BLUE GRASS..BLUE RIDGE...BLUE SKIES

Oct 6 2013 – Richmond, KY to Brevard, NC

The trip down I75 to I40 was crowded with cars, trucks and RV’s.  Everyone seems to be on the move.  As we passed the Corbin exit I looked across at the grass that separated us from the north bound lane and there wasn’t as much as there seemed to be when we were careening over towards it with the blown front tire earlier this summer. 

 I keep thinking about the bus that blew a front tire on I-40 killing all those passengers and ….. have to say again and again and again…..that Safe Driving Class offered by Lazy Days free of charge probably saved our lives.   The one tidbit that came to Dave’s mind as we were heading across I-75 towards the southbound lane was, “accelerate through the blown tire”.  Once he started to accelerate, the MH righted itself and he was able to drag it back across I-75.  We came so close to having a horrible accident.  I have to wonder whether the driver of the bus that blew the tire had ever had a driving class.

Not sure were everyone is going but the rest stops were full of trucks and RV’s.  We stopped off I-75 to eat lunch and could barely find a spot to pull in. 

Around Knoxville TN we exited onto I-640 heading for I-40 to Asheville.  The Smoky Mountains kept peaking above the lower mountains beckoning us forward.  On I-40 at the Seiverville/Gatlinburg exit there was a line a cars stretching over a mile waiting to get off at that exit.  Cars, trucks, RV’s, all waiting to get off I-40.  I thought at first there was some big event going on.  Then I thought, at second, maybe the exit to the Smoky Mountains is closed.  

About 45 minutes later, down the highway, the exit to the Smoky Mountain National Park had a barricade across it and it was closed.  So, all those people in the Gatlinburg area will be staying on that side of the mountain and those in Cherokee on the other side of the mountain!

As soon as we entered NC, we pulled into another rest stop but it was full!  Drove through the parking lot and could not find a place to pull in!  Pulled right back out and kept going down the road!

We arrived at Cascade Lake six hours later after lots of construction and lane closures on the highway.  We’re looking out on the lake in our favorite spot.  I wonder at Billy’s excitement and whether he remembers growing up here.  He certainly has his sights set on that lake!

Our first day in the area took us to The Moose Café where we enjoyed our usual huge lunch and waddled on out to overcast skies.  Since we were in Asheville, we decided to go to the movies!  Gravity had just opened at the huge 3-D state of the art movie theater and we arrived just in time for the movie to start.  I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.  It was all about the sound, sensations, and 3-D objects floating at you!  I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but Dave had his hands cupping his ears.  Oh well! 

This area has had so much rain, the colors just aren't there at this time.  I was amazed as Cascade Lake usually has a lot of colors popping out along the shoreline.  Peak color for upper elevations is 10/15 and we're at 10/8 so not sure if they'll have the brilliance they've had in the past.

We met our friends Geoff & Linda and Linda & Howard for dinner Tuesday night at Dugans.  Linda & Howard have been working at the Forest Discovery Center which is part of the Pisgah National Forest so you can guess they were having to leave.  Davidson River CG is closed as well as Powhatten CG.  Cascade Lake is benefiting by getting the hosts who were not ready to leave the area for their next gig! 

It’s sad to see as this area thrives on visitors who come to the mountains for wonderful October weather and colors.  Davidson River CG was always a favorite campground and a very difficult one to get reservations in.

HOMEWARD BOUND

We’re home now, getting the house cleaned up, getting the boat cleaned up and getting the MH cleaned up.  Way too many toys!  I, of course, caught Dave’s cold and haven’t been too productive this past week; just trying to get settled in between rest stops!

It was a great summer, once again.  Northern Michigan was a really beautiful area to spend our time.  But, as always, it’s great to be home!

BLUE GRASS, HORSE RACING & HALLOWEEN

October 4-5, 2013           FORT BOONESBOROUGH STATE PARK

Fort Boonesborough SP is located in Richmond, KY about 20 miles from Lexington.  This park is located  where Daniel Boone set up a settlement alongside the Kentucky River in 1775.  It is the second oldest European-American settlement.

Kentucky State Parks really know how to do it up right!    This park is decorated for Halloween in a very big way!  All the trees are draped with orange and green lights.  The recreation hall and bath houses are lit up and synchronized to music such as House of the Rising Sun and other Halloween appropriate music! 

The park is full of families, grandparents and kids, kids, kids.  In fact, for a small charge of $3/car, locals can drive through the campground to view all the lights!  

In light of everything that is going on in Washington and the lack of access the public has to National parks and monuments, this park brings some joy into the season!

The weather is really warm …. 86 degrees warm!  We have closed up the MH and turned on the AC.  All my light clothes are stashed under the bed because Michigan was turning brisk!  I’m now digging them back out!

Keeneland racing season started Friday night and we set off today for the races.   Unfortunately the line of cars to get into Keeneland racetrack went on for miles so we went to Plan B …. find a restaurant to have lunch.  We ended up in MIDWAY, Kentucky

MIDWAY

MIDWAY Historic District is on National Register of Historic Places.   This is a town the railroad built!    A local farmer sold his farm acreage to the Lexington & Ohio railroad.  The L&O built a line between Frankfort and Lexington in 1831 with the first train arriving at the “midway” point in 1833.  

The town was originally named Middleway but renamed Midway in 1837.

The railroad is still used today as it bisects the business district.   The Porterhouse steak originated in Midway at the still standing Porter House (which is for sale).

Midway is the home of a major thoroughbred race horse breeding operation, the Three Chimneys Farm.    

Three Chimneys Farm has been the home of U.S. Triple Crown champion Seattle Slew, U.S. Filly Triple Crown champion Chris Evert as well as Silver Charm, Chief’s Crown, Genuine Risk, Point Given, Slew o’Gold, Capote, Smarty Jones and Big Brown.  Their stallion roster includes Big Brown and Flower Alley who sired 2012 Kentucky Derby Winner and Preakness Stakes winner “I’ll Have Another”.

The Kentucky countryside is just beautiful as I have heaped praise on it before.  The land just rolls on and on with large, beautiful, well-heeled horse farms stretching for miles.  If the summers weren’t so brutal (for me), I’d consider hosting here!

Our time here is short.  We are leaving tomorrow for Cascade Lake Recreation Area in Brevard, NC.  I'm sure the parks will be full because all the campgrounds in the surrounding Pisgah National Forest are closed.  

Looking forward to getting home, once we get our North Carolina mountains fix!

LIFE IS GOOD IN THE SLOW LANE!

THE HEART OF THE HEARTLAND

September 29 - October 4, 2013 - COLDWATER, OHIO 

We have just spent the last five days at VJ’s Family Resort  in Coldwater, Ohio and are now heading for Kentucky on the down home stretch.

The Pond looks great although down about 18 inches.  Guess it’s been awhile since they’ve had any rain.  Dave came down with a cold so we pretty much did nothing for five days. 

I watched about 1800 hours of Food Channel and HGTV and caught up with my network shows that have been premiering all week.  Haven’t had TV since July.

Had great visits with VJ and Mert and made our run to Winer’s butcher shop for very fine Midwestern steaks.  Stocked the MH freezer with six very healthy looking porterhouse steaks and five pounds of Dave’s favorite sausage.   Amazing how much the MH freezer will hold.

Everything is winding down on the farms.  The corn is dry in the field and getting mowed down.  The air is ripe with manure  which I sometimes confuse with our holding tank except we are using VJ’s facilities and not the MH’s.   Saw stinkbugs in the MH and was afraid we brought them with us, but Coldwater has its own stinkbug communities.  I'm afraid there will be transplants to Florida.

The weather was overcast with misty rain and temps in the low 80’s.  Seems a warm October.  The last time we visited in October  it was in the 30’s!  Guess you never know!  

Had our quota of fried tenderloin sandwiches were are truly worthy of two hamburger rolls or one hue hoagie role rather than just one puny hamburger roll.   

 I KID YOU NOT!  THIS IS WHAT YOU GET!!!!!

Our last evening was great fun!  After dinner at Southsides we drove over to Ben’s, a general mercantile store owned by friends of VJ’s and Mert’s.  The owners are from Kankakee so Dave had a great time playing “who do you know” when we visited in July.

Our mission was to find three greeting cards for   VJ to send out and we read and laughed over just about every one on the rack.  It was a riot.   We’d read the cards and pass them around so all four of us were laughing in the card aisle. 

After about an hour’s worth of really good fun, VJ zeroed in on the three cards he thought appropriate for his purposes.  He also picked up three  small Christmas trees decorations, which we debated about at some length, for his office. Spent about five minutes debating whether we should purchase a box of Edna Price chocolates.  If they had smaller boxes we probably would have.  I still have Murduck's fudge in the MH.

By the time we left Ben’s it was dark and close to 8PM.  VJ laughs….just some small town fun……can’t remember the last time I had so much fun in a store! 

Hated to say good bye and hope they’ll come to Florida in the winter.  All the kids are now off to school so they have an “empty nest” and feeling the quiet.  I give them a few months and it will be the norm and when the kids come home, the ab-norm!

Driving down Rte 127 the skies still haven’t gotten too clear.  I won’t miss the smell of manure that permeates the air but there is a beauty to this area.  Small communities stretched among the farms.  Each community, however small, so strong in their commitment to their neighbors, towns and schools.   This is small town America at its best.  It  has truly earned the right to be in the heartland!

Oct 4 Fort Boonesborough SP, Richmond, Kentucky

After a seven hour, tooth rattling, head jarring ride from Ohio to Ft Boonesborough, nothing tasted better than a cold beer under the awning.  The air is still and hot.  Eighty plus degrees…..in October?

A group of four campers are sitting at the picnic table in the next campsite.  One by one they get up and mosey out into the road to look up at a tree.

Nothing piques interest more than having four people wander over to a tree, shield their eyes and look up.  To further draw you in, you hear the word “snake” and now you’ve got 6-8 people wandering out into the street to look up into a tree. 

One person says “it’s a snake and it’s coiled around the branches”. 

Another says, “I don’t know, but that kind of looks like a head”. 

I wander over to the group and look up into the high branches of the tree.  It doesn’t look like a snake to me, but I couldn’t tell you what it looks like.

No one seemed to have any binoculars so I brought my camera out with the telephoto lens.  Mystery solved.  It is not a snake coiled up on a branch with its head raised up.  It’s fungus imitating a snake!

AHHHHH.......LIFE IS GOOD IN THE SLOW LANE!