June 10th - Joliet, Illinois - Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals -
The Monster car had a pretty darn good weekend! We didn't win the race, but they made great runs down the track even in the heat and the gremlins that
seem to have taken hold of the car seem like they may have been found and killed off. The Monster men qualified 3rd out of 16, which is outstanding for
anyone. They ran the quarter mile in 4.75 seconds on Friday night and hit 327 mph. That's pretty darn fast no matter who you are. The best part of the
weekend was that there was absolutely no rain!! This is the only race this entire year so far that we haven't had rain. We did have a bit of wind on Thursday
during set up. If you notice in the picture of Frank and I the top of the tent is pretty mush an enormous sail. In 35 mile an hour winds this sail is not the most fun
thing to set up. While we set it up two of us literally had to lay on top of the tent on top of the semi in order to hold in down so Frank could attach it without the
awning taking off with him attached to the strap that holds it to the semi. The wind was so strong it almost took the sail out from underneath us. We had a plan
to roll to the left if it did lift us up in order to not fall of the 12 foot tall semi roof, but luckily we were fat enough to hold it down. It definitely got the heart pumping
a little. Our party tent wasn't quite as full this weekend so I took full advantage of being able to go up to the starting line to watch the races with the team. Since
the last few trips to the starting line I left my handy camera behind, today I kept it in my pocket all day in order to get a few shots of a day in our work lives to
share with you all. Kenny won the first round with an amazing run, but lost round number two by just a smidgen. Let's hope the fast runs stay with us on what
has become known as the 'U.S. Tour' that we re about to embark on. Since the Tennessee race was postponed we will now have 6 races in 6 weekends. After
this week off we will head to New Jersey and within six weeks we will be all the way over on the West Coast in Sonoma California. It will be a busy time, but very
exciting to see how the competition of the races stacks up since none of the teams will have any time to test in between these next 6 races. We are off to New
Hampshire to visit some good friends and squeeze in the last few states of the U.S that we haven't yet been to.
The Monster car had a pretty darn good weekend! We didn't win the race, but they made great runs down the track even in the heat and the gremlins that
seem to have taken hold of the car seem like they may have been found and killed off. The Monster men qualified 3rd out of 16, which is outstanding for
anyone. They ran the quarter mile in 4.75 seconds on Friday night and hit 327 mph. That's pretty darn fast no matter who you are. The best part of the
weekend was that there was absolutely no rain!! This is the only race this entire year so far that we haven't had rain. We did have a bit of wind on Thursday
during set up. If you notice in the picture of Frank and I the top of the tent is pretty mush an enormous sail. In 35 mile an hour winds this sail is not the most fun
thing to set up. While we set it up two of us literally had to lay on top of the tent on top of the semi in order to hold in down so Frank could attach it without the
awning taking off with him attached to the strap that holds it to the semi. The wind was so strong it almost took the sail out from underneath us. We had a plan
to roll to the left if it did lift us up in order to not fall of the 12 foot tall semi roof, but luckily we were fat enough to hold it down. It definitely got the heart pumping
a little. Our party tent wasn't quite as full this weekend so I took full advantage of being able to go up to the starting line to watch the races with the team. Since
the last few trips to the starting line I left my handy camera behind, today I kept it in my pocket all day in order to get a few shots of a day in our work lives to
share with you all. Kenny won the first round with an amazing run, but lost round number two by just a smidgen. Let's hope the fast runs stay with us on what
has become known as the 'U.S. Tour' that we re about to embark on. Since the Tennessee race was postponed we will now have 6 races in 6 weekends. After
this week off we will head to New Jersey and within six weeks we will be all the way over on the West Coast in Sonoma California. It will be a busy time, but very
exciting to see how the competition of the races stacks up since none of the teams will have any time to test in between these next 6 races. We are off to New
Hampshire to visit some good friends and squeeze in the last few states of the U.S that we haven't yet been to.
 |  |  |  |  |  |
Parrottrek Journal 2007
May 6th - Madison, Illinois aka Saint Louis, Missouri -
So, does this make sense? What they call the 'St. Louis race" is actually located in Madison, Illinois. Not only is St. Louis a different city, but it's in an entirely
different state. Why don't they just call it the "Madison race'? Same thing with last week's race. They call it the Atlanta race, but the track is actually located in
Commerce, however at least Commerce and Atlanta are in the same state. Just a funny thing I thought I'd share. Well anyways... The St. Louis race is usually
held at the end of June which really sucked since the weather here in both Missouri and Illinois, regardless of where they tell you you are, at that time of the
year is 110 degrees with the heat index somewhere around 120 degrees, no lie. This year it was scheduled earlier in the hopes that we all wouldn't melt. It
worked out pretty well since the weather, aside from rain all day Friday, was rather nice. Neither of our teams went very far in the race, but I guess you can't win
them all. Let's pray for better results in Bristol. We now have 10 days off before we have to be at work in Bristol. The Bristol track, which yes is actually in the
city of Bristol :-) is the most beautiful track we visit the entire year. This week we will be driving through a different part of both Kentucky and Tennessee with all
sorts of new sights to see including the Kentucky Horse Park where they have all sorts of retired champion horses housed for people to visit. There is a
campground right on the grounds where we will stay, and are planning on taking a long horseback ride around the grounds. It should be a lot of fun.
So, does this make sense? What they call the 'St. Louis race" is actually located in Madison, Illinois. Not only is St. Louis a different city, but it's in an entirely
different state. Why don't they just call it the "Madison race'? Same thing with last week's race. They call it the Atlanta race, but the track is actually located in
Commerce, however at least Commerce and Atlanta are in the same state. Just a funny thing I thought I'd share. Well anyways... The St. Louis race is usually
held at the end of June which really sucked since the weather here in both Missouri and Illinois, regardless of where they tell you you are, at that time of the
year is 110 degrees with the heat index somewhere around 120 degrees, no lie. This year it was scheduled earlier in the hopes that we all wouldn't melt. It
worked out pretty well since the weather, aside from rain all day Friday, was rather nice. Neither of our teams went very far in the race, but I guess you can't win
them all. Let's pray for better results in Bristol. We now have 10 days off before we have to be at work in Bristol. The Bristol track, which yes is actually in the
city of Bristol :-) is the most beautiful track we visit the entire year. This week we will be driving through a different part of both Kentucky and Tennessee with all
sorts of new sights to see including the Kentucky Horse Park where they have all sorts of retired champion horses housed for people to visit. There is a
campground right on the grounds where we will stay, and are planning on taking a long horseback ride around the grounds. It should be a lot of fun.
Tuesday May 8th - Kentucky Horse Park Campground - Lexington, Kentucky -
What could be better than 3 days at a 600 acres campground where for 20 bucks a night you pretty much get an entire acre to yourself with electricity and
views of rolling green hills and horses grazing all around. We took all three birds outside where they happily sunned themselves for hours. We took a long bike
ride all around the park with Cody tagging along. His new thing is to open his wings and pretend he is flying. After he is too tired to flap anymore he just keeps
his wings open and soars next to Frank. Just up the road was a Hunter/Jumper horse show that we walked over to and watched for awhile. The trees outside
our motorhome housed about 10 squirrels. It was fun to watch them play tag with each other and scamper up and down the trees. None of them were half as
friendly as our little Guido from Tennessee, but they weren't against eating peanuts, they just like them to be thrown to them at about 20 paces instead of
running up to the door and begging. There are so many different colors and types of birds here it was like having our own wildlife show right in front of us.
What could be better than 3 days at a 600 acres campground where for 20 bucks a night you pretty much get an entire acre to yourself with electricity and
views of rolling green hills and horses grazing all around. We took all three birds outside where they happily sunned themselves for hours. We took a long bike
ride all around the park with Cody tagging along. His new thing is to open his wings and pretend he is flying. After he is too tired to flap anymore he just keeps
his wings open and soars next to Frank. Just up the road was a Hunter/Jumper horse show that we walked over to and watched for awhile. The trees outside
our motorhome housed about 10 squirrels. It was fun to watch them play tag with each other and scamper up and down the trees. None of them were half as
friendly as our little Guido from Tennessee, but they weren't against eating peanuts, they just like them to be thrown to them at about 20 paces instead of
running up to the door and begging. There are so many different colors and types of birds here it was like having our own wildlife show right in front of us.
Cody flies while Frank rides his bike
An acre of Kentucky beauty all to ourselves
Wednesday May 9th - Kentucky Horse Park - Lexington, Kentucky -
As the old saying goes 'When in Rome do as the Romans do', so we decided that since we were in the horse capital of the world, we should do as the
horsemen do, so we took a ride on a horse. The Kentucky Horse Park is a 1200 acre park that is dedicated to preserving champion race horses and the
different breeds of horses that are linked to these champions. Our horseback ride took us for a 45 minute tour of the outskirts of the park passing all sorts of
fields of horses, barns that have housed almost all of the passed champion of the Kentucky Derby, which is held at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky just
about 60 miles up the road, and by a horse cemetery that holds remains of many of these horses such as Man-O-War. We went to a show called Parade of
Champions where they bring out horses such as Cigar who has won over 9 million dollars over his lifetime in the racing world, and John Henry who is the richest
Gelding ever. Yes, all of the other male horses were still intact due to the fact that after they are no longer running races they still make income off of breeding,
or shipping out their necessary breeding components. I worked at a horse ranch in California where they stud out all sorts of well known horses of great
breeding potential. Let me just say, if you ever get the chance to watch the activity of how they go about 'withdrawing' the horses it is a sight you should not
miss. This is a great time of year to be here because there are all sorts of baby horses running along side their mothers and grazing in the fields. The horses
we rode were of lower genetic superiority, but they were fun to trot around on and take in the views of the park. Frank's horse Indigo was the smallest of the
bunch but was very sweet. My horse on the other hand kept biting the horse in front of him in the fanny causing him to trot a bit faster. After our horseback ride
we took a horse drawn carriage ride and learned all sorts of things about the ranch and how it got to be what it is today. This is another city, just like Chicago
and Chattanooga, where we would never have thought to visit on a regular vacation if we were still in CA, but we are very glad to have stumbled upon it and
have definitely marked it as a place to come back to in the years to come.
As the old saying goes 'When in Rome do as the Romans do', so we decided that since we were in the horse capital of the world, we should do as the
horsemen do, so we took a ride on a horse. The Kentucky Horse Park is a 1200 acre park that is dedicated to preserving champion race horses and the
different breeds of horses that are linked to these champions. Our horseback ride took us for a 45 minute tour of the outskirts of the park passing all sorts of
fields of horses, barns that have housed almost all of the passed champion of the Kentucky Derby, which is held at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky just
about 60 miles up the road, and by a horse cemetery that holds remains of many of these horses such as Man-O-War. We went to a show called Parade of
Champions where they bring out horses such as Cigar who has won over 9 million dollars over his lifetime in the racing world, and John Henry who is the richest
Gelding ever. Yes, all of the other male horses were still intact due to the fact that after they are no longer running races they still make income off of breeding,
or shipping out their necessary breeding components. I worked at a horse ranch in California where they stud out all sorts of well known horses of great
breeding potential. Let me just say, if you ever get the chance to watch the activity of how they go about 'withdrawing' the horses it is a sight you should not
miss. This is a great time of year to be here because there are all sorts of baby horses running along side their mothers and grazing in the fields. The horses
we rode were of lower genetic superiority, but they were fun to trot around on and take in the views of the park. Frank's horse Indigo was the smallest of the
bunch but was very sweet. My horse on the other hand kept biting the horse in front of him in the fanny causing him to trot a bit faster. After our horseback ride
we took a horse drawn carriage ride and learned all sorts of things about the ranch and how it got to be what it is today. This is another city, just like Chicago
and Chattanooga, where we would never have thought to visit on a regular vacation if we were still in CA, but we are very glad to have stumbled upon it and
have definitely marked it as a place to come back to in the years to come.
Abbey, happy to be hanging out in the trees
| A horse shoe shaped cemetery for all the fallen champion race horses |
He look like an old pro in his cowboy hat!
Suzy's horse was Greg, Frank's was Indigo.
A view of the pastures from our ride
The old Methodist church of Cades Cove
The sinks waterfall
May 11th - The Great Smoky Mountains - Tennessee -
Wow!! What a beautiful mountain range it is. We arrived here in Tennessee yesterday at the Eagle's Nest Campground on the banks of Little Pigeon River.
Today was a gorgeous day! After hitting up the Welcome Center to figure out which way to see the forest, whether it be hiking, biking or Jeeping we decided to
take the Jeep with the bikes on board and see what lay ahead. Since it was a bit warm we decided to take the top of the Jeep down and turn on the A/C! Yes
we did cheat but it was worth every moment. We took an amazing 30 miles trek into the Great Smoky Mountains to take in the views. Once we hit the end of the
driving trail we set out on foot to see the old buildings from the 1800's and the waterfalls all along the way. After we left one of the log cabins that was built in
1820 we noticed something moving in the bushes. It was a sweet little baby bear chewing on the weeds and digging in the dirt. He was darling. We also noticed
about 10 feet behind him was his ever watchful mother on the other side of a fallen tree. She looked at us as if the say "yes you can look at him but don't touch
or you will have to deal with me". No worries, we were up on our 'When a bear attacks' knowledge. According to the hiking brochure it said that if a bear begins
to run at you, you should throw your arms up in the air growl and throw rocks at him/her. HELLO!??! Are you crazy? One would have to have nerves of steel to
throw a rock at an oncoming aggressive bear. However, if it was between my life and a rock fight with Goliath the bear I think a little bit of David might come out
in me. By the way, I think that Frank may have had a few rocks stashed in his pocket from the beginning of the trail just in case such a scenario should arise.
Wow!! What a beautiful mountain range it is. We arrived here in Tennessee yesterday at the Eagle's Nest Campground on the banks of Little Pigeon River.
Today was a gorgeous day! After hitting up the Welcome Center to figure out which way to see the forest, whether it be hiking, biking or Jeeping we decided to
take the Jeep with the bikes on board and see what lay ahead. Since it was a bit warm we decided to take the top of the Jeep down and turn on the A/C! Yes
we did cheat but it was worth every moment. We took an amazing 30 miles trek into the Great Smoky Mountains to take in the views. Once we hit the end of the
driving trail we set out on foot to see the old buildings from the 1800's and the waterfalls all along the way. After we left one of the log cabins that was built in
1820 we noticed something moving in the bushes. It was a sweet little baby bear chewing on the weeds and digging in the dirt. He was darling. We also noticed
about 10 feet behind him was his ever watchful mother on the other side of a fallen tree. She looked at us as if the say "yes you can look at him but don't touch
or you will have to deal with me". No worries, we were up on our 'When a bear attacks' knowledge. According to the hiking brochure it said that if a bear begins
to run at you, you should throw your arms up in the air growl and throw rocks at him/her. HELLO!??! Are you crazy? One would have to have nerves of steel to
throw a rock at an oncoming aggressive bear. However, if it was between my life and a rock fight with Goliath the bear I think a little bit of David might come out
in me. By the way, I think that Frank may have had a few rocks stashed in his pocket from the beginning of the trail just in case such a scenario should arise.
What are you doing on that side of the log?
Just talking to these people mama!
We interrupt this exciting journal to bring you the greatest news of the year!!!!! Diesel fuel, which is really just nasty
crude oil, is finally well below the price of gasoline, which is where it should have been from the beginning since it is just
nasty crude oil. We were sooooo very excited to see this sign as we drove through Kentucky, that we had to stop and
fill up. After I resuscitated Frank and had him back on his feet he took a closer look just to make sure that our eyes
were NOT deceiving us. For what ever reason each picture I took of this sign the $2.98 lights of the price of regular
didn't turn out in the picture. I think perhaps even my camera was in disbelief. Let's just pray that this 50 cents a gallon
less begins to catch on everywhere. It may not seem too much for the average Joe, but when one fills a 165 gallon tank
on the average of three times a week while driving across the country 50 cents per gallon pretty much averages to be
a heck of a lot of money saved. For kicks, let's just use our math skills here. Before today it was an average of $3.00
per gallon and at 165 gallons that is $495 per fill up and at 5-6 miles per gallon that is about 1000 miles, so the fact
that we are now saving .50 per gallon that saves us 82.50 a tank. If you ask Cody, you could buy a lot of extra bird
treats with that! We apologize for the interruption we will now continue on with this weeks outings.
crude oil, is finally well below the price of gasoline, which is where it should have been from the beginning since it is just
nasty crude oil. We were sooooo very excited to see this sign as we drove through Kentucky, that we had to stop and
fill up. After I resuscitated Frank and had him back on his feet he took a closer look just to make sure that our eyes
were NOT deceiving us. For what ever reason each picture I took of this sign the $2.98 lights of the price of regular
didn't turn out in the picture. I think perhaps even my camera was in disbelief. Let's just pray that this 50 cents a gallon
less begins to catch on everywhere. It may not seem too much for the average Joe, but when one fills a 165 gallon tank
on the average of three times a week while driving across the country 50 cents per gallon pretty much averages to be
a heck of a lot of money saved. For kicks, let's just use our math skills here. Before today it was an average of $3.00
per gallon and at 165 gallons that is $495 per fill up and at 5-6 miles per gallon that is about 1000 miles, so the fact
that we are now saving .50 per gallon that saves us 82.50 a tank. If you ask Cody, you could buy a lot of extra bird
treats with that! We apologize for the interruption we will now continue on with this weeks outings.
Are my eyes deceiving me? I can't believe it!!!
May 12th - Pigeon Forge, Tennessee -
We had a nice relaxing day today. It was about 85 degrees so we hit the pool for a nice swim. The campground here is gorgeous so we took all three birds
outside and I read in the sunshine while Frank played his guitar. Cody has gotten so accustomed to his daily runs/flys around the park that he now almost begs
to go running. He climbs down the chair or perch that he is on and begins to walk away from home. As soon as Frank picks him up he opens his wings and
begins to flap. I really is the cutest thing. After his long flight around the park we put the birds back in their cages with a handful of peanuts for each one and
headed into town to see what else there is do to for the upcoming week. Gatlinberg is about 10 minutes away and appears to be full of all sorts of touristy
things to do. It looks a lot like the town of Big Bear, only it's about 4 times the size. We stopped at a Vineyard and did a bit of wine testing and walked all around
the little shops. Oh my gosh!!! I almost forgot!!! We found Frank's hat today!!! As most of you know, we have been searching high and low, and have looked in
about 10 states for the perfect Panama hat. We found it in a little country store. We almost didn't even go in the country store because it looked like the last
place to find a Panama hat, but isn't that always the case? In front of one of the restaurants was the old bus that the band Alabama used for their early day
tours. It's a bit older than ours, and I would bet it is no longer road worthy since it has been sitting so long, but it was cool to see the inside. We stopped on our
walk back to the car for an ice cream cone and headed home. The evening was still nice and warm so we all had dinner outside. Cody is such a pig when it
comes to broccoli and potatoes that he got his own plate to eat from. This way Frank and I were able to enjoy our dinner without Cody trying to steal it all. I think
he ate more dinner than I did, however this is not an uncommon occurrence. Someday he is going to grow little pink ears and curly tail and say Oink Oink Oink.
We had a nice relaxing day today. It was about 85 degrees so we hit the pool for a nice swim. The campground here is gorgeous so we took all three birds
outside and I read in the sunshine while Frank played his guitar. Cody has gotten so accustomed to his daily runs/flys around the park that he now almost begs
to go running. He climbs down the chair or perch that he is on and begins to walk away from home. As soon as Frank picks him up he opens his wings and
begins to flap. I really is the cutest thing. After his long flight around the park we put the birds back in their cages with a handful of peanuts for each one and
headed into town to see what else there is do to for the upcoming week. Gatlinberg is about 10 minutes away and appears to be full of all sorts of touristy
things to do. It looks a lot like the town of Big Bear, only it's about 4 times the size. We stopped at a Vineyard and did a bit of wine testing and walked all around
the little shops. Oh my gosh!!! I almost forgot!!! We found Frank's hat today!!! As most of you know, we have been searching high and low, and have looked in
about 10 states for the perfect Panama hat. We found it in a little country store. We almost didn't even go in the country store because it looked like the last
place to find a Panama hat, but isn't that always the case? In front of one of the restaurants was the old bus that the band Alabama used for their early day
tours. It's a bit older than ours, and I would bet it is no longer road worthy since it has been sitting so long, but it was cool to see the inside. We stopped on our
walk back to the car for an ice cream cone and headed home. The evening was still nice and warm so we all had dinner outside. Cody is such a pig when it
comes to broccoli and potatoes that he got his own plate to eat from. This way Frank and I were able to enjoy our dinner without Cody trying to steal it all. I think
he ate more dinner than I did, however this is not an uncommon occurrence. Someday he is going to grow little pink ears and curly tail and say Oink Oink Oink.
May 13th - Pigeon Gorge, Tennessee-
Today we visited a different type of amusement park. It was an amusement park for the mind. It had over 100 interactive things to do including walking on the
moon, making enormous bubbles with a huge bubble wand. Lying on a bed of nails, creating your own roller coaster and then riding it, in a virtual machine that
turned and flipped and went up and down. The place was called Wonderworks and it was very imaginative. They had all sorts of mind teasing puzzles and things
to test your coordination skills as well as your brain skills. One of the most fun rides was the Cycler. You sit in what feels like a bumper car with a shoulder strap
and you start to pedal. The faster you pedal the quicker it goes. However it doesn't just go forwards and backwards it actually is like a swing that can go
completely upside down and around again. You can pedal less and just have it swing, but we had a blast seeing how fast we could get ours to swing around and
around and around. There were no lines so we each sat in our own. At one point I was laughing so hard I lost all concentration, and footing on my pedals, so my
car stopped completely upside down and froze in mid air for a moment. It gave me a chance to regain my footing and not loose too much momentum so I could
catch back up with Frank and the loop count. It was sooo fun! Even the structure of the building was quite ingenious. The entire building looked as though it had
been through a hurricane that was thrown upside and has crashed into another building that housed a theater where they perform the most hilarious melodrama
ever. Frank and I used to get annual passes to the Great American Melodrama each year in Oceano, California so we have seen our fair share of them. Even
though this one was a bit shorter it was very well done and they served a three course dinner as well. They even had a few of the characters played by members
of the audience that were brought on stage including a 6 year old who played Paul Bunyan with an axe and all. I laughed so hard my stomach actually hurt.
Today we visited a different type of amusement park. It was an amusement park for the mind. It had over 100 interactive things to do including walking on the
moon, making enormous bubbles with a huge bubble wand. Lying on a bed of nails, creating your own roller coaster and then riding it, in a virtual machine that
turned and flipped and went up and down. The place was called Wonderworks and it was very imaginative. They had all sorts of mind teasing puzzles and things
to test your coordination skills as well as your brain skills. One of the most fun rides was the Cycler. You sit in what feels like a bumper car with a shoulder strap
and you start to pedal. The faster you pedal the quicker it goes. However it doesn't just go forwards and backwards it actually is like a swing that can go
completely upside down and around again. You can pedal less and just have it swing, but we had a blast seeing how fast we could get ours to swing around and
around and around. There were no lines so we each sat in our own. At one point I was laughing so hard I lost all concentration, and footing on my pedals, so my
car stopped completely upside down and froze in mid air for a moment. It gave me a chance to regain my footing and not loose too much momentum so I could
catch back up with Frank and the loop count. It was sooo fun! Even the structure of the building was quite ingenious. The entire building looked as though it had
been through a hurricane that was thrown upside and has crashed into another building that housed a theater where they perform the most hilarious melodrama
ever. Frank and I used to get annual passes to the Great American Melodrama each year in Oceano, California so we have seen our fair share of them. Even
though this one was a bit shorter it was very well done and they served a three course dinner as well. They even had a few of the characters played by members
of the audience that were brought on stage including a 6 year old who played Paul Bunyan with an axe and all. I laughed so hard my stomach actually hurt.
A look on the inside.
Alabama's tour bus back in the day
But we had to share dinner with the birds! :-)
We had the pool all to ourselves
Weeeeeeee!!!!!!! Keep pedaling!!!!
Bubbles bubbles everywhere!
Booooo!!!! The villain returns!
Young Paul Bunyan attacks the villain
Frank steers the space capsule back to earth
Wine tasting in Tennessee
Suzy walks on the moon
The Wonderworks building
May 14th - Another drive through the Great Smoky Mountains -
One thing that everyone must do before they die is to walk through the Smoky Mountains, find a grassy place to lie down and just look up at the trees and the
mountains and the sky. I know I know, it sounds really cheesy, but it is so pretty up here and the way the blue sky and white clouds peek through the trees that
are about 10 different shades of green each and the mountains around them, is one of the most beautiful sights anywhere to see. The way you feel just laying
here breathing in the fresh air and listening to the birds and the animals around you really relaxes you, I don't care who you are this more relaxing than Yoga any
day! We drove to the base of the path that leads up to the highest point in all of Tennessee which is right above Newfound Gap, which happens to be the lowest
point in Tennessee so the views are amazing. It feels like you are on top of the world. There are two different trails that actually start up here. One of them goes
to the lookout and the other goes to Maine, yes the state, so we obviously chose the shorter of the two and stayed in the state of Tennessee. We did however
meet a couple that was actually doing the entire trail up to Maine. They were planning on it taking them 7 months! Yikes! One must really love to hike in order to
head out on a 2,501 mile trail, but I commend them greatly for their determination. It would probably be an amazing 7 months. Heck we've been out here for
longer than that in a motorhome and are still having a great time, so whatever means you choose to see the country, its a great move in our book.
One thing that everyone must do before they die is to walk through the Smoky Mountains, find a grassy place to lie down and just look up at the trees and the
mountains and the sky. I know I know, it sounds really cheesy, but it is so pretty up here and the way the blue sky and white clouds peek through the trees that
are about 10 different shades of green each and the mountains around them, is one of the most beautiful sights anywhere to see. The way you feel just laying
here breathing in the fresh air and listening to the birds and the animals around you really relaxes you, I don't care who you are this more relaxing than Yoga any
day! We drove to the base of the path that leads up to the highest point in all of Tennessee which is right above Newfound Gap, which happens to be the lowest
point in Tennessee so the views are amazing. It feels like you are on top of the world. There are two different trails that actually start up here. One of them goes
to the lookout and the other goes to Maine, yes the state, so we obviously chose the shorter of the two and stayed in the state of Tennessee. We did however
meet a couple that was actually doing the entire trail up to Maine. They were planning on it taking them 7 months! Yikes! One must really love to hike in order to
head out on a 2,501 mile trail, but I commend them greatly for their determination. It would probably be an amazing 7 months. Heck we've been out here for
longer than that in a motorhome and are still having a great time, so whatever means you choose to see the country, its a great move in our book.
This is as far as we got on the trail to Maine
Just lay here and relax!
Heeeelllloooo Suzy!
May 16th - Wild Turkey Distillery - Lawrenceburg, Kentucky -
So, for all of you out there that enjoy a good Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, then Lawrenceburg, Kentucky is the place to visit. First they mix wheat, rice,
yeast and other secret ingredients into 15,500 gallon steel tubs. Then they mix that together with limestone water that is fresh from the mountains on the Wild
Turkey property and let it sit for about 2 weeks until the sugar from the grains turn to alcohol. After this they put it through various other things that I can't
seem to recall, which just goes to show that my future in making Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey won't start tonight in the kitchen sink. I do remember that
they poor the Bourbon into wooden barrels that have been charred, which is what gives the Bourbon it's color. The corks they use to close the barrel are
called bungs. They Frank and I a couple of bungs to take home to the birds, which Cody destroyed in about 5 minutes. After they store the Bourbon in the
barrels they store them in huge warehouses for the certain number of years in takes to turn this concoction into aged Bourbon. They are 26 warehouses on
the property and each one holds 20,000 barrels. Wow! That's a lot of darn booze. Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is not to be confused with any other
type of plain Whiskey, or Bourbon. There are very certain criteria and aging devices that go into creating your perfect Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey in
order for it to have it's distinctive flavor and color, or so the government says. Such as the proof of the Bourbon and the limestone water part. People say that
there is nothing like a good 12 year old bottle of Bourbon Whiskey. The way they described it during the aging process makes you think it will be the greatest
tasting drink you've ever had and so romantic to sip over a nice fire. We even bought a bottle to try it ourselves. YUCK!! They were right about one thing,
nothing I have ever tasted was quite like the first sip of it. That is, nothing as nasty and bitter as a bottle of 12 year old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. By
the time ours is empty it will probably be about a 15 years old bottle of Bourbon. However learning about how Wild Turkey is made, walking through the
distillery and warehouses that hold all those barrels and seeing that things haven't changed on how they make it today versus 100 years ago was very
educational, especially if one ever wants to take up creating their own bourbon and make their own still.
So, for all of you out there that enjoy a good Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, then Lawrenceburg, Kentucky is the place to visit. First they mix wheat, rice,
yeast and other secret ingredients into 15,500 gallon steel tubs. Then they mix that together with limestone water that is fresh from the mountains on the Wild
Turkey property and let it sit for about 2 weeks until the sugar from the grains turn to alcohol. After this they put it through various other things that I can't
seem to recall, which just goes to show that my future in making Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey won't start tonight in the kitchen sink. I do remember that
they poor the Bourbon into wooden barrels that have been charred, which is what gives the Bourbon it's color. The corks they use to close the barrel are
called bungs. They Frank and I a couple of bungs to take home to the birds, which Cody destroyed in about 5 minutes. After they store the Bourbon in the
barrels they store them in huge warehouses for the certain number of years in takes to turn this concoction into aged Bourbon. They are 26 warehouses on
the property and each one holds 20,000 barrels. Wow! That's a lot of darn booze. Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is not to be confused with any other
type of plain Whiskey, or Bourbon. There are very certain criteria and aging devices that go into creating your perfect Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey in
order for it to have it's distinctive flavor and color, or so the government says. Such as the proof of the Bourbon and the limestone water part. People say that
there is nothing like a good 12 year old bottle of Bourbon Whiskey. The way they described it during the aging process makes you think it will be the greatest
tasting drink you've ever had and so romantic to sip over a nice fire. We even bought a bottle to try it ourselves. YUCK!! They were right about one thing,
nothing I have ever tasted was quite like the first sip of it. That is, nothing as nasty and bitter as a bottle of 12 year old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. By
the time ours is empty it will probably be about a 15 years old bottle of Bourbon. However learning about how Wild Turkey is made, walking through the
distillery and warehouses that hold all those barrels and seeing that things haven't changed on how they make it today versus 100 years ago was very
educational, especially if one ever wants to take up creating their own bourbon and make their own still.
May 15th - Lexington, Kentucky - The Whitmore Ranch -
This is such a beautiful part of the country we decided we had to come back, and since the race in Bristol, Tennessee was cancelled due to damage on the
track, we now have another two weeks off to enjoy it. One of our favorite things to do in new areas, that are pretty and green, is to look at property for sale.
Usually we look just for kicks, but here we found some amazing horse ranches for sale at very reasonable prices in flourishing areas of the town. The pictures
above give you a bit of an idea of what our most favorite property looked like. It was 12 acres of gorgeous rolling hills, a small lake and even an old rundown
barn to give it just enough character to feel homey, and enough firewood to last a lifetime once it falls down. There is a gravel road that leads to a hill on the
top of the property where it overlooks all the ranches around with horses grazing all around, a few goats and green hills as far as the eye can see. At the top of
the gravel road is a large level area just perfect to park about 5 motorhomes. The property already has water and electric and sewer. We even drove back
later this evening to see what the sunset would look like. It was amazing! It was just screaming to house our little house on wheels, but alas, since we aren't yet
ready to settle down anywhere, and we don't own our own ride on mower to keep the grass trimmed, we drove on. It was fun though to plan out what we would
do on the land, and with property values increasing back here how they are it would be a nice little investment. Maybe in 10 years in will be for sale again.
This is such a beautiful part of the country we decided we had to come back, and since the race in Bristol, Tennessee was cancelled due to damage on the
track, we now have another two weeks off to enjoy it. One of our favorite things to do in new areas, that are pretty and green, is to look at property for sale.
Usually we look just for kicks, but here we found some amazing horse ranches for sale at very reasonable prices in flourishing areas of the town. The pictures
above give you a bit of an idea of what our most favorite property looked like. It was 12 acres of gorgeous rolling hills, a small lake and even an old rundown
barn to give it just enough character to feel homey, and enough firewood to last a lifetime once it falls down. There is a gravel road that leads to a hill on the
top of the property where it overlooks all the ranches around with horses grazing all around, a few goats and green hills as far as the eye can see. At the top of
the gravel road is a large level area just perfect to park about 5 motorhomes. The property already has water and electric and sewer. We even drove back
later this evening to see what the sunset would look like. It was amazing! It was just screaming to house our little house on wheels, but alas, since we aren't yet
ready to settle down anywhere, and we don't own our own ride on mower to keep the grass trimmed, we drove on. It was fun though to plan out what we would
do on the land, and with property values increasing back here how they are it would be a nice little investment. Maybe in 10 years in will be for sale again.
The rundown barn at the top of the hill
The sunsets over the pretty lake
Views to the North from the lake
Rolling hills on the South side of the property
It's time to go into the barrels
The lovely mixture after about a week
An enormous barrel to fill with the mixture
Enjoying the fire Cody and Frank made
The rocky banks of the Ohio River
May 17th - Otter Creek Park, Elizabethtown, Kentucky -
Another lazy day on God's great earth. It's always nice to start out in a new place with a lazy day and the birds. They love being outside just sitting in the
sunshine, and all the neighbors in the campground love to see them and all the tricks they do. Cody has gotten so smart about doing his tricks outside the
house, that unless there is food in our hands being shown to him he just looks at us as if to say "You crazy humans you think I'm dumb enough to do a trick
when you want me to, without a peanut or cracker? Well forget it." But once the treats are shown to him he will do anything to get them and will continue to do so
until he is full, which trust me we always run out of treats long before he gets full. Today we took a nice leisurely bike ride around the campground with Cody on
Frank's handlebars. This park is enormous, and since we wanted to check out more than what was just on the small roads around us we had to put him away for
a bit in order to go out into the main area. He loves the bike rides, but the cars startle him a bit, and the last thing we would want is to have him get startled and
fly off. So after he and his siblings were safely tucked into their cages we went to find the Ohio River. The ride there was a lot of fun. It was all downhill from the
campground. The hills were pretty steep, so it felt as you were flying while you went down them. Of course about halfway down we realized that we must go back
up these same hills to get home. This caused them to loose a little appeal, but we needed a good workout since we had been sitting still the last two days so we
decided to fly down the rest of the hills. The Ohio River is enormous, and quite wide in most places. We stopped at one point on a rocky shore before heading
back up the hill to put our toes in the water. Just then a train came around the corner, so since we hadn't taken off the shoes yet we ran up a bit of a hill to watch
the train go by and once it passed we mounted up for the trek home. Boy were the legs burning half way home. In times like these I really really miss the
Spinning classes I used to teach. There's no workout like a 45 minute Spinning class to get the blood running and the fat melting. Once we hit the top of the
second enormous hill, home was close. It turned out to be a bit of a downhill for the last section which was music to our legs. Once we got back to the campsite
the birds came back out, Cody helped start a fire with Frank while Abbey and I searched the woods behind us for kindling. There were old dried out branches all
over the place since there are tons and tons of trees everywhere, so we had enough wood to keep the fire burning long into the night. It's been awhile since we
just sat by a fire and read. The days are nice and long now and the sun doesn't go down here until around 9:15 which is wonderful. It sure bets those darn days
in October when the sun sets around 5:15. The moon came out early and was a beautiful sight to see behind the trees.
Another lazy day on God's great earth. It's always nice to start out in a new place with a lazy day and the birds. They love being outside just sitting in the
sunshine, and all the neighbors in the campground love to see them and all the tricks they do. Cody has gotten so smart about doing his tricks outside the
house, that unless there is food in our hands being shown to him he just looks at us as if to say "You crazy humans you think I'm dumb enough to do a trick
when you want me to, without a peanut or cracker? Well forget it." But once the treats are shown to him he will do anything to get them and will continue to do so
until he is full, which trust me we always run out of treats long before he gets full. Today we took a nice leisurely bike ride around the campground with Cody on
Frank's handlebars. This park is enormous, and since we wanted to check out more than what was just on the small roads around us we had to put him away for
a bit in order to go out into the main area. He loves the bike rides, but the cars startle him a bit, and the last thing we would want is to have him get startled and
fly off. So after he and his siblings were safely tucked into their cages we went to find the Ohio River. The ride there was a lot of fun. It was all downhill from the
campground. The hills were pretty steep, so it felt as you were flying while you went down them. Of course about halfway down we realized that we must go back
up these same hills to get home. This caused them to loose a little appeal, but we needed a good workout since we had been sitting still the last two days so we
decided to fly down the rest of the hills. The Ohio River is enormous, and quite wide in most places. We stopped at one point on a rocky shore before heading
back up the hill to put our toes in the water. Just then a train came around the corner, so since we hadn't taken off the shoes yet we ran up a bit of a hill to watch
the train go by and once it passed we mounted up for the trek home. Boy were the legs burning half way home. In times like these I really really miss the
Spinning classes I used to teach. There's no workout like a 45 minute Spinning class to get the blood running and the fat melting. Once we hit the top of the
second enormous hill, home was close. It turned out to be a bit of a downhill for the last section which was music to our legs. Once we got back to the campsite
the birds came back out, Cody helped start a fire with Frank while Abbey and I searched the woods behind us for kindling. There were old dried out branches all
over the place since there are tons and tons of trees everywhere, so we had enough wood to keep the fire burning long into the night. It's been awhile since we
just sat by a fire and read. The days are nice and long now and the sun doesn't go down here until around 9:15 which is wonderful. It sure bets those darn days
in October when the sun sets around 5:15. The moon came out early and was a beautiful sight to see behind the trees.
A crescent moon peeks through the trees
Here's another stick Daddy
| Along with the view please note Frank's new hat! |
May 21st - Otter Creek Park - A beautiful wake up call -
The weather has been so nice here that we have slept with the windows open at night. The other bonus about open windows, other than the fresh mountain air,
is in the mornings we are awoken by the soft call of about 10 different types of birds. No not ours, since they are so lazy they sleep in until at least 9:00. If we
take their cover off much earlier than that they are a bit grumpy for the first 15 minutes or so until they wake up. They have no idea that just outside their
window are hundreds of birds that have to wake up early in order to find enough food for themselves and any other feathered friends that are sharing their nest
that day, including momma and little babies. Our birds know that their bowls will be there full of food when they wake up, and if for some reason they are empty
Bradley will say "Do you want some more?" until we fill them. Cody and Abbey on the other hand are a bit less sweet about the empty dish and remind you by
either banging on it, or throwing the bowl on the ground to show you that it is empty. This morning, like all the past mornings here at Otter Creek Park, we have
had brunch outside. Before we eat, we sprinkle a bunch of bird seed and peanuts around in order to lure the local tree living neighbors and have brunch with
all sorts of our forest friends. Today there were four squirrels, two beautiful blue jays, a very talkative cardinal, that Abbey showed quite a bit of interest in.
Abbey and the cardinal talked back and forth for quite awhile. It's was hilarious. Also part of the brunch bunch was a very curious woodpecker that would peek
around the tree every so often to see if the mean blue jay, that kept scaring everyone off including the squirrels, was still there. It was funny since the birds
were the ones that liked to eat the peanuts this time and the squirrels, after picking up the peanuts sniffing them and then dropping them, went after the
birdseed. The blue jay took enough peanuts and stashed them in his nest two trees over to keep him fed for two winters. After lunch the squirrels climbed back
into the tree, found a big branch and snuggled together. They bathed each other first and then fell asleep. They slept there for about 2 hours and then came
back down again for an early dinner.
The weather has been so nice here that we have slept with the windows open at night. The other bonus about open windows, other than the fresh mountain air,
is in the mornings we are awoken by the soft call of about 10 different types of birds. No not ours, since they are so lazy they sleep in until at least 9:00. If we
take their cover off much earlier than that they are a bit grumpy for the first 15 minutes or so until they wake up. They have no idea that just outside their
window are hundreds of birds that have to wake up early in order to find enough food for themselves and any other feathered friends that are sharing their nest
that day, including momma and little babies. Our birds know that their bowls will be there full of food when they wake up, and if for some reason they are empty
Bradley will say "Do you want some more?" until we fill them. Cody and Abbey on the other hand are a bit less sweet about the empty dish and remind you by
either banging on it, or throwing the bowl on the ground to show you that it is empty. This morning, like all the past mornings here at Otter Creek Park, we have
had brunch outside. Before we eat, we sprinkle a bunch of bird seed and peanuts around in order to lure the local tree living neighbors and have brunch with
all sorts of our forest friends. Today there were four squirrels, two beautiful blue jays, a very talkative cardinal, that Abbey showed quite a bit of interest in.
Abbey and the cardinal talked back and forth for quite awhile. It's was hilarious. Also part of the brunch bunch was a very curious woodpecker that would peek
around the tree every so often to see if the mean blue jay, that kept scaring everyone off including the squirrels, was still there. It was funny since the birds
were the ones that liked to eat the peanuts this time and the squirrels, after picking up the peanuts sniffing them and then dropping them, went after the
birdseed. The blue jay took enough peanuts and stashed them in his nest two trees over to keep him fed for two winters. After lunch the squirrels climbed back
into the tree, found a big branch and snuggled together. They bathed each other first and then fell asleep. They slept there for about 2 hours and then came
back down again for an early dinner.
Abbey's newfound love
Breakfast time for all the forest friends
The squirrels snuggle down in
their tree for a nap after lunch
their tree for a nap after lunch
A shy woodpecker peeks to see it's safe to eat
May 22nd - Liberty, Missouri -
Clay County Savings Association was the first bank ever to be robbed in broad daylight. The date was February 13, 1866 and the robbers were known as the
Jesse James Gang, led by the notorious James brothers, Jesse and his brother Frank. The bank still stands today in the small city of Liberty, exactly how it was
back then. Of course it is now a museum and no longer an actual bank. The James Gang got away with $60,000 that day. That's more than any bank robber
gets these days by just robbing a teller. It's because of people like Jesse James that bank tellers have maximum cash drawer levels. I was a bank teller for
almost 3 years and every so often they would do what was called a 'surprise cash count'. Not only were they doing it to make sure that your drawer had the
amount of money the computer said it should have, and making sure that no one was dipping into the till, they also did it to make sure that your cash level wasn't
over your limits. It meant big trouble if you had more than $2,000 in the top drawer and $8,000 in your bottom large bill drawer. Apparently the Clay County
Savings Association hadn't had the "How to keep your cash safe" seminar. Nowadays you have to break into the vaults of a bank to get anywhere near $60,000,
not that we recommend doing any such deed. I am happy to say that at no time in the almost 10 years that I worked at the bank did we ever get robbed. In fact in
Valley Oaks Bank history they have never been robbed. Okay I'm looking for some wood to knock on. The James Gang went on the rob numerous other banks
and business establishments in their impressively long careers as criminals, but were finally stopped, well actually they were finally both killed which is how most
of the old west's bad guys went down. Just up the road from the bank sits the farm that Jesse and Frank were raised on and where they were laid to rest. The
James Gang as they were called back then were the most notorious criminals of their time, in fact of almost anytime for that matter. Historical Liberty Square
looks like something out of an old western movie. All the streets are cobblestone and all the buildings are as they were back in the 1800's. The little tour guide
we had was the cheeriest and friendliest woman I have ever met. We asked her about what book would be the best to get to read up on our criminals of the old
west and she went into the longest explanation imaginable of each and every book she had in the book section. We didn't even need to buy any of them since
she gave us their entire story. I think reading the books may not have taken as long as it did to hear her explain them to us. We headed back home to Basswood
RV Park at the end of our tour and ordered a pizza from the office. They had great pizza, and they made it right there in the lobby and delivered it to your
campsite via a golf cart. It's a great little side business for them. The RV Park is a bit off the highway and there are all sorts of houses on the roads around it so
even the locals order their pizza from there since the Pizza Hut in town won't deliver that far out. Frank is now trying to figure out how we can make these little
pizzas in the bus and sell them at all the RV Parks and campgrounds we visit in the future. Always an entrepreneur that one!
Clay County Savings Association was the first bank ever to be robbed in broad daylight. The date was February 13, 1866 and the robbers were known as the
Jesse James Gang, led by the notorious James brothers, Jesse and his brother Frank. The bank still stands today in the small city of Liberty, exactly how it was
back then. Of course it is now a museum and no longer an actual bank. The James Gang got away with $60,000 that day. That's more than any bank robber
gets these days by just robbing a teller. It's because of people like Jesse James that bank tellers have maximum cash drawer levels. I was a bank teller for
almost 3 years and every so often they would do what was called a 'surprise cash count'. Not only were they doing it to make sure that your drawer had the
amount of money the computer said it should have, and making sure that no one was dipping into the till, they also did it to make sure that your cash level wasn't
over your limits. It meant big trouble if you had more than $2,000 in the top drawer and $8,000 in your bottom large bill drawer. Apparently the Clay County
Savings Association hadn't had the "How to keep your cash safe" seminar. Nowadays you have to break into the vaults of a bank to get anywhere near $60,000,
not that we recommend doing any such deed. I am happy to say that at no time in the almost 10 years that I worked at the bank did we ever get robbed. In fact in
Valley Oaks Bank history they have never been robbed. Okay I'm looking for some wood to knock on. The James Gang went on the rob numerous other banks
and business establishments in their impressively long careers as criminals, but were finally stopped, well actually they were finally both killed which is how most
of the old west's bad guys went down. Just up the road from the bank sits the farm that Jesse and Frank were raised on and where they were laid to rest. The
James Gang as they were called back then were the most notorious criminals of their time, in fact of almost anytime for that matter. Historical Liberty Square
looks like something out of an old western movie. All the streets are cobblestone and all the buildings are as they were back in the 1800's. The little tour guide
we had was the cheeriest and friendliest woman I have ever met. We asked her about what book would be the best to get to read up on our criminals of the old
west and she went into the longest explanation imaginable of each and every book she had in the book section. We didn't even need to buy any of them since
she gave us their entire story. I think reading the books may not have taken as long as it did to hear her explain them to us. We headed back home to Basswood
RV Park at the end of our tour and ordered a pizza from the office. They had great pizza, and they made it right there in the lobby and delivered it to your
campsite via a golf cart. It's a great little side business for them. The RV Park is a bit off the highway and there are all sorts of houses on the roads around it so
even the locals order their pizza from there since the Pizza Hut in town won't deliver that far out. Frank is now trying to figure out how we can make these little
pizzas in the bus and sell them at all the RV Parks and campgrounds we visit in the future. Always an entrepreneur that one!
The Clay County Savings Association
The old style teller windows of the Old West
May 19th - Churchill Downs - Louisville, Kentucky -
Churchill Downs is home to one of the greatest horse races there is, The Kentucky Derby, which was held here just a few weeks back. Even though today's
races weren't nearly as popular, we had a fun day. We each bet 2 bucks on each race to the horse of our choice. We read a little about the horses in the
program, but my favorite thing to do is still go down to the paddock and see who looks like they want to run that day. One of my bets was on a long shot who
had never run a race before, and looked very antsy! He threw his rider off at one point, and was almost scratched, but somehow the jockey managed to get
back on and come in second place. He was almost dead last in the beginning, and all of a sudden his energy rush paid off. All our bets were 'to show' which
means you win if your horse comes in first, second or third place, so the odds are a bit more in your favor. One race, in honor of today being my dad's
birthday, I wagered on a horse named 'Silver Minister' since my dear dad is a silver haired minister. Sorry Pops, no such luck on that bet, but he was a beautiful
horse. He tried his very best and came in fourth. Just a nose short, but enough distance to loose my big bet. By the end of the day we were down about a
dollar and a half, but it was worth every cent. It's much more fun to scream and cheer for a horse when you have a couple bucks riding on him (ha ha, no pun
intended). The buildings here are like nothing we have ever seen. All the spires and steeples are like something out of a movie set and the seating was
enormous. It was interesting to read all about the horses that have won the various Kentucky Derbies over the years and the select few that won the Triple
Crown. They also had areas that told about other great horses such as Man-O-War and War Admiral, who by the way was the horse that Seabiscuit beat at the
infamous Match Race. It's always a good day when you can visit a place with such history and be able to view such glorious horses. Kentucky is amazing.
Churchill Downs is home to one of the greatest horse races there is, The Kentucky Derby, which was held here just a few weeks back. Even though today's
races weren't nearly as popular, we had a fun day. We each bet 2 bucks on each race to the horse of our choice. We read a little about the horses in the
program, but my favorite thing to do is still go down to the paddock and see who looks like they want to run that day. One of my bets was on a long shot who
had never run a race before, and looked very antsy! He threw his rider off at one point, and was almost scratched, but somehow the jockey managed to get
back on and come in second place. He was almost dead last in the beginning, and all of a sudden his energy rush paid off. All our bets were 'to show' which
means you win if your horse comes in first, second or third place, so the odds are a bit more in your favor. One race, in honor of today being my dad's
birthday, I wagered on a horse named 'Silver Minister' since my dear dad is a silver haired minister. Sorry Pops, no such luck on that bet, but he was a beautiful
horse. He tried his very best and came in fourth. Just a nose short, but enough distance to loose my big bet. By the end of the day we were down about a
dollar and a half, but it was worth every cent. It's much more fun to scream and cheer for a horse when you have a couple bucks riding on him (ha ha, no pun
intended). The buildings here are like nothing we have ever seen. All the spires and steeples are like something out of a movie set and the seating was
enormous. It was interesting to read all about the horses that have won the various Kentucky Derbies over the years and the select few that won the Triple
Crown. They also had areas that told about other great horses such as Man-O-War and War Admiral, who by the way was the horse that Seabiscuit beat at the
infamous Match Race. It's always a good day when you can visit a place with such history and be able to view such glorious horses. Kentucky is amazing.
May 19th - Louisville Slugger Museum and factory - Louisville, Kentucky
Downtown Louisville is full of history and old brick buildings. Almost every block has a Historical Marker on it describing something that had occurred. I must
admit most of the events were not familiar to us, but then again neither of us have ever studied the history of Kentucky at any depth, maybe we should start!
Our activity of the morning was touring the Louisville Slugger Factory and learning all about how they build bats for the minor league players the Major League
players and your everyday bat consumer. It's amazing to see just how much goes into creating a wooden bat for such people as Cal Rifkin or Barry Bonds.
Along with Kentucky history we aren't quite up on our who's who in the big bad game of baseball, but the names were familiar. Back in the days of handcrafting
wooden bats it took a man about an hour to create each bat that a Major League player would order. The player would tell the Louisville Slugger craftsman how
long he wanted the bat, how much it was to weigh, what wood it was to be made out of and how many he wanted to this exact specification. Apparently since
there is such a science to each player swinging his bat in order to hit the ball out of the park there is a noticeable difference to them if their new bats are even
an ounce off of their others. I'll let you know if this is true if I ever make to the Major Leagues. Nowadays there are machines that do just this for the bats.
Actually there is only one machine in existence for the production of the Major League player's bats and it is housed here. The craftsman now types in all the
specifications that the bat is to have except of course how much it will weigh. This still takes a certain knowledge to know what piece of wood you put into the
machine will produce the weight of the bat you want to come out. Once the wood is selected and placed into the machine the machine cuts the bat it 3 seconds!
Yes it was amazing. We actually saw them make two bats while we were on tour for Cal Rifkin. Don't ask me who he plays for, or what position. The only player's
position that I could name on the tour was Johnny Bench, and that was only because of the Bill Cosby Himself comedy tape where Bill makes a comment on how
the doctor that was delivering his child sat at the end of the table like Johnny Bench. My dad and I listened to that tape endlessly when I was young. At the end
of the tour we were each given a free miniature bat. They are the perfect size for the birds, and since they love to chew on any kind of wood, they will love these.
Downtown Louisville is full of history and old brick buildings. Almost every block has a Historical Marker on it describing something that had occurred. I must
admit most of the events were not familiar to us, but then again neither of us have ever studied the history of Kentucky at any depth, maybe we should start!
Our activity of the morning was touring the Louisville Slugger Factory and learning all about how they build bats for the minor league players the Major League
players and your everyday bat consumer. It's amazing to see just how much goes into creating a wooden bat for such people as Cal Rifkin or Barry Bonds.
Along with Kentucky history we aren't quite up on our who's who in the big bad game of baseball, but the names were familiar. Back in the days of handcrafting
wooden bats it took a man about an hour to create each bat that a Major League player would order. The player would tell the Louisville Slugger craftsman how
long he wanted the bat, how much it was to weigh, what wood it was to be made out of and how many he wanted to this exact specification. Apparently since
there is such a science to each player swinging his bat in order to hit the ball out of the park there is a noticeable difference to them if their new bats are even
an ounce off of their others. I'll let you know if this is true if I ever make to the Major Leagues. Nowadays there are machines that do just this for the bats.
Actually there is only one machine in existence for the production of the Major League player's bats and it is housed here. The craftsman now types in all the
specifications that the bat is to have except of course how much it will weigh. This still takes a certain knowledge to know what piece of wood you put into the
machine will produce the weight of the bat you want to come out. Once the wood is selected and placed into the machine the machine cuts the bat it 3 seconds!
Yes it was amazing. We actually saw them make two bats while we were on tour for Cal Rifkin. Don't ask me who he plays for, or what position. The only player's
position that I could name on the tour was Johnny Bench, and that was only because of the Bill Cosby Himself comedy tape where Bill makes a comment on how
the doctor that was delivering his child sat at the end of the table like Johnny Bench. My dad and I listened to that tape endlessly when I was young. At the end
of the tour we were each given a free miniature bat. They are the perfect size for the birds, and since they love to chew on any kind of wood, they will love these.
... ... and they're off and running!
The glorious entrance to Churchill Downs
Abbey with her fun souvenir
The early days when bats were made by hand
| The world's largest bat leans against the Louisville Slugger Factory |
Batter up! Anyone wanna play with me?
May 20th - Otter Creek Trail - 8.2 miles of biking trails -
There must be about 12 different trails here at the park. Most of them are for hiking or horses, but there are 3-4 that are intended for mountain biking. We
started out riding to the Nature Center of the park which was only about a half a mile from home. From there we picked up a trail guide and set out on the Otter
Creek trail which wound up and down the mountain a little over 8 miles. The trail was in the shade for over 80% of the time which made it nice and cool. It was
like a roller coaster ride, although you didn't have anything holding you from going over a ledge, but that made it even more fun. Frank lead the way with the
trusty map that showed the trail along with certain markers to look for. I only crashed twice, once when I misjudged by wheelie ability over a large stump and
another when I was attempting to down shift but my bike had other ideas. Neither of them was too bad, and the bruises will heal. At least i got up from the ground
laughing. Another near crashed occurred as we were coming down a bit of a steep hill to what appeared to be a cliff. I was reaching for my camera to get a
picture and trying to break at the same time. Since the roads are all dirt and the hill was steep as I pulled the breaks the wheels stopped, but my bike kept
sliding down the hill. Luckily Frank was right in front of me and I was able to use him and his bike to stop the sliding bike before we both went over the edge of
the cliff. We did pass a couple guys that were out on the trail for exercise, in fact I should say they passed us, twice in fact coming the opposite way. Oh well we
were out there fun and accomplished just that. The best part of the trail was that it was all pretty much downhill so we didn't have to kill ourselves up any huge
hills as we did the other day. The worst part of the trail? The fact that it was downhill pretty much the entire way and the speed you got going down some of the
hills made your heart rate go up even more than the exercise did, while you prayed "Please God keep me from doing a header into the woods." The last 3 miles
of the trail was nice and flat, and by the end of it we were both ready to go again, but figured we would probably change our minds about halfway through. We
also realized that the reason the other mountain bikers were going the opposite way was for the challenge of the hills. No thanks! I'm all for a good workout, but I
would rather not kill myself in the process. Oh by the way, the mini baseball bats went over like a charm. In fact it took Cody about an hour to demolish his. As
soon as his was torn up he stole his sisters and is making quick work of that as well. Maybe we should order a few more!
There must be about 12 different trails here at the park. Most of them are for hiking or horses, but there are 3-4 that are intended for mountain biking. We
started out riding to the Nature Center of the park which was only about a half a mile from home. From there we picked up a trail guide and set out on the Otter
Creek trail which wound up and down the mountain a little over 8 miles. The trail was in the shade for over 80% of the time which made it nice and cool. It was
like a roller coaster ride, although you didn't have anything holding you from going over a ledge, but that made it even more fun. Frank lead the way with the
trusty map that showed the trail along with certain markers to look for. I only crashed twice, once when I misjudged by wheelie ability over a large stump and
another when I was attempting to down shift but my bike had other ideas. Neither of them was too bad, and the bruises will heal. At least i got up from the ground
laughing. Another near crashed occurred as we were coming down a bit of a steep hill to what appeared to be a cliff. I was reaching for my camera to get a
picture and trying to break at the same time. Since the roads are all dirt and the hill was steep as I pulled the breaks the wheels stopped, but my bike kept
sliding down the hill. Luckily Frank was right in front of me and I was able to use him and his bike to stop the sliding bike before we both went over the edge of
the cliff. We did pass a couple guys that were out on the trail for exercise, in fact I should say they passed us, twice in fact coming the opposite way. Oh well we
were out there fun and accomplished just that. The best part of the trail was that it was all pretty much downhill so we didn't have to kill ourselves up any huge
hills as we did the other day. The worst part of the trail? The fact that it was downhill pretty much the entire way and the speed you got going down some of the
hills made your heart rate go up even more than the exercise did, while you prayed "Please God keep me from doing a header into the woods." The last 3 miles
of the trail was nice and flat, and by the end of it we were both ready to go again, but figured we would probably change our minds about halfway through. We
also realized that the reason the other mountain bikers were going the opposite way was for the challenge of the hills. No thanks! I'm all for a good workout, but I
would rather not kill myself in the process. Oh by the way, the mini baseball bats went over like a charm. In fact it took Cody about an hour to demolish his. As
soon as his was torn up he stole his sisters and is making quick work of that as well. Maybe we should order a few more!
Another arm of the Ohio River
The cliff Suzy nearly flew over
The wooded trail we rode for over 8 miles
A fallen tree makes a perfect bridge
June 3rd - Topeka Kansas -
Duty calls, and so we are back to work. We have had a nice long break and seen many things, but it's nice to get back in the swing of things. We missed our
friends at work and both of the teams. This weekend was full of parties! Sweet Bradley, aka Poof, turned 11 years old. To celebrate, he got a new Noah's Ark
that comes with two of each animal and of course Mr. and Mrs. Noah. Bradley's favorite thing to do with the people and animals is to chew their faces off. They
are made of a very soft plastic that he loves to tear apart. If you look closely at the third picture above you can see that the giraffe has no legs, no ears, no
nose and no little horns. The little blue birds also are without eyes and wings. Poor Noah who once was whole now has no fanny and no staff that once held the
kind dove that held the ever present olive branch letting us know it was safe to head to shore. Good thing Bradley wasn't on the real Ark, they would never
have known when to get off the boat. There was also a birthday for one of the team members. The wind was so strong on Saturday evening that as soon as we
would light the candles on Chris' cake the wind would blow them out. Brandon, the driver of the Budweiser car, stood by with a lighter almost continually until
Chris was ready to make a wish and blow them out for real.
We again have had an emotional weekend full of highs and lows. The Monster team did qualify for the race, had very consistent qualifying rounds, but only
made it to the first round on race day since almost 1/3 of the way down the track something on the car broke and the Monster mobile dropped a cylinder. The
Budweiser team however had a fabulous race day that ended with another trip to the Winner's Circle. Frank and I again went down to the starting line of the
final race between the Budweiser car and the Torco racing car. Next time I will have to bring my video camera so you can see just how much power comes out
of these cars. They literally go from a dead stop to 325 mph in 1/4 of a mile as 6 foot flames shoot out of both sides. Standing behind these cars when they
propel themselves down the track leaves you in awe, and your face and body covered in rubber that is flying off of the track and the tires. It doesn't hurt, in fact
you don't even notice it until you look in the mirror at yourself when you get back to the pits! Today was a beautiful day here in Topeka which was wonderful.
We had almost no delays and all the races went without much of a hitch. There was one explosion during the Funny Car races, but it didn't harm the track so
today was surprisingly on schedule. We had torrential downpour on Friday which ended with only one qualifying round which was okay for us since both teams
were in. It seems that everywhere we go the big black rain clouds follow. We have had rain at every single race so far this year. Some not as bad as others and
some only in the evenings after the races were ended, but enough to have to dry the track before the races began the following day. Luckily drying the track is
not in our job description. Thank God for the Safety Safari. They are the guys and gals that keep the track in good shape, clean it up after an explosion and
keep it safe and dry for all the drivers in each class. We are now off to beautiful Chicago. Let's hope the rain doesn't follow us there!
Duty calls, and so we are back to work. We have had a nice long break and seen many things, but it's nice to get back in the swing of things. We missed our
friends at work and both of the teams. This weekend was full of parties! Sweet Bradley, aka Poof, turned 11 years old. To celebrate, he got a new Noah's Ark
that comes with two of each animal and of course Mr. and Mrs. Noah. Bradley's favorite thing to do with the people and animals is to chew their faces off. They
are made of a very soft plastic that he loves to tear apart. If you look closely at the third picture above you can see that the giraffe has no legs, no ears, no
nose and no little horns. The little blue birds also are without eyes and wings. Poor Noah who once was whole now has no fanny and no staff that once held the
kind dove that held the ever present olive branch letting us know it was safe to head to shore. Good thing Bradley wasn't on the real Ark, they would never
have known when to get off the boat. There was also a birthday for one of the team members. The wind was so strong on Saturday evening that as soon as we
would light the candles on Chris' cake the wind would blow them out. Brandon, the driver of the Budweiser car, stood by with a lighter almost continually until
Chris was ready to make a wish and blow them out for real.
We again have had an emotional weekend full of highs and lows. The Monster team did qualify for the race, had very consistent qualifying rounds, but only
made it to the first round on race day since almost 1/3 of the way down the track something on the car broke and the Monster mobile dropped a cylinder. The
Budweiser team however had a fabulous race day that ended with another trip to the Winner's Circle. Frank and I again went down to the starting line of the
final race between the Budweiser car and the Torco racing car. Next time I will have to bring my video camera so you can see just how much power comes out
of these cars. They literally go from a dead stop to 325 mph in 1/4 of a mile as 6 foot flames shoot out of both sides. Standing behind these cars when they
propel themselves down the track leaves you in awe, and your face and body covered in rubber that is flying off of the track and the tires. It doesn't hurt, in fact
you don't even notice it until you look in the mirror at yourself when you get back to the pits! Today was a beautiful day here in Topeka which was wonderful.
We had almost no delays and all the races went without much of a hitch. There was one explosion during the Funny Car races, but it didn't harm the track so
today was surprisingly on schedule. We had torrential downpour on Friday which ended with only one qualifying round which was okay for us since both teams
were in. It seems that everywhere we go the big black rain clouds follow. We have had rain at every single race so far this year. Some not as bad as others and
some only in the evenings after the races were ended, but enough to have to dry the track before the races began the following day. Luckily drying the track is
not in our job description. Thank God for the Safety Safari. They are the guys and gals that keep the track in good shape, clean it up after an explosion and
keep it safe and dry for all the drivers in each class. We are now off to beautiful Chicago. Let's hope the rain doesn't follow us there!
Bradley's faceless victims
Brandon lights candles as Chris makes a wish
Poor Noah is no longer with us!
Frank chats with the guys between rounds
Frank and Suzy's Monster party tent
A view of round one from the starting line
| It takes all 7 guys to hold the car down while Kenny seats the clutch |
June 11th - Defiance, Ohio - Sitting on the dock of the lake -
Home of Martin Diesel Generators was our stop for the night. It's the tiniest little shop in the tiniest little town, however 80% of Prevost generators come out of
this tiny yet incredibly busy shop. We stop here once a year to get our trusty generator checked out and fixed up if need be. It would not be a fun time to have
the generator stop working at any point on our journey. The guys who work here are wonderful, and we have gotten to know them quite well. They come out to
a couple races a year so we stay in touch. Our entertainment of the evening was a nice long walk to the nearby lake with Frank's guitar and some chocolate
brownie ice cream to nibble on while we watched the sunset over the lake through the trees and listened to Frank's ever growing library of songs. It was a very
nice evening and the weather outside was even nicer, a sure sign that Summer is coming. It's nice to have warm nights instead of cold ones.
Home of Martin Diesel Generators was our stop for the night. It's the tiniest little shop in the tiniest little town, however 80% of Prevost generators come out of
this tiny yet incredibly busy shop. We stop here once a year to get our trusty generator checked out and fixed up if need be. It would not be a fun time to have
the generator stop working at any point on our journey. The guys who work here are wonderful, and we have gotten to know them quite well. They come out to
a couple races a year so we stay in touch. Our entertainment of the evening was a nice long walk to the nearby lake with Frank's guitar and some chocolate
brownie ice cream to nibble on while we watched the sunset over the lake through the trees and listened to Frank's ever growing library of songs. It was a very
nice evening and the weather outside was even nicer, a sure sign that Summer is coming. It's nice to have warm nights instead of cold ones.
Yummy!!!!!
May 23rd - Harley-Davidson's Assembly Plant - Platte City, Missouri -
The main reason we chose to come here and camp in Platte City was to tour the infamous Harley-Davidson factory and assembly plant. It was well worth it,
especially since it was free! The tour took you through every step there is the build a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. They had huge robots that cut the steel for
the fuel tanks and even welded the fuel tanks together. They look almost real the way the robots move and rotated and welded. They have robots that bend
the frames of the bikes and weld parts of those together. Then the real people do the finishing touches on the steel and send them to the assembly line to be
put together. The assembly line where almost all of the bikes are made are just that, they are lines that move the bikes along and one person does one thing
on each bike that passes them. There is an off-shoot assembly line that does the specialty bikes, the name has slipped my mind at the moment so I do
apologize for not being historically accurate on this, let's just say they are the Screamin' Eagle V-Rods. This off-shoot assembly line holds one bike with all the
parts and one person to assemble the entire thing. This line of bikes has more chrome on it and is specially ordered a certain way so no other bike out there is
like it. It was very impressive to see that from a pile of straight metal sheets and a few chrome plated items emerges a beautiful motorcycle. Even the paint
room is so carefully monitored that if you work in it you cannot wear any type of lotion or hair gels or makeup. You can only use baby shampoo and no
conditioner. Nothing that will get into the air or be on your skin other than just your skin. This way they can almost guarantee that the paint will be perfect and
there won't be any defects in it. Apparently other items like cars and motorhomes have tiny particles of make up and hairspray in them and if you look really
really close you can see tiny tiny microscopic things in the paint. My thought on this is, once you take this thing out on the road at 100 mile an hour and hit a
few bugs there goes your perfect paint job anyways, but I guess if one is going to spend over $20,000 on a motorcycle they expect it to be free from makeup
spots in the paint. At the very end of the tour, no they don't give you a free mini bike like the bat place gave us a mini bat, but they do let you sit and pose on a
new motorcycle. It was very educational to see how much goes into a Harley-Davidson, and one of the last vehicles that are built in their entirety in America.
The main reason we chose to come here and camp in Platte City was to tour the infamous Harley-Davidson factory and assembly plant. It was well worth it,
especially since it was free! The tour took you through every step there is the build a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. They had huge robots that cut the steel for
the fuel tanks and even welded the fuel tanks together. They look almost real the way the robots move and rotated and welded. They have robots that bend
the frames of the bikes and weld parts of those together. Then the real people do the finishing touches on the steel and send them to the assembly line to be
put together. The assembly line where almost all of the bikes are made are just that, they are lines that move the bikes along and one person does one thing
on each bike that passes them. There is an off-shoot assembly line that does the specialty bikes, the name has slipped my mind at the moment so I do
apologize for not being historically accurate on this, let's just say they are the Screamin' Eagle V-Rods. This off-shoot assembly line holds one bike with all the
parts and one person to assemble the entire thing. This line of bikes has more chrome on it and is specially ordered a certain way so no other bike out there is
like it. It was very impressive to see that from a pile of straight metal sheets and a few chrome plated items emerges a beautiful motorcycle. Even the paint
room is so carefully monitored that if you work in it you cannot wear any type of lotion or hair gels or makeup. You can only use baby shampoo and no
conditioner. Nothing that will get into the air or be on your skin other than just your skin. This way they can almost guarantee that the paint will be perfect and
there won't be any defects in it. Apparently other items like cars and motorhomes have tiny particles of make up and hairspray in them and if you look really
really close you can see tiny tiny microscopic things in the paint. My thought on this is, once you take this thing out on the road at 100 mile an hour and hit a
few bugs there goes your perfect paint job anyways, but I guess if one is going to spend over $20,000 on a motorcycle they expect it to be free from makeup
spots in the paint. At the very end of the tour, no they don't give you a free mini bike like the bat place gave us a mini bat, but they do let you sit and pose on a
new motorcycle. It was very educational to see how much goes into a Harley-Davidson, and one of the last vehicles that are built in their entirety in America.
May 27th - Excelsior Springs, Missouri -
Not that we aren't completely enjoying our almost month long vacation, but we were getting a little homesick for our 'road family'. So one day I was looking at the
map to see just how close a few of them were to us, and we found out that Rick and Candie's home town was only about 25 miles away from Platte City. What
luck! We called them up to see what they were doing, and as it turns out most of the rest of our traveling friends were having the same lonely feelings and four
of the other couples were already camped out in Excelsior Springs with them, even better luck. After getting quick directions we headed out here on Friday to
join up with the gang. We have had a wonderful weekend. Good friends of Rick and Candie own an auto shop that just happens to have an enormous parking
area that he doesn't use. This nice big parking area was just perfect to hold six motorhomes, all the cars and all the souvenir trailers for the weekend, and was
conveniently located in the middle of the town. It's a small town, but big enough to keep the 12 of us entertained for a few days. We went to a great rib and
bar-b-que restaurant called Wabash where they have live bands on the weekends and yummy ribs. The ladies took a drive out to the river and hit the casino for
a day. None of us hit the big jackpot, but we had a lot of fun and came home with almost as much money as we left with. Sunday we went to some other friend's
house where we had a huge bar-b-que and watched the Indy 500, as much as we could thanks to the rain delays, intermingled with the NASCAR race. I will say
I'm not a huge NASCAR fan but it was fun to pick someone to win and at least cheer them on. I've always heard that people watch NASCAR for the crashes, but I
always though how many times do cars actually crash? Oh my gosh! These cars were crashing all over the place. Luckily no one was hurt, but boy was it crazy. I
picked the Budweiser driver to win since we ourselves work with Budweiser racing I thought it only proper. Frank picked the Home Depot car because the track
that the race was at was hosted by Lowe's. He thought it would be entertaining to see Lowe's competitors win the race, such a funny guy. Unfortunately both of
our chosen teams lost, but at least they didn't crash early on like most of the other famous picks did. There are two new puppies in our traveling circus now, no
not in our immediate family, the birds would never put up with that. Doug, who lost his sweet Boston Terrier about a year and a half ago has been looking for a
new one for quite some time. He finally found a new Baby. Baby also had a brother that the sellers were trying to get rid of so Helen and Richard, not wanting
the sweet puppies to be separated after living together for over 5 months, adopted the little boy and have named him Buddy. As you can see above they both
love Frank and they are quite vicious little things as well. Everyone loves a sweet little puppy.
Not that we aren't completely enjoying our almost month long vacation, but we were getting a little homesick for our 'road family'. So one day I was looking at the
map to see just how close a few of them were to us, and we found out that Rick and Candie's home town was only about 25 miles away from Platte City. What
luck! We called them up to see what they were doing, and as it turns out most of the rest of our traveling friends were having the same lonely feelings and four
of the other couples were already camped out in Excelsior Springs with them, even better luck. After getting quick directions we headed out here on Friday to
join up with the gang. We have had a wonderful weekend. Good friends of Rick and Candie own an auto shop that just happens to have an enormous parking
area that he doesn't use. This nice big parking area was just perfect to hold six motorhomes, all the cars and all the souvenir trailers for the weekend, and was
conveniently located in the middle of the town. It's a small town, but big enough to keep the 12 of us entertained for a few days. We went to a great rib and
bar-b-que restaurant called Wabash where they have live bands on the weekends and yummy ribs. The ladies took a drive out to the river and hit the casino for
a day. None of us hit the big jackpot, but we had a lot of fun and came home with almost as much money as we left with. Sunday we went to some other friend's
house where we had a huge bar-b-que and watched the Indy 500, as much as we could thanks to the rain delays, intermingled with the NASCAR race. I will say
I'm not a huge NASCAR fan but it was fun to pick someone to win and at least cheer them on. I've always heard that people watch NASCAR for the crashes, but I
always though how many times do cars actually crash? Oh my gosh! These cars were crashing all over the place. Luckily no one was hurt, but boy was it crazy. I
picked the Budweiser driver to win since we ourselves work with Budweiser racing I thought it only proper. Frank picked the Home Depot car because the track
that the race was at was hosted by Lowe's. He thought it would be entertaining to see Lowe's competitors win the race, such a funny guy. Unfortunately both of
our chosen teams lost, but at least they didn't crash early on like most of the other famous picks did. There are two new puppies in our traveling circus now, no
not in our immediate family, the birds would never put up with that. Doug, who lost his sweet Boston Terrier about a year and a half ago has been looking for a
new one for quite some time. He finally found a new Baby. Baby also had a brother that the sellers were trying to get rid of so Helen and Richard, not wanting
the sweet puppies to be separated after living together for over 5 months, adopted the little boy and have named him Buddy. As you can see above they both
love Frank and they are quite vicious little things as well. Everyone loves a sweet little puppy.
The Harley-Davidson employee parking
One of the many motors assembled by hand
Suzy's ready for a test-ride
Frank is mauled to death with puppy kisses
A cookout at Chris and Mike's
Dinner out with friends at Wabash
June 12th - New York State -
As we make our way to New Hampshire to visit some very good friends there we have seen a new side of New York. Literally and figuratively. Literally in the
fact that we are now on the West side of the state and figuratively because as of yet the only part of New York we have seen is the Big Apple and the city side
of New York. Over here in what the call 'Upstate New York' it is gorgeous. The hills and trees are green and there are no skyscrapers to be seen anywhere.
The rest stop we stayed at tonight was amazing. We not only had it to ourselves, aside from a poor truck driver getting an inspection by a police officer, but the
sun was still up and the birds were outside. At least 2 dozen truckers did drive in to the rest stop to see if there was room for the night, but they all kept right on
driving once they saw the policeman performing the inspection. We figure they were all up for driving a little longer for the night instead of risking being the
next inspection victim. This was one of those nights that Frank was very glad not to have the enormous red Budweiser trailer behind the motorhome since we
may have sent up a flag of our own screaming "Yes we too are a commercial vehicle, so please come over and look at us" to attract the cop. We are happy to
report he went on his merry way after he was done with the trucker. We did however have one guest for the evening. He tried to play the guitar, but since he
was all feet and no hands not to mention a little short to reach the strings and fret board he moved on. Cody wasn't quite sure what to make of our little furry
caterpillar friend but he did watch him crawl around the guitar and box with a bit of interest.
As we make our way to New Hampshire to visit some very good friends there we have seen a new side of New York. Literally and figuratively. Literally in the
fact that we are now on the West side of the state and figuratively because as of yet the only part of New York we have seen is the Big Apple and the city side
of New York. Over here in what the call 'Upstate New York' it is gorgeous. The hills and trees are green and there are no skyscrapers to be seen anywhere.
The rest stop we stayed at tonight was amazing. We not only had it to ourselves, aside from a poor truck driver getting an inspection by a police officer, but the
sun was still up and the birds were outside. At least 2 dozen truckers did drive in to the rest stop to see if there was room for the night, but they all kept right on
driving once they saw the policeman performing the inspection. We figure they were all up for driving a little longer for the night instead of risking being the
next inspection victim. This was one of those nights that Frank was very glad not to have the enormous red Budweiser trailer behind the motorhome since we
may have sent up a flag of our own screaming "Yes we too are a commercial vehicle, so please come over and look at us" to attract the cop. We are happy to
report he went on his merry way after he was done with the trucker. We did however have one guest for the evening. He tried to play the guitar, but since he
was all feet and no hands not to mention a little short to reach the strings and fret board he moved on. Cody wasn't quite sure what to make of our little furry
caterpillar friend but he did watch him crawl around the guitar and box with a bit of interest.
June 13th - Gilmanton, New Hampshire - Camp Brooks - The best RV spot in all of New England -
Hooray! We made it up here to the northern region of the grand old U.S. We only have 7 states left in our countdown of seeing the entire country. Well,
actually only 6, since Alaska isn't contiguous and those darn Canadians won't our babies in their country in order to see the rest of our country, life is so
unfair! Tomorrow we are planning on visiting Maine and seeing the sites here in New Hampshire, so that will mark off yet another state. When we leave here we
will drive through Massachusetts, hopefully touching Rhode Island and Connecticut so all we will have left are Delaware, which we can probably swing through
once we are back on this coast for the Reading race, and for some reason we have never been through Nebraska. It's an odd one to miss being that it is pretty
much in the middle of the country, but alas we have somehow missed it. We are staying here with Kathy and Gary at their home which sits on a very pretty
piece of land with some very pretty views. The second picture shows the view they see each morning from their kitchen window and den.
Hooray! We made it up here to the northern region of the grand old U.S. We only have 7 states left in our countdown of seeing the entire country. Well,
actually only 6, since Alaska isn't contiguous and those darn Canadians won't our babies in their country in order to see the rest of our country, life is so
unfair! Tomorrow we are planning on visiting Maine and seeing the sites here in New Hampshire, so that will mark off yet another state. When we leave here we
will drive through Massachusetts, hopefully touching Rhode Island and Connecticut so all we will have left are Delaware, which we can probably swing through
once we are back on this coast for the Reading race, and for some reason we have never been through Nebraska. It's an odd one to miss being that it is pretty
much in the middle of the country, but alas we have somehow missed it. We are staying here with Kathy and Gary at their home which sits on a very pretty
piece of land with some very pretty views. The second picture shows the view they see each morning from their kitchen window and den.
June 14th - A drive to Hampton Beach via Maine -
It might have been a little out of the way, but yes we headed to the beaches of New Hampshire today through the state of Maine to take our countdown to only
5. We drove past some beautiful lakes, and docks on the ocean. We had lunch at Hampton Beach that included some excellent New England clam chowder.
After lunch we walked through the cute touristy town. It was a bit cold today, the warmest it ever got on the seafront was about 60 degrees so we opted not to
go bogey boarding today. Even if it were a sunny day the water being a bit nippy might have stopped us swimming to much as well. I will say, I never thought
there was a colder ocean than the California Pacific, but today I was proven wrong. The North Atlantic can definitely give the Pacific a run for it's money when it
comes to competing for the chilliest ocean. Since Summer vacation doesn't start here for the kiddos for another week we had the town almost to ourselves
which was fun. Laconia Bike Week is here and just up the road from Gary and Kathy's this weekend so there are tons of bikes driving by us everywhere we go.
I personally love to look at the different motorcycles that go by, as does Frank so it's fun to be here this time of year. They have a humongous Navy shipyard
here as well. It would have been very impressive to see. Unfortunately it is not open to the public, no matter how much you try and bribe the guard at the gate.
Darn! Maybe we can sneak in from the ocean side. This evening Gary and Kathy took us to Sawyer's home of the best Maine lobster around. It was delish!
After dinner they took us for a tour around town in their fun T top. Frank and I always have a fun time exploring new cities, but nothing beats a vacation when
there are locals involved to show you things we would never think to see on our own. Thanks guys, for being such awesome hosts!
It might have been a little out of the way, but yes we headed to the beaches of New Hampshire today through the state of Maine to take our countdown to only
5. We drove past some beautiful lakes, and docks on the ocean. We had lunch at Hampton Beach that included some excellent New England clam chowder.
After lunch we walked through the cute touristy town. It was a bit cold today, the warmest it ever got on the seafront was about 60 degrees so we opted not to
go bogey boarding today. Even if it were a sunny day the water being a bit nippy might have stopped us swimming to much as well. I will say, I never thought
there was a colder ocean than the California Pacific, but today I was proven wrong. The North Atlantic can definitely give the Pacific a run for it's money when it
comes to competing for the chilliest ocean. Since Summer vacation doesn't start here for the kiddos for another week we had the town almost to ourselves
which was fun. Laconia Bike Week is here and just up the road from Gary and Kathy's this weekend so there are tons of bikes driving by us everywhere we go.
I personally love to look at the different motorcycles that go by, as does Frank so it's fun to be here this time of year. They have a humongous Navy shipyard
here as well. It would have been very impressive to see. Unfortunately it is not open to the public, no matter how much you try and bribe the guard at the gate.
Darn! Maybe we can sneak in from the ocean side. This evening Gary and Kathy took us to Sawyer's home of the best Maine lobster around. It was delish!
After dinner they took us for a tour around town in their fun T top. Frank and I always have a fun time exploring new cities, but nothing beats a vacation when
there are locals involved to show you things we would never think to see on our own. Thanks guys, for being such awesome hosts!
Beautiful, yet chilly, Hampton Beach
The lake shores of Maine
The town of Hampton as bikers pass by
Lake Winnipesaukee
June 16th - Later this same day ... ...
After Gary, Kathy and the troops all got off of work, Gary brought them all home for a relaxing bar-b-que and much needed down time after a long day of work.
Gary, the master bar-b-quer cooked up the burgers while we ladies made a few salads and the boys mixed the drinks. Cody kept everyone quite entertained
with his ability to open their soda or beer cans. His reward for his hard work was being able to remove the tab and play with them until they turned to metal
flakes. Don't worry he doesn't swallow even a bit of the tab. He tears it into little pieces that he slowly drops into Frank's hand. From the back deck of the
Brooks' home we were able to watch a beautiful sunset and spend some very nice relaxing time in the jacuzzi once the temperature got a bit cool.
After Gary, Kathy and the troops all got off of work, Gary brought them all home for a relaxing bar-b-que and much needed down time after a long day of work.
Gary, the master bar-b-quer cooked up the burgers while we ladies made a few salads and the boys mixed the drinks. Cody kept everyone quite entertained
with his ability to open their soda or beer cans. His reward for his hard work was being able to remove the tab and play with them until they turned to metal
flakes. Don't worry he doesn't swallow even a bit of the tab. He tears it into little pieces that he slowly drops into Frank's hand. From the back deck of the
Brooks' home we were able to watch a beautiful sunset and spend some very nice relaxing time in the jacuzzi once the temperature got a bit cool.
June 17th - Happy Father's Day -
Today we laid low and enjoyed the amenities here at Camp Brooks. Frank, Bradley and Cody spent a few hours playing the guitar as Abbey and I took a nice
long walk around the property. She usually doesn't like to walk around in the grass, but for some reason as we passed the area of the lawn that Kathy has
her gnome family, Abbey was antsy to get off my shoulder and go to the ground. Once on the ground she walked up to a little bridge that held a little gnome
just about her size. I of course had to take a picture since everything else that is bigger than a fly scares her and she is usually running in the opposite
direction for her little life. She sat there for about 5 minutes, walked up to him and nibbled at him. She briefly tried to pick a fight with him, but since all he did
was smile back at her she apparently gave up, figuring that he was a lover and not a fighter. New Hampshire is infamous for it's 'Old Man of the Mountain'
rock formation. Unfortunately in 2003 there was a large rock slide that removed the Old Man from the Mountain, so sadly it is now just a mountain :-(.
However, have no fear, there is still a Man in the Mountain to be seen here in New Hampshire, and lucky for us it just happens to be in Kathy's front yard. At
first glance it looks a bit different to everyone. My first thought was a lion, while Frank's first thought was an Indian. Abbey's first thought was that it was going
to eat her and she wanted nothing to do with him. Up the road from the 'Man in the Mountain' Kathy has created the 'Man in the Well'. His legs are no longer
kicking,so we think, along with 'The Old Man of the Mountain', he may no longer be with us. After our tour of the grounds, and discovering last night at dinner
that none of Kathy's friends and family had ever had chicken enchiladas I knew I had to change that. Since they all had to work again today at the track, and
they have been such great hosts, it was only fitting that I introduce them to homemade chicken enchiladas. After dinner Frank and I played their classic organ
for awhile, boy has been a long time since I sat at a piano. I was amazed at how many songs came back, nothing too tricky mind you, but it was fun to play a
bit again. We finished the evening off, and our visit of New Hampshire, with a nice chat on the porch and watched the sunset yet again.
Today we laid low and enjoyed the amenities here at Camp Brooks. Frank, Bradley and Cody spent a few hours playing the guitar as Abbey and I took a nice
long walk around the property. She usually doesn't like to walk around in the grass, but for some reason as we passed the area of the lawn that Kathy has
her gnome family, Abbey was antsy to get off my shoulder and go to the ground. Once on the ground she walked up to a little bridge that held a little gnome
just about her size. I of course had to take a picture since everything else that is bigger than a fly scares her and she is usually running in the opposite
direction for her little life. She sat there for about 5 minutes, walked up to him and nibbled at him. She briefly tried to pick a fight with him, but since all he did
was smile back at her she apparently gave up, figuring that he was a lover and not a fighter. New Hampshire is infamous for it's 'Old Man of the Mountain'
rock formation. Unfortunately in 2003 there was a large rock slide that removed the Old Man from the Mountain, so sadly it is now just a mountain :-(.
However, have no fear, there is still a Man in the Mountain to be seen here in New Hampshire, and lucky for us it just happens to be in Kathy's front yard. At
first glance it looks a bit different to everyone. My first thought was a lion, while Frank's first thought was an Indian. Abbey's first thought was that it was going
to eat her and she wanted nothing to do with him. Up the road from the 'Man in the Mountain' Kathy has created the 'Man in the Well'. His legs are no longer
kicking,so we think, along with 'The Old Man of the Mountain', he may no longer be with us. After our tour of the grounds, and discovering last night at dinner
that none of Kathy's friends and family had ever had chicken enchiladas I knew I had to change that. Since they all had to work again today at the track, and
they have been such great hosts, it was only fitting that I introduce them to homemade chicken enchiladas. After dinner Frank and I played their classic organ
for awhile, boy has been a long time since I sat at a piano. I was amazed at how many songs came back, nothing too tricky mind you, but it was fun to play a
bit again. We finished the evening off, and our visit of New Hampshire, with a nice chat on the porch and watched the sunset yet again.
June 16th - New Hampshire International Speedway - Loudin, New Hampshire -
Bike, bikes everywhere. Along with Laconia Bike Week here in New Hampshire the speedway, where Gary manages concessions, is having their annual road
course motorcycle races. When we lived in California one of our most favorite things of summer was to head up to Laguna Seca and watch the motorcycle
races there. Since we haven't been there in a while, we were thrilled to find out that we were able to see them here. Gary gave us the V.I.P tour of the facilities
here, where they hold two NASCAR Nextel Cup races a year. The stands of course weren't quite as full this weekend as they will be in two weeks when they
hold the Lenox 300 but being spectators we were happy not to fight the crowds. The stands here hold around 90,000 people. Yikes, and we thought the Drag
Races were busy. That's a lot of darn people to feed for a weekend so Gary and staff are beyond busy this time of year setting up and preparing for the race.
On one of the tours of the suites here we were able to watch the race restart from right above the start/finish line. After our tour we were treated to lunch with
Gary, Kathy and their fellow workers.
Bike, bikes everywhere. Along with Laconia Bike Week here in New Hampshire the speedway, where Gary manages concessions, is having their annual road
course motorcycle races. When we lived in California one of our most favorite things of summer was to head up to Laguna Seca and watch the motorcycle
races there. Since we haven't been there in a while, we were thrilled to find out that we were able to see them here. Gary gave us the V.I.P tour of the facilities
here, where they hold two NASCAR Nextel Cup races a year. The stands of course weren't quite as full this weekend as they will be in two weeks when they
hold the Lenox 300 but being spectators we were happy not to fight the crowds. The stands here hold around 90,000 people. Yikes, and we thought the Drag
Races were busy. That's a lot of darn people to feed for a weekend so Gary and staff are beyond busy this time of year setting up and preparing for the race.
On one of the tours of the suites here we were able to watch the race restart from right above the start/finish line. After our tour we were treated to lunch with
Gary, Kathy and their fellow workers.
A bird's eye view of the track from the suites
Ready... Set... Go!!!
A somewhat aerial shot of NHIS
Kathy's version of the Old Man
After the land slide that removed him
The Old Man of the Mountain
I would advise not to drink out of this well
The birds were in heaven being outside everyday
June 18th - And the countdown hits 2! -
Yes, that's right two states to go and we will have been through the entire contiguous United States! Very exciting if you ask us. We drove for about 7 hours
today and drove through 6 states. Hmmm! Please keep in mind the reason I say this with shock is that there are some days that we drive for 10 hours and are
still in the same state that we started out in, so it makes us feel like we are bookin' when we pass through this many states in such a short time. Yes we realize
that these states are much shorter and far more narrow than Texas, but for some reason it feels very rewarding to pass through a bunch of states in one day.
Both Rhode Island and Connecticut are very scenic to drive through. Especially all of the enormous bridges that take you over the huge lakes leading out to the
Atlantic. We thought of pulling off in Connecticut and hitting the beach, but the map shows the towns as being a bit small and the last thing you want to do is pull
of the highway with our setup unless you are fairly sure you a) know where you are going, and b) know that there will be parking for the house once you get
there. Not wanting to take a potential wrong turn we opted to stay on the highway and perhaps hit a couple views of the ocean once we get to New Jersey and
can take the Jeep out for a day trip up to the coast.
Yes, that's right two states to go and we will have been through the entire contiguous United States! Very exciting if you ask us. We drove for about 7 hours
today and drove through 6 states. Hmmm! Please keep in mind the reason I say this with shock is that there are some days that we drive for 10 hours and are
still in the same state that we started out in, so it makes us feel like we are bookin' when we pass through this many states in such a short time. Yes we realize
that these states are much shorter and far more narrow than Texas, but for some reason it feels very rewarding to pass through a bunch of states in one day.
Both Rhode Island and Connecticut are very scenic to drive through. Especially all of the enormous bridges that take you over the huge lakes leading out to the
Atlantic. We thought of pulling off in Connecticut and hitting the beach, but the map shows the towns as being a bit small and the last thing you want to do is pull
of the highway with our setup unless you are fairly sure you a) know where you are going, and b) know that there will be parking for the house once you get
there. Not wanting to take a potential wrong turn we opted to stay on the highway and perhaps hit a couple views of the ocean once we get to New Jersey and
can take the Jeep out for a day trip up to the coast.
The bus on the road again
| Hmmm! Are those condos, or silos? You always see the most interesting things out here on the road |
A great view of Lake Erie from the sky lift
Tuna and Bob, a bit excited to be at the park
Tuna gives a thumbs up, the rest of us scream
June 28th - Sandusky Ohio, Cedar Point Amusement Park -
All work and no play makes very worn out teammates. The Monster Men have been working pretty much non stop for many many months now. Unlike Frank
and I they actually have to work in between races and most of the time they drive back to the shop in Indianapolis after each race to fine tune the car, or reload
parts for the next race. Since they all got to Ohio a day early they decided to hit the amusement park for a fun day off. To makes things even better they
decided to take Frank and I along. We had a blast! It was a lot of fun spending time with the guys outside of work and away from the racetrack. When we
picked them up at their hotel, we hardly recognized them in their 'civilian clothes' since all we have ever seen them in before is their Monster attire. Cedar Point
is the biggest theme park in the country and has the most roller coasters as well so we were in heaven. It is located on the shores of Lake Erie so the view from
the top of the coasters hills was very pretty, very brief due to the rapid speeds, but very pretty. The park was not crowded at all so the lines were nice and
short and we were able to hit all the roller coasters, and even a few of the smaller rides. They have these amazing swing rides here where these enormous
arms swing you back and forth and end of going pretty much parallel with the ground so you feel like you might actually flip over the top. The third picture
above is a close up of 5 of us on the ride. A couple of the guys sat this one out so they were able to snap a few shots. Tuna looks quite relaxed and happy
giving Brad, the cameraman, the thumbs up. Frank, as usually just has an enormous grin on his face, Bob and I are both screaming, however Bob also has his
eyes closed and is praying that we aren't all killed. Chris pretty much has the same grinning expression as Frank. Where else can you scream bloody murder
without alarming those around you. The other swing ride we hit also swung back and forth but added a little twist, no pun intended. As it swung it also slowly
spun in circles. Again I screamed the whole time and hung on to Bob's arm for dear life since somehow Frank was seated away from us. My only fear on a
roller coaster is falling out, but if I have someone's hand or arm to hold on to I feel quite secure. Don't ask me why, I have no idea. It's just one of my many
quirks. Frank is quite used to this and usually takes my hand before the ride begins, however since he was on the other side of the swing, Bob's arm had to do.
I tried my very hardest not to grab on, I even tried to talk myself out of it, but alas my arm overpowered my mind and Bob was the closest. The poor guy will
probably never sit next to me on a ride again. We stayed at the park until it closed at 10pm
All work and no play makes very worn out teammates. The Monster Men have been working pretty much non stop for many many months now. Unlike Frank
and I they actually have to work in between races and most of the time they drive back to the shop in Indianapolis after each race to fine tune the car, or reload
parts for the next race. Since they all got to Ohio a day early they decided to hit the amusement park for a fun day off. To makes things even better they
decided to take Frank and I along. We had a blast! It was a lot of fun spending time with the guys outside of work and away from the racetrack. When we
picked them up at their hotel, we hardly recognized them in their 'civilian clothes' since all we have ever seen them in before is their Monster attire. Cedar Point
is the biggest theme park in the country and has the most roller coasters as well so we were in heaven. It is located on the shores of Lake Erie so the view from
the top of the coasters hills was very pretty, very brief due to the rapid speeds, but very pretty. The park was not crowded at all so the lines were nice and
short and we were able to hit all the roller coasters, and even a few of the smaller rides. They have these amazing swing rides here where these enormous
arms swing you back and forth and end of going pretty much parallel with the ground so you feel like you might actually flip over the top. The third picture
above is a close up of 5 of us on the ride. A couple of the guys sat this one out so they were able to snap a few shots. Tuna looks quite relaxed and happy
giving Brad, the cameraman, the thumbs up. Frank, as usually just has an enormous grin on his face, Bob and I are both screaming, however Bob also has his
eyes closed and is praying that we aren't all killed. Chris pretty much has the same grinning expression as Frank. Where else can you scream bloody murder
without alarming those around you. The other swing ride we hit also swung back and forth but added a little twist, no pun intended. As it swung it also slowly
spun in circles. Again I screamed the whole time and hung on to Bob's arm for dear life since somehow Frank was seated away from us. My only fear on a
roller coaster is falling out, but if I have someone's hand or arm to hold on to I feel quite secure. Don't ask me why, I have no idea. It's just one of my many
quirks. Frank is quite used to this and usually takes my hand before the ride begins, however since he was on the other side of the swing, Bob's arm had to do.
I tried my very hardest not to grab on, I even tried to talk myself out of it, but alas my arm overpowered my mind and Bob was the closest. The poor guy will
probably never sit next to me on a ride again. We stayed at the park until it closed at 10pm