ease up so that Bobby could put the blocks under the jacks.   We are now all settled in but it's still raining so today will be a down day.   I was hoping to look around but not sure I'll get to do that.

We are located in the Mammoth Caves National park, lots to do here so will spend 4 nights.   Will post more later.

Tennesee 2016

May 19, 2106

Steps to Loretta's Home

After breakfast we headed to Waverly, as I saw a sign yesterday about a Civil War memorial.  We found it and explored what we could.   All of the buildings were closed (look permanent).   Read the history of this battle and then drove to Johnsonville State Historic Site.  

Johnsonville Visitors Center

This is a fairly new visitors center, only 3 yrs old.  It tells the story of how the Confederate Army blew up the depot in Johnsonville, destroying over 3 million in supplies intended to replenish the Union army.  Once we watched the movie and looked at the exhibits, we went to the park.  Honestly there's not much to see, as this area is underwater do to the dam being built and Lake Kentucky being formed.    Lake Kentucky is huge and obviously Johnsonville is now  called New Johnsonville.

Our next stop was the crash site of where Patsy Cline died.   There's not much to see, only a grave site where the plane crashed and marks the date.

Loretta Lynn's Home

We then drove back to Hurricane Mills and had lunch at the coach.   Once finished, we headed to the ranch, two miles down the road from campground.    Here we toured her home (she now lives in a smaller house behind the main home....we weren't allowed to see this home), her museum, western store, a replica of the Hollar Home where she grew up and Coal Mine (replica of) where her father and  Mooney worked, the old grist mill and saw her tour bus. 

It was a great tour and you learn how she came to pick this spot for their home.  They actually took a wrong turn and found this ranch, that had been abandoned by the owners of the land.

   They currently own 65 thousand acres in this area. The museum shows you the many awards she has won, the people that have influenced her life, her kids and a family plus a tribute to Conway Twitty.

May 18, 2016

Uneventful day, drove from Memphis to Hurricane Mills, which took us about 3 hrs.   I drove most of the way so Bobby could catch up on his emails, etc...lol.   We arrived at Loretta Lynn's Family Campground and picked out our spot.  It's a first come, first serve campground.   Most sites are uneven, so we picked what we thought was the best.

In front of the office

Old Dude Ranch

This facility is the home of Loretta, so we'll tour it tomorrow.   Once we got settled and had lunch, we headed to Waverly, TN where there's a Walmart.   Our DVD has died and we need a new one.   Got one at a great price, while Bobby installed it (had to redo the wiring), I went for a walk around the grounds.   Loretta's Dude

Ranch is just a short walk along with the Rice Cemetery.   Got back and helped Bobby finish up and install, it works GREAT.   We'll watch movies, as there is no TV and very little wifi.

Later in the evening, we did take a walk down to the event center, where Loretta performs.  She'll be in concert here memorial day weekend.

May 17, 2016

Today is our anniversary!!!!   Been married 32 and together 38, amazing how time flies bye!

Got up and called Ron and Debbie, as Ron is having knee surgery today.   It doesn't happen until after 1 PM so we'll check in with Deb later today.

Went down by the river to watch the river traffic, saw a tug pushing 21 barges.   You wouldn't believe the wake he was putting out!

We are in process of doing laundry so once it's done, we'll head into Memphis to see the mud river area. 

Wheel from an old Steamship

We arrived in downtown and saw the new Bass Pro store, so that was our first stop.   Apparently Bass Pro bought the old area and converted to their store, it has a restaurant, hotel, lake (it had 5 pontoon boats floating in it) and an elevator that's 15 stories high that takes you  to an observation

Mud Island

point.   It's their second largest store, 1st is their headquarters in Missouri, which we've also seen. 

Next stop was Mud Island, this depicts the path of the mighty Mississippi river.  This display shows you how it meanders from Canada all the way to the ocean, even where it combines with the Missouri River.   It's impressive and great opportunity to learn how massive this river really is.  

We also toured the museum, nothing special but does tell you about the floods that have occurred in this area plus shows how the river traffic has evolved. 

Later we went to Costco in search of a new DVD player, as ours has quit.   Did not find what we want, since it has to work on our surround sound system.  After several other stores, called it quits, we'll wait until Nashville or some other town to purchase.

Got back to coach and I went for a long walk along the river and talked to several RV'ers.   Many are from TX.  Always fun to learn where people are traveling from and too.   Tomorrow we head to Hurricane Mills, home of Lorretta Lynn.

May 16, 2016

Fort Smith

On the road again, this time we are headed to Fort Smith to see the Fort Smith National Historic site.   We arrive around 11:30, it's raining so we decide to watch the movie and see the inside stuff.   This is the site that Judge Parker, the hanging Judge was infamous.   The main building is where the original courthouse was located along with the jail underneath.   Later on, they added a new courthouse, which you can see in the pics.   Because of Judge Parker, two famous movies were made, "Hang them High" with Clint Eastwood and "True Grit" with John Wayne.   True Grit also was remade in later years.

The facility talks about the many (over 150) criminals that were hung here.  While we toured the outside, we got to see the gallows.  You can't go on them, but it was still cool to see.

 The museum is closed on Mondays, so we were unable to look through it....too bad.

Flood mark of May 2011

Barge going upriver

The National Cemetery is few blocks away, we looked into it, but it was starting to rain again, so we headed back to the coach.  On the way, looked at the old trains by the Trolley Museum.  Got to the coach, had a late lunch and then hit the road.

While we were starting to pull out, Bobby noticed that the brake would release correctly, apparently the screws have come loose, we'll fix it once we arrive at our destination for the night.

We made it to Tom Sawyer RV Park in West Memphis around 6.   Got to our site and are set up for the evening.   We are parked three rows away for the might Mississippi River.   We've seen a couple of barges go up and down, hopefully tomorrow, we'll see many more.  The picture to the right shows where the water mark was in May of 2011.  I talked to one of the permanent residents, it took 2 months to reach this level, park was closed for 5 months.   He said they usual flood every year, usually in the spring, do to the snow melting.