Louisville and Lexington, KY

Travel Dates....June 26-31, 2010

It's hard to believe we are at the end of this dream!! Our last two stops are pictured in this post. What a ride it all has been. Rick and Betty have been wonderful travel partners and we love you guys! It has been a special time together. So...here's the last chapter as we visited Louisville and Lexington, KY. But hold up...as we arrived in the city of Louisville, Rick & Betty had their turn for excitment along the highway. We were traveling on I-65 during afternoon rush hour and noticed Rick slowing down and moving to the side of the road! He lost all power in the motorhome! After several tries to restart, he called for a tow, we called for traffic assistance via 511 on our cell phone! The cars just zoomed by! The traffic assistance put up traffic cones and directed cars/trucks to the next lane. He stayed with us until the tow truck came. They took the motorhome to a repair service but of course no one was still there, so after dinner with us, we took them back to their motorhome--parked in the driveway of the repair place (outside the gate) and they slept "by the side of the road" until folks came to work! After a day and a half, the problem of bad fuel pump was resolved. That all did not stop us...
No visit to Louisville would be complete without seeing how the Louisville Slugger baseball bats are made. This was interesting for me since my great-uncle worked in a baseball factory in Dolgeville, NY many years ago (Adirondack bats). The day we were at the factory, the were making bats for Derrick Jetter! And then...Churchhill Downs. Oh, my...what a treat to tour the track early in the AM and watch the trainers work the horses. Just amazing and lots of fun. The museum there was also worth the visit. We had lunch at an old drug store just behind the track...still had a pharmacy but most of the aisles are now booths for the luc=nch crowd...fried corn bread, bean soup...yum! Then it was back to the repair shop to wait for the repairs to be completed. Can you believe the shop had a nice waiting room with a couple DVD's? We watched "Crash" and Betty and I knitted away! We all stayed at the RV park for our last night in Louisville!
Lexington was about an hour down the road...we moved to the Horse Park RV Park. It was a beautiful spot. Lots of folks take their horses for riding and showing. They are preparing for an International show in Sept. This is the 1st time this show has been held in the US. Lots of excitment and preparation going on there! We visited the Woodford Reserve Distillery, part of the Bourbon Trail. Sample were included...Betty and I especially like the chocolate Bourbon Balls!
Then it was on the Shaker Village for a nice lunch at the hotel there and a walk around the historic village. The crafts and furniture were beautiful. It was so hot (our first really hot weather this whole trip) they stopped the wagon ride early! We really enjoyed the RV park and would go there again...nice large lots, trees, grass, pool, etc.
Well, we enjoyed breakfast together and then had to say good-bye for now to our buddies, Rick & Betty. Thanks for a great adventure. We thank God for taking such good care of us as we traveled. We are so thankful for the opportunity to see this beautiful country. We are so blessed.

Leaving SD and on to Missouri

As we leave South Dakota we are a little sad, as it seems we really are heading home. But we really do have a long way to go and lots more to see and do. Along the way, we had a very interesting stop at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. It's one of those things that I had heard of someplace, sometime. Even my neice suggested we make this unique stop. After going around a few blocks to find a parking spot for us with the RV, we ventured into a very interesting building...covered mostly with corn and corn stalks. Now this farm girl has seen many fields of corn, but wow...this was amazing. The building is also where the local high schools play basketball. It's obviously a big deal here! Lots of seats--like a small university arena! Our next stop was the Walmart parking lot in St. Joseph's MO. This was our noisiest over-night the whole trip. Ask Randy somtime about the guy worried about his balloon getting away at 3 AM!
St. Louis, MO provided us with a good time...the Budwiser Brewery (samples included), the beautiful Cathedral, dinner with friends I had'nt seen in many years, a ride to the top of the Arch, and a fun visit to the Queen's Casino.
Nest stop....Louisville!

Wind Caves, Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore & The Badlands!

JUNE 14, 15, 16, 2010....

Grr...I just lost what I had typed here and can't find it! Oh, well...here we go again!

The weather continued to dictate to us...rain, rain, rain. So we headed for the Wind Cave National Park. Below ground, it doesn't matter whether it rains or not! This cave was quite different from any cave/cavern we had ever visited. The formations were very unique and when the entrance door was opened, you could hear the wind. Our ranger guide was very good and shared all the history of the exploration of the cave and the formations. The cave is still being explored and mapped. Many miles of tunnels... We took an elevator down and then walked 450 steps further down. When you think that the early explorers of this cave had only a candle to see, it is amazing that they had any idea of what was there. The pictures were hard to get here, but let your imagination fill in the gaps. It was a great way to spend a rainy day. Never fear, the rain cleared and we made our way a little south to visit the Crazy Horse Memorial. Sculptor Zorczak Ziolowski was invited by the Indian Nations to create this monument to "Let the white man know the red man has great heroes, too." (Chief Standing Bear) The monument was started in 1948 and work continues today. No public funds have been used because, Zorczak was a believer in private enterprise. There was a blasting planned for the day after we were there. As evening approached we headed to Mt. Rushmore to see the presidents...after dark and beautifully lite. As we sat waiting for darkness to fall, a ranger came on stage and delivered a monologue about the "What if's" of several great men in history, including some presidents, and how history might have been different if things had been different in these men's lives...a father had not died young, a different education....really interesting concept. She then called all the veterans in the audience to the stage to be recognized. These men and women received a standing ovation! (I was proud that Randy was one of them.) And then the lights hit the monument...Wow! We are so blessed in this country...at the same time, we really have to get grip and figure out how to get back on track! It was a full day of memorials and monuments. For our last day in this area, we drove through the Badlands and guess what we saw...yup...ROCKS! Just a little different than others, but we are beginning to see similarities as well. We are no geologists, but... We do make up some stories as we go!
Once again, we are so fortunate to be able to experience this amazing adventure. We are not really looking forward to the traffic and busy life that we will soon be encountering as we head east and south. Traffic...ugh.

From Cody to Buffalo, WY and on to Rapid City,SD

DATES OF TRAVEL: JUNE 11-13, 2010
This post is a little different than what I've done before...And I hope you get a chuckle with me.
As we left one of our favorite stops...Cody, WY...we felt like we were beginning our trek eastward and home. Strange thought with still many days and stops to go. But here's the deal as we made our way to Rapid City, SD...with an overnight stop in a quaint little town, Buffalo, WY. The drive to Buffalo was interesting because we did take the road less traveled and it was beautiful. There was one stretch of 50 - 60 miles and we saw only 6 or so vehicles! And we passed through Tensleep...population 304! The farms were prosperous and green. It was a nice change from the interstate. BUT..as we drove through the Bighorn National Forest "enjoying" all the 7% inclines and switchback curves, brakes heated and transmissions heated...and Rick's brakes went mushy. We made an emergency stop in one of the pullout vistas to give the vehicles and drivers a break. After an hour or so, away we went. As we came off the highway, Rick felt like he had no brakes left. It was a bit stressful, but by morning all seemed OK. Our overnight in Buffalo allowed the wash to get done...while Betty and I shopped in the RV gift shop. Nice and convenient, huh? The men may not have thought so, but... Before our trip, I purchased an electric pressure cooker/slow cooker/rice cooker. For this quick stop over, I used it to prepare dinner...quickly. The cooker has become known as "The Pot" and maybe I'll write a cookbook with our RV recipes! Yum, yum---pork roast, chicken, roast beef, pork chops...even chicken and dunplings!
I digress...we made our way to Black Hawk, SD...location of 3 Rivers RV Park...near Rapid City, SD. This is our home base as we visit Wall Drug..and other point of interest. The trip to Wall was made on a rainy day when we just didn't want to be outside, so enjoy the chronicles of the trip via bill boards!