Memphis 9/23

Memphis is about everything American. It's history as a river port is depicted in the Riverwalk along the Mississippi showing how it flows from Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico. Again, a strong slave state, TN was a stronghold for the seperation of black and whites.

After the war, the KKK was born not far from here and there was a rather violent recontruction period. MLK was asassinated here in the 60's and this was a city where busing was part of the early civil rights, EEO movement.

This carriage is drawn by Penney, crewed by Claudia and dog Macy. We pranced around downtown Memphis learning exactly how much this town is still racially divided but it's music is the heart and soul and the common denominator bringing folks together. After a wonderful dining experience at the world famous, Peabody Hotel, where the ducks are on parade twice a day, we journeyed to Beale St for a first hand look at the heart of the blues and the starting point of rock n roll. This section of Beale street is just 4 blocks long and baracaded like a maximum security prison to prevent any potential problems. Lots of booze and probably some drug use.

We stopped at Dyer's hamburger stand to get the obligatory walking margarita for the stroll to
listen to music drifting from every bar, court yard and watch acrobats doing back flips up and down the blocks. No need for a flash light here, neon lights do the job just fine. It's a miniature Las Vegas strip.

BB King is alive and well in Memphis. He celebrated his 85th birthday a few days after our visit and performed at his club. Beale St will never be the same.................and the journey continues

9/14-9/17/2010 Land Between The Lakes, KN

This motorhome parked next to us during the night and of course we were amused with all the art the next day. Must be quite a distraction on the road....it certainly took us several minutes to read all the details...........turns out the owner is a pro-hunter and we're outta here heading to Memphis TN before he wakes up!

On our way from Lexington to Memphis, TN we wondered what Land Between the Lakes was. Found out the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers flow out of TN into the Ohio & Mississippi Rivers. They are separated by 10+/- miles of land and include both TN & KN and was settled in the early 1800's. During the Civil War, KN was a neutral state but most of the western residents sided with the south. As neutral as it was, 75,000 KN's served in the Union army as well as thousands of freed slaves. The Union eventully took control of the area of the two rivers because of the vital supply routes. After the war and into the early 1900's, tobacco was big and there were a lot of tobacco wars waged on the farmerm who did not join the tobacco co-op. Night riders would burn home and crops of farmers who didn't join to keep the prices inflated.

Floods in the 1920's prompted the FED's to dam the TN River and created Kentucky Lake and later the Cumberland R was damed to create Lake Barkley, named after Truman's VP in the 50's, together they created the largest man made water system on the planet. In the 60's all the land between the two lakes was acquired by, in many cases, eminant domain , by the US Gov't and TVA creating a massive recreational area. On the non-fed side of the Cumberland River, the St of KN has 4-6 State Resort parks which in themselves are massive and contain trails, marinas, stables,lodging and golf courses on the scale of a Nat'l Park. The scenes here are looking at Barkley Lake at the State Resort Park from our lunch table in a Yosemite style lodge.

Within the LBL is a nature center with many species of rescued animals including 5 species of owls one of which posed nicely for us. We became acquainted with a couple,who are naturalists here and soon will wed and wanted to honeymoon in Yosemite, we chatted and gave them suggestions on how to enjoy the area on limited time. Very nice couple and we wish you much happiness John and Aviva. Kentucky is a great state, especially the committment to their park systems.

We took a week away from TN to return home as Lili's mom passed away on Sept 16th, we are back to TN and will continue westward so..........the journey continues

9/10-13/10 more horses and bourbon

Around Lexington lies 1,000's of acres of blue grass horse farms. If the grass were left to grow long it produces a little blue flower, thus the name. We drove many miles and observed ranch after ranch with miles of white or black fences, trails, jumping facilities, some with race tracks on site and if you don't have a mane, long perky ears or bridle with your name on it your not a local here. Like a picture on the wall, it really has more feel to it once you're here. We have nothing but good feelings seeing this part of Kentucky.




Shown in the Champions Ring at the Kentucky Horse Park are many past derby winners and just old horses that are donated by their owners to represent their breeds. This beautiful speciman is named Cigar, a 1990's horse who was unbeatable, now retired and living the good life here. He was purchased for $15,000 and won over 9 million for his owners in prize money and was sold again for $25 million for stud and charged $75,000 a pop only to find out he was sterile and no insurance!

Kentucky is also known for it's bourbon and we can attest to the quality of Maker's Mark, Woodsen and Buffalo Trace to be high quality bourbons, all having a different take on how to make their whiskey. All use 50-80% corn and some use wheat, some use rye, all use malted barley during the distilling process and they all have different opinions about where to store, how long to store, what toast or char to use in the barrels and whether or not to blend. The distilled spirits are aged in 53 gallon barrels to produce color and flavor and sometimes end up producing only 6 gallons of finished whiskey(the small barrels in this photo are trial sizes). After visting 3 distillaries, housekeeping chores and a golf day..................the journey continues

Lexington Kentucky Horse Park 9/9/10

The Kentucky Horse Park is the venue for the first ever on US soil International Equistrian Championships. This park is 1200 acres of everything "horse" including a jumping complex, hall of champions, carriage barn, breeds barn, international museum of the horse, steeplechase course, race track, tack and farrier shop, draft barn, (not beer), american saddlebred museum and you name it, it's here all spruced up for the expected crowd of 300,000.

We watched a show at the breeds barn which started out with our colors and the Star Spangled Banner proudly displayed and sung. A display of various horses and what those breeds are known for.

What absolutely blew us away was these two young Aussie men who trained two horses in four months to work together in unison without halters, ropes, saddles or being restrained at any stage of their demonstration. These pictures tell their story. There were many other tricks displayed but these were the most unusual. This horse let Dan stand on it's chest while it played dead!

See the whips in both hands of the rider, these are cracking over and around the horses heads and bodies and they don't even flinch. This is a very vulnerable position for the horse lying down and the standing horse has side stepped over it and Dan mounted it and then side stepped away.

9/5/10 Luray Caverns,New Market,Harrisonburg VA

Nat'l Geographic did a documentary on the Luray Caverns several years ago and there is a reason this cave was chosen. It plainly has some of the most spectacular caverns in the US. The pic at left is a reflection of stalagtytes hanging over the water below. The water seeps in so slowly it doesn't make any ripples so the reflections are like looking into a mirror.

These are called drapery stalagtytes because of they look like hanging drapes. The cave has the largest display of a stalagtyte and stalagmyte side by side in the world, each at 40' tall and are called the bride and groom as well as the largest single cavern with an organ which has selinoids that strike the stalagtyes and each are perfectly tuned to the keys of the organ.

Cadets from VMI (Virginia Military Institute) prepare for a Labor Day parade in New Market. The event is an annual ritual because VMI cadets fought in a major battle in New Market against the Union in 1863. We counted 14 buses of cadets and got out of town quickly before they closed the road and missed getting to Harrisonburg. The road between New Market and Harrisonburg was one of the first toll roads in the US dating back to the 1700's. After the Revolutionary War the states were short on cash so they authorized a state level approval of toll roads or Pikes. The term "pike" is a mid-evil term for wood spikes/gates used on toll roads. As one story goes, Sheridan's Union troops came through a toll gate but refused to pay so the attendant made a notch in a stick for every 10 soldiers to keep count of those passing and after the war sent a bill to Washington and was reimbursed $200.00................and the journey continues

Shenandoah Valley VA 9/3-9/7/2010

Shenandoah Park is comprised of the Blue Ridge Mts. which cover most of Virginia on the eastern edge of the Appellation range which stretches from Maine to Georgia. We marveled at 2240 ft being the highest point in Virginia, actually it's the highest point of our trip since leaving WY!













We are atop the Skyline Ridge Hiway looking into the Shenandoah Valley where Tinker is parked somewhere among the trees. The Park runs 105 miles between Front Royal and Waynesbourough and is forested with hardwoods of 15 varieties of oak, maple, ash, elm and poplar. There are frequent turnouts to enjoy the beautiful views similar to this one. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs 400 miles to the Great Smokies Nat'l Park.









We're staying at the Luray RV Park in Luray, VA looking west from camp to capture this hole in the clouds just before sunset which made the glass of wine even more enjoyable! BTW: this park is spectacular. Their wi-fi, cable, amenities and owners were a delight. It's located at the top of a hill with wonderful views of farms and patures full of cows and one very happy donkey. It was very pastoral and relaxing. We would highly recommend a stay here to our RV buds............................and the journey continues

8/29/2010 Hershey, Penn

Would a trip to PA be complete without a visit to the sweetest place on earth? Hershey, PA. We loved the street lights and most of the streets are named after candies or candy related mixings.except this one!

We toured the candy plant in a chocolate chariot showing the candy production process again, we saw this once before in South Bend, Ind. The premises has an amusement park with 8 roller coasters and lots of Disney rides for the kiddies to enjoy while wearing off their chocolate high.

Wonderful adventure and we did get our share of chocolates for the journey back to home.......................

and the journey continues.

8/28 - 9/3/2010 Gettysburg, Penn

Here at the museum we got a broad look at the battle of Gettysburg from July 1-4, 1863 through a theater presentation, cyclorama and actual tour of the battlefield with a certified civil war tour guide. He knew every little detail, location, which troops were wher and when, times of day of each attack, counter attack, the # of cannon shots, rounds of ammo and # of troops killed (11,000)wounded or captured (40,000) and every gory detail, even with pictures taken at the time. Simply amazing!

The Battle of Gettysburg cyclorama is a sound and light show of the spectacular 377 foot painting by Paul Philippoteaux of Pickett's Charge completed in 1884. The 44 foot tall canvas hangs from rods and is displayed in the round and is so life-like as it takes you to the battlefield. This photo is mearly a photo of the canvas outside the theater, where of course, no photography was allowed.

Dave, our guide, explains the workings of this original cannon on the battlefield where over 100 are displayed. There are thousands of mounuments that have been erected by states and organizations to pay tribute to the soldiers in various sizes and shapes. There is a movement underway to restore the entire battlefield area to it's original landscape which entails the removal of some trees, replanting of other trees, restoration of rock walls and fences and removal of underbrush. We wonder what they're going to do to hide the cell towers!...............and the journey continues

8/25 - 8/28/2010 Bellefonte, PA

On our way from Westfield, NY to Bellefont, PA we encountered this truck attempting a left turn at a very busy intersection and marveled that he made it with only a sheet of papers' thickness to spare before bottoming out. This took about 10 minutes and several light changes.

This is the oldest functioning P.O. in the country(circa 1860)moved from Virginia to the offices of the Philatelist Society and dontated by the Smithsonian for display. Stamps are hand cancelled for collectors here. On the door and shutters Civil War soldiers would leave notes behind for their loved ones. The society is dedicated to stamp collecting and ethical practices of members involved in purchase, appraisal and sales of stamps. They are housed in the old Ace Match Company building.

Bellefonte's "old charm" is proudly showcased in the original courthouse now government center in the center of town. 7 formers Govenors were born and raised here, 5 for PA,1 for KS, and 1for CA (Bilger-1852-1856)The visitors center is the old railroad station and folks here are rail buffs.The city was a major rail hub and supported the iron/steel industry with raw materials, ore and limestone from the local mines. The lumber industry barons built beautiful victornian style homes using the limestone from the mines.

Most of the town center has buildings similar in style and architecture as this one across the street from the courthouse. The Grange County Fair, currently running, has a tent city of over 100 tent homes on wooden foundations constructed in the 1800's and have been family owned ever since and can't be sold or passed on to anyone except family....................and the journey continues