17 June ‘09

Wednesday

Last Sunday we moved over to Lake Sawyer RV Resort at Black Diamond.  This is our first time here and we’re really pleased with what we found.  The only negative is most of the RV’s are parked right on top of the other.  I mean, if you put your awning out, you’re sure to touch the coach next to you.  Now I said most of the sites, the one that we’re parked in has pretty good room on both sides. 

The negative is the front of our coach is looking directly into the front-side windows of the coach next to us because of the angle in which we’re parked.

OK, enough of the negative…  The clubhouse, the rec-room, and the large deck all overlooking the beautiful Lake Sawyer make up what this “Resort” is all about…fun and relaxation at its best.  About 50 yards off the beach are two little islands.  Located on each of them are a couple of small beach cabins that are so “adorable” that they’re almost un-real.  With the great weather we’ve been having lately (29 consecutive days of sun and 75+ degrees), we couldn’t wait to paddle our way through and around the lake. 

It did take us 2 days to completely circumnavigate the lake, but in doing it we didn’t leave anything unseen.  We even had an Osprey take a fish just off our “port side”…pretty cool. 

Today we went over to Flaming Geyser State Park… 

 We haven’t been there for over 40 years.  They say that you can “never go back” to see and enjoy the same things you enjoyed the first time…well that ran true for Flaming Geyser Park.  The drive through the park is still very pretty, but the “geyser” is disappointing to say the least.  It is so disappointing that I didn’t want to take a picture of it so as not to embarrass it (just kidding…). 

Another place that we hadn’t been to for a long time was Black Diamond.  In the mid 1800’s, Black “Gold” was found here and Black Diamond was born…it grew to the largest coal mining operation in the Northwest and brought with it a destination location for travelers to leave their homes in Seattle for "the country".  They would ride trains (up to 2 a day)

to visit this quaint little town, visit the famous Black Diamond Bakery, and then make their way down into the valley to see the “Flaming Geyser”.  We did find a great little restaurant that wasn’t there in 1800. 

The building fit well into the era of the 1800’s, but I don’t think they were able find and enjoy a good pizza then.  Well we did, and we highly recommend it to anyone that comes this way…a A+ for PIZZA and BEER.      

7 June ‘09

Sunday

When you live your life on “Wheels”, you have the right to change directions and revise your plans.  Well that’s just what we’ve done.  Our plans were to keep heading north and east, but we decided to make a left turn and head west to Seattle.  I would imagine that others that “Full Time” have had to see a doctor or two while on the road.  Well, that’s what we’ve had to do.  The problem was we could never find the “solution”.  It finally came down to the fact that for us to feel comfortable we should see “our” doctors in Seattle. 

Putting the cruise control at 57 we drove I-90 most of the way.  We’ve never driven more than 350 miles in one day but on this trip we found our 2^nd day doing 534.  It wasn’t that I wanted to push it that far, it just was an easy drive and we had a tail wind the whole day.  The first 3 nights were spent in Wal-Mart parking lots and then a campground in Bozeman before a couple nights in Coeur d’Alene.  We did take a couple of hours to visit Livingston, Montana…I really don’t know why we pulled off the highway, but we did.  I guess it was because we’ve passed it by many times and it just “called”.  We were both wonderfully surprised by Livingston, the architecture, the people, and MONTANA…  Just walking the streets of the town,

checking out the little businesses, the old buildings with wonderful styling, and finding a “brewery”.  Yep, we found Neptune’s Brewery.  It was small in stature and confined in an old house, but it had everything going for it.  Louise and I both enjoy a good IPA and they had one.  The two guys that owned and ran the brewery made us feel right at home.  Besides having great beer, they also have a very interesting food menu from which we ordered an appetizer of Pork Wasabi Balls with Blue Chips to go with our IPA’s. 

Our stop in Coeur d’Alene was routine. As always, our choice for campground was River Walk RV Park, early morning breakfast and lunch at Franklin’s Hoagies, a visit with Larry and Pauline, and spend as much time as we can with Joelle, Amy, Trevor, and Randy.

On Sunday we packed up and moved to Spokane.  Louise’s mother Lois was spending her 93^rd birthday

with family in Spokane and we wanted to join in, so we parked the coach in John’s driveway and chatted the day/night through. 

Late Monday afternoon we arrived at our campground in Fall City. 

 Tall Chief is our “home” campground with the Western Horizon group that we joined in early 2006.  We’ll be here for at least 5 weeks before we move on. 

Saturday, we joined some more of Lou’s family

at Lake Sammamish for the annual “Racin & Tastin” calibration.  This is where the city of Issaquah puts on a day of boat racing with a wide range of food concessions (and a couple of beer tents).  The boats range from jet skis to the unlimited hydroplanes.  

 Mark (one of Lou's Brothers) and Susan are part owners of one of the Unlimited Hydros.  They put on one heck of a deminstration for the crowd with their jet powered hydro.  Even with the short course, they ran reallllllyyyyy fffaaasssssttttt.....

Most of the jet skis were sponsored by the factories and the hydroplanes were those that you see racing around the country.  We had a great day, got a little wet, ate and drank a little, and were ready to call it quits when the last checked flag was flown. 

23 May ‘09

Saturday

We weren’t able to kayak up to the “Fallasburg Covered Wooden Bridge” yesterday, so we decided to drive to it today.  The bridge is 14 feet wide, 100 long, and an inside clearance of 12 feet.  Hung above the passageway is a sign that reads:  “$5.00 fine for riding or driving on this bridge faster than a walk”…  Do you think their serious?  Fallasburg is not an incorporated area, but it was an important area back in the early 1800’s.  It was a major stop for the stage that ran from Ionia to Grand Rapids and, it was a location for a large factory that manufactured chairs.  Just after passing through the bridge, we found the old school house that is now a museum and a couple other buildings

that were identified as belonging to the early families arriving from the east in 1827.  About 5 miles further up river is another covered wooden bridge we wanted to visit. 

The White’s Bridge was built about 5 years after the Fallasburg Bridge at a cost of $1,500 and is 20 feet longer.  Both bridges have had some repairs made to them over the years, but they still have stood the attacks of floods and heavy snows and still be around and useful 100 years later. 

22 May ‘09

Friday

Well it’s time to get into the water….  The fairgrounds that we’re staying at are but a half mile from town (Lowell), and the Flat River runs through it. 

 I mentioned this the other day when we stopped by for lunch and a walk aboard the sternwheeler sitting alongside the boardwalk.  This afternoon was a perfect day for a paddle.  The water was high and clear, had a pretty good flow so paddling up stream gave us a nice float back, the sun was shining beautifully, and the sights on the river were great. 

 I was hoping we could paddle up to the Fallasburg wooden bridge but when we came upon another kayaker, he told us we would have another 5 miles of paddling and have to forage around a dam to get there…  we’ll drive. 

21 May ‘09

Thursday

Grand Rapids, Michigan was the home of a young war hero from WWII.  Following his discharge from the Navy in 1946 he went back to Grand Rapids and the Ford Paint and Preservative Company.  Soon he found himself running for the office in the US House of Representatives.  Prior to running for office, he met and married a local girl Elizabeth (Betty) Bloomer Warren (her second marriage).  Born as Leslie Lynch King, Jr., Representative Gerald Ford was quickly making a name for himself in politics.   His name was so well known in the ranks of the Republican Party, that when Spiro Agnew was forced to resign his office as Vice President under the Presidency of Nixon, Ford was brought forward.  Then, President Nixon was soon to find himself caught up in a mess with Watergate and he was forced to resign…  Welcome Gerald Ford…the 38^th President of the United States of America.

  After 29 months as President, he had to retire to “Past President” after losing his re-election bid to Jimmy Carter. 

We drove into Grand Rapids this morning with full intentions of spending as much time as it took to take in the scope of “The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum”.  The physical look of the structure was just as I would expect, but it was the interior that really made it a “Presidential” library and museum. 

 We were also lucky enough to be here at the same time as the roving display of the “White House”. 

The White House in miniature was built to scale by John and Jan Zweifel and their 6 children.  The scale is one inch to one foot and features postage sized televisions which actually receive local television broadcasts, hand carved chairs and tables (of the same wood that the originals are made from), “lighted” chandeliers, and much more…  Even the carpet is hand made with 900 stitches per square inch which took over 4 years to complete.  As you walk around the model you can look into the many windows to see just what the White House and the adjoining buildings looked like during the times of the Presidencies from Truman through Clinton.  This was much more enjoyable than I thought it would be…I guess you’re never too old for surprises… 

Out of the 3 plus hours that we spent at the library/museum, most of it was spent touring through the many display rooms depicting the personal life of Gerald Ford from young child to the Presidency of the United States of America.  A day well spent…

20 May ‘09

Wednesday

Today was one heck of a busy day !!!

It started off with a visit to “The Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park”…Over 135 acres of indoor and outdoor gardens throughout the wetlands, woodlands, and meadows that form all of the spectacular gardens designed by many world renowned landscape artists.  On top of the beautiful gardens, there is a 35 acre Sculpture Park that displays sculpture art from the size of a 2x2 foot piece to a horse that stands over 30 feet. 

We started out in the tropical garden “Glass House”.  Funny thing is, it was about 80 degrees outside and as we entered into the Glass House it even got hotter with a ton of humidity present.  The tropical plants and trees are always spectacular and these didn’t disappoint us one bit.  It wasn’t just the plants and trees, it was the total package with the waterfalls and rock/sand formations that put it all together. 

The first outside area we entered was the “Children’s Garden”.  It was like a visit to a Disney garden that included boardwalks over water, building structures that looked out over the swamp areas, the “Great Lakes” display were you could sail your sailboats from one of the Great Lakes to the other, and of course, enjoy the sculptures that kids of all ages could enjoy. 

The Gardens also offer a tram that would take us on a tour of the total grounds and give us a good description of the sculptures beautifully displayed

 in and around the landscape. The large collection of sculptures for the public to see in this kind of setting is amazing, and it seemed that each sculpture was placed for its best viewing. 

These pieces of art are from the nineteenth century to the present, with more than 180 permanent masterworks by artists like Rodin, Calder, Degas, Picasso, and more…

19 May ‘09

Tuesday

This morning as we were driving into Grand Rapids, we drove by a location that we had only seen in pictures many years ago…  In 1981, Louise and I started a small business that was supplied products from this location…Ada, Michigan.  We were Amway distributors and this was “The” Amway we’d only seen from afar.  “What the heck, they give tours and we’re tourists…let’s go.”  The first thing we found out was that tomorrow morning Amway was receiving the largest and finest of distributors from around the world, to help celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of Amway.  We were then given a tour through “The Hall of Fame” showing the major distributors throughout the world and a brief history of the founders of Amway and its products.  Rich DeVos and Jay VanAndel together had a dream and in every way fulfilled it beyond their beliefs.  Today, Amway is run on a daily basis by their sons, and they seem to be carrying on the “dream” of Amway.  Another part of our tour took us out into the “manufacturing” areas to see just how and what was being made at that time in the day. 

I was surprised to learn that Amway also makes over 95 percent of the containers that carry their products.  One of the containers is made up of hundreds of 3 different beads that come together in a high vacuum and then melt down into a liquid plastic.  This plastic is then poured into a mold.  A little high pressure air applied into the center of the mold and then forms the container…in a few seconds you see anywhere from 50 to 100 moving out and ready to receive the liquid products that will soon be distributed to more than 80 countries around the world.  After our tour we were given a special 50^th Anniversary gift bag.  In the bag we found some samples of Amway products that we can definitely use…you know things like lip balm, LOC quick-wipes, and an energy bar.

18 May ‘09

Monday

After checking out of Hartford we took the back roads to Grand Rapids, MI.  Just as we were coming into the city limits of Grand Rapids, we noticed a Camping World just prior to our exit.  The last time we were at Camping World they mentioned to us that our “membership” was just about ready to run out, AND, they had a promotion that we would love…with a three year membership at a special price, they would throw in a $10 dollar gift certificate.  Well this would give us a chance to get the gift certificate out of my wallet.  Much to my surprise, when we pulled up to the entrance to Camping World we found a Cummins Service Center right across the street.  While we were “dry camping” on the lot that installed our ladder, I noticed a “spot of oil” on the ground under the generator.  We had the service done on the generator in Atlanta and this was the first time that we had run it so I hadn’t noticed the oil before.  Sooo, now that we’ve got another Cummins Service Center right in front of us, maybe they can find the leak.  I feel we’ve got a leak around the filter but it also could be the plug…who knows, let’s just get it fixed.  Isn’t it just the nuts…when you need to have a little work done it’s always needed on a Friday or just prior to a holiday.  They told us that “we’d like to get you in, but right now it is impossible until after Memorial Day”.  Well we’re not planning on using the generator anytime soon and we’re pretty sure we can find another Cummins SC before then, so we continued to our new campground.  We decided to stay at the fairgrounds in Lowell, Michigan, which is about 20 miles east of Grand Rapids.  We found this location on the web and thought it would fit our needs perfectly.  When we pulled in, we found the grounds to be very nice, and the price of $20 for 50amp electrical and water, we thought a bargain.  What surprises us is the fact that we're the only people here...our gain , their loss...

We decided to take a quick walk through town (Lowell) just to see what they had and to see if we could find something to eat.  Lowell is like a lot of the other small towns of the area and have some beautiful old buildings throughout the mainstreets.  The architecture is early 1800 Italian and runs beside the Flat River that really makes it a wonderful stop for us.  We not only enjoyed our walk, we found a great place to have lunch.  Sitting at an outdoor patio and beside the Flat River we enjoyed a 4 star lunch.  Permanetly tied to the boardwalk was a "river-boat" that was open to explore...all a beautiful setting. 

16 May ‘09

Saturday

From Elkhart we drove into Michigan taking a route around South Bend and then up I-31 to I-94 to Hartford, Michigan and our new campground about 4 miles south of town.  American Campgrounds Inc.

is associated with Western Horizons our home membership group so that is how we got here.  It is located so far from the railroad lines and the highways that we find it “almost” too quiet.  We’re right in the middle of the Michigan farm lands but the campsite is comfortably set in the middle of some great young shade trees…we like it here a lot, although it is a little far from a major grocery store. 

In the past 3 days we had a chance to journey off to Kalamazoo to see the sights and take in a movie (The Soloist, which is VERY GOOD).  We traveled up to Holland, Michigan to see the tulips in bloom

and see all the sights around there (Including going out to the Sand Tunnel

and walking out to Lake Michigan) and to say that we’ve been in Holland and HOLLAND, The Netherlands…  Yesterday we took a long loop drive that took us to Benton Harbor, St. Joseph and then around to Berrien Springs before turning home.  Benton Harbor was disappointing, but St. Joseph made up for it.  As we were walking the park area high above the waterway, we came upon “The Dahlgren”.  The Dahlgren is an 11 inch solid cast cannon that was cast in the 1800’s for the Civil War. 

 It could shoot a 200 pound solid steel ball over 2 miles, and that was with some pretty good accuracy.  St. Joseph and Holland are both very nice towns of about 30,000 or a little more and both have great personalities.  In Holland we had lunch at a great Brewery Lunch House… “The Holland Brewing Company”.  If you get a chance, you’ve got to try their quality brew, you won’t be disappointed.  In St. Joseph we just enjoyed the walk around town, looking out over the harbor, and enjoying a nice lunch of soup and sandwich in a small bakery/diner. 

Today we’ve found ourselves staying home in the motor home.  I’m doing a little catch-up on my journal and editing all the pictures I’ve been taking.  Besides, it was really wet this morning, now the sun is out and the wind is keeping the temperature very cool (50-ish). 

This morning we also made contact with Phil and Kathy.  We are getting close to setting up a time when we can get together in Canada. 

13 May ‘09

Wednesday

First I have to tell you that Saturday mornings are the nuts for finding something interesting on satellite TV.  Boring, Boring, Boring… 

OK, there are more important things to do on a Saturday morning, but it was raining heavily and is really wet outside so we’re sitting it out for the sun that is supposed to come out soon. 

Well it’s been a while since I last wrote in this blog, so I’ll try and catch up a little.  On the 1^st of May we pulled into Goshen, Indiana for a week with the HRRV 419 Club/Seminar/Rally.  The “419” is a well organized group of Holiday Rambler owners that started a “Special Interest Chapter” interested in the continued maintenance of the Holiday Rambler Diesel Pusher motor home.   Seeing as how we own one of those “diesel pushers”, we decided that we would most likely find this rally to be of high interest to us.  There were about 250 motor homes that showed up for this gathering and for most of those here, this wasn’t the first time attending.  This gathering of HRRV 419 takes place annually and is always here in Goshen.  It’s been Goshen because of the central area of the states, and because the Holiday Rambler factory was located just a few miles away.  In the good ole days, the factory was well attended at the rally and able to teach and handle a lot of the needs of those that had a warrantee problem or just need a helping hand.  On a daily basis, Louise and I had a medley of classes we could take from entry level to advanced convection cooking to lubricating and changing the oil on the motor home.  One of my favorite gatherings was the “round table” discussion.  Overall there were about 8 different round table discussions so we all chose the one that fit the age and type of HR motor home that we owned…it was really well done and I learned a lot about “our” coach.  As always when we attend gatherings like this, we have met some “new friends”.  In parking the motor homes, we were parked pretty close to each other

and that gave us plenty of time to get to know your neighbors…all good!!! 

On our way into Indiana we encountered some really rough roads and at one point we even had to pull off the roadway of I-65 and tighten all the screws that hold in our TV.  I even noticed that the rear camera was going off and on as we hit some of these craters. I also noticed that our heater/cooling fan was also going off and on at the same time.  After we pulled into our next campground I found that we also had a 3 more problems…our electric step wouldn’t extend, we couldn’t dump our air-bags, and we couldn’t extend our jacks.  I fired off a quick email to the President of the 419, whom I had not yet met, and wrote him about our problem.  The next day I had received 3 emails in regards to our problem and they gave me a quick idea as to what I should look at and most likely fix the problem.  I took their information and ran with it.  I found the area were the problem was coming from, got everything working, but didn’t find the culprit.  The electrical box held the key but it took one of the tech’s from the rally to help me find a large battery type of cable

that was creating the problem…problem solved!!!

We also had plenty of time to explore the surrounding areas of northern Indiana, and especially the Amish areas close to Goshen/Elkhart.  We’ve been traveling through some areas of the Amish since entering into Tennessee and now we’re in the heart of Amish country.  I really have to admire the strength and integrity of the Amish and the life they live.  As you drive the “red” roads (those that show on the map in red as most often the very narrow two lane country roads) you will find the farms of the Amish…

some small and some much larger.  You will always see the hand washed cloths hanging from the clothes line and blowing in the winds of the day, and the constant meeting of the horse and buggy traveling the roads.  The family owned businesses that supplement the farming are located in one of the out buildings, and you can find a hand painted sign at roadside telling you what’s available.  We saw the fields being tilled using the horses and sit/stand-on plows as we traveled though the farm lands…

not the same as a large tractor and plow we would see in Washington.  We also saw the “one room” school house, with the two out-door potties...  Most often, the kids are educated to the 8^th grade and then they go full time to the home and become a very important part of the family.  We did join a group for an “Amish Family” dinner at one of the larger farms in Nappanee, Indiana.  They served us family style and it featured soup and salad, fried chicken, chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, noodles, beans, and fresh made pie for desert. 

Following the rally, we took a day to replace our rear ladder at one of the shops in Elkhart. 

About a year ago I backed into a medium sized tree and it “squashed” our ladder, so we took this time to have it replaced. 

30 April ‘09

Thursday

We had enough of a break in the weather yesterday that we finally got out on the water.  It had been a long time since we’ve had the kayak on the water, but even with a heavy cloud cover we quickly decided to go for it.  Lake Freeman has been a draw ever since we pulled up to its shore, all we had to do was wait and hope for a day or two so that we could put-in.  Lake Freeman is part of the Tippecanoe River system, so it has a current and if there is a wind, you’ve got a double fight once you get into the water. Fortunately, two days before we checkout, the wind dropped to a breeze and the water opened up for a very nice paddle.  We were out for about 2 hours and really enjoyed ourselves.  The only negative of the paddle was as we were coming back across the lake.  We were now fighting the current by crossing it and we were being hit with a stronger wind that kept throwing water at us off of the rising paddles.  All and all, we had a great day…

Now the day before that, we decided to go see a movie.  The problem with going to a movie here is that the only theater in town (Monticello) is showing Hanna Montana.  Well that wasn’t the only “Picture House” around so we drove another 30 miles to East and a much larger town.  Logansport is about 3 times larger than Monticello and we knew that we could find a theatre complex for sure.  Boy were we surprised… Yep, they have a theatre, and it happens to be the same size as the one in Monticello, and it is showing the same movie….NUTS!!! 

Today we also had a chance to say "Hi" to some friends that we haven't seen for a loooonnnngggg time.  It was really great to make contact with Paul and Denise and we hope to see both of them soon as we journey further East. 

Well tomorrow morning we will find our way to Goshen, Indiana and join with the Holiday Ramblerin Ramblers for our rally...lets hope that I learn a lot during the next week.

26 April ‘09

Sunday

The roads in Indiana have proven to be the worst roads we’ve been on.  We were totally surprised by the roughness of the highways, especially on I-65 which we’ve traveled on for some time.  They are soooo rough that at one time we had to pull off the highway and tighten all the screws that hold the TV in above our seats.  Then I happened to notice that the fan would quit running for awhile and then start up again after we hit another of the bone jarring bumps.  Not only would the fan giving us trouble but the back camera was doing the same thing….off/on/off/on…  It seems we’ve got a short circuit somewhere and the bumpy roads are not helping.  When we pulled into our campground we found out that we really did have a problem.  When it came time to “dump the air”, the switch wouldn’t activate and we couldn’t dump.  Checking the hydraulic jack’s, they didn’t have electrical power either…then we found that the exterior step wouldn’t extend…”S___t !!!”  And of course, we were about as unlevel as we could be.  This was turning out to be one of the toughest days we’ve had for some time.  The wind was gusting between 15-40mph and the temperature was maintaining a solid 80 degrees. 

Well I’ve got to try and find out what kind of problem we’ve got and get it fixed.  I started with the wiring under the dash.  With 8 screws I’ve got the radio, air/conditioning and fan switch, and 3 other switches all out on the floor.  Now I can check the connections on these and follow the wires back under the dashboard.  Unfortunately I found NOTHING…  Next I started checking all the different electrical boxes in the outside driver’s compartment.  Hell there are so many wires that just go no-where that I was just hoping that they weren’t the problem so I left them be.

  Then there was the “hundreds” of fuses…I checked all of them to no avail.  Soooo, I put the lid back onto this large fuse/wire box…”WAIT, DID THE STEPS JUST GO OUT???”  Yep, they did, all was back.  I ran around to the door, got up into the seat to dump the air and…”NOTHING !!!”.  Back out and try to do it all again.  Well it worked, so I left the lid off the electrical box and everything is working for now.  We’ve dumped the air, dropped the jacks, and the step is out…we’re here, comfortable, and trying to find out just what “the problem” is.

The wind hasn’t let up one bit over the last 3 days and tonight it is starting to rain just as hard.  I was hoping to get our problem under control but I guess we’ll have to wait until we get up to Goshen.  In Goshen we’ll have someone that will be of great help and we’ll welcome every bit of it. 

Now, who can help with the weather???

25 April ‘09

Saturday

After leaving Louisville, our journey heads towards Goshen, Indiana.  This route took us through Indianapolis.  Now I’ll bet there are very few who would continue through Indianapolis and not find their way to the suburb, Speedway, and the Internationally famous race track, “The Indianapolis Motor Speedway”.  Well we took the detour and soon found ourselves going through their museum.  I would bet that they have a car from every 500 race that ever took place at the “Brickyard”. 

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex was built in 1909 as a gravel-and-tar track and hosted a few small events before the promoters decided to focus on just one major event.   If by chance it had rained prior to or during one of the races, the track would almost become impassable.  It did cause a few deaths because of it, so the track was paved with 3.2 million bricks.  Even today there’s an area around the finish line that has some of the original bricks. The first “500” was held at the Speedway on Memorial Day, 1911 and who knows how long they will continue.

While we were enjoying ourselves in the museum, we got a call to board a bus for a drive around the track.  We joined 8 or 9 others and drove through the gates and onto “The” track.  The start of our ride took us through turn 3 and then onto the straight-away…  Looking out the front windshield of the bus at the track, showed the straightaway as being FOREVERRR….  The speeds that the Indy cars reach on this length of raceway is amazing and then they have a couple of corners to go through…AMAZING TWICE !!!  And then the run towards screaming crowds at The Grandstands, the Pagoda, and then the CHECKERED FLAG.

  As I was standing at the front window of the bus taking pictures, the driver asked if I wanted to open the door and stick my camera out for a picture….”sure”…  He stopped the bus, opened the door, and said with a wink…”Don’t step out”….  Hell, I fell out, it was an accident I swear…  so I was “THE” only one that actually got out on the track and it was at the finish line too (we’ve got to keep that a secret..). 

Back at the museum we enjoyed the opportunity to sit in one of the Indy Cars (a very special one…you know, no motor, wood floor/seat…all the necessities).

  Just as exciting as the cars in the museum to me, were the paintings of Leroy Neiman.

  What a talent…  We did have a great time, short but good.  Well time had come and we had to continue onto Monticello.  Our campground for the rest of the week is White Oaks and sits on the shores of Lake Freeman.    

24 April ‘09

Friday

Sometimes it seems that you are never at the right spot at the right time, and in Louisville we are 2 weeks early AND two days late…  Two days before we arrived, Louisville enjoyed their “Thunder Over Louisville” fireworks show.  We have been told that it is THE largest fireworks display in the country.    The best seat for the show is “anywhere downtown”…  They have two weeks of celebration prior to the big race at Churchill Downs and “Derby Day”… 

This morning we drove out to Churchill Downs to take in the museum and track.  We heard that we wouldn’t be able to go out to see the grandstands

and track because “the trainers are working with the Derby horses” but when we purchased our entry tickets they told us the tour to the track would take place in “20 minutes”.  That announcement made our day… 

I’ve been a little surprised by names that have continuously come up…  Living in the Pacific Northwest, we have always read, visited, and traveled the waters of Lewis and Clark that related to “our area”.  Traveling through Tennessee and Kentucky their names and reputations are still with us as in our visiting the monument to York.  Well Clark has come up again…

The track is named for John and Henry Churchill, who leased 80 acres of land to their nephew, Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr. (grandson of explorer William Clark). Clark was president of the Louisville Jockey Club in 1874. His father-in-law, Richard Ten Broeck, was a horse breeder and trainer, and introduced Clark to horse racing.  Clark ran the racing club for about 3 years but had trouble making enough money to do the necessary expansion.  He found a buyer by the name of Applegate.  Applegate sold the track in 1902 to Charles Grainger who really took charge and made Churchill Downs what it is today.  A new clubhouse was built, the highly recognizable “twin spires” were added,

and the length of today’s track was completed.  Today, Churchill Downs covers 147 acres and reaches crowds of 150,000 highly energetic fans that want to flock to the wagering booths at Derby day. 

One more spot that I we see on TV while watching the race, is the Paddock, were we'll see the "Saddle Up" call again this year. 

I found this note of history to be interesting…On June 5, 1907, African American jockey James Lee set a record that has never been beaten when he won the entire six-race card at Churchill Downs.

The tour to the grounds didn’t disappoint, it was great.  We did have a chance to see a “retired” Derby horse, but unfortunately neither Louise nor I can remember her name…but she was really beautiful and did a great job of coming in 4^th on her day at “The Show”. 

22 April ‘09

Wednesday

While walking around Louisville we happened upon a large bronze statue overlooking the Ohio River.  "His name was York - just York, nothing more, for he was a slave who had no legal right to own anything, even a last name.  York was a slave, the personal body servant of Captain William Clark. York had been born into the Clark household and probably began his service to William Clark as a young boy.  They were reported to be about the same age, but York was a servant to young William Clark.   When William Clark joined with Meriwether Lewis to search for a route from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, he took his slave with him. York worked alongside the other men. He carried a gun and hunted for food like the others. He shared in the dangers, work, and he traveled to the shore of the Pacific Ocean.

 York was the only African American member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, served as an equal member of the team, and was granted freedoms and responsibilities beyond anything he had known back East. When the expedition encountered Indians who had never seen a black man before, York was a marvel to them.  His black complexion was seen as a mark of great honor.  The very thing which marked York as mere property and a slave in the United States was seen as a sign of special worth and dignity by the Natives. The Arikara, for instance, were astonished at the Black man and considered him "big medicine." When the expedition returned to the United States every member received not just the money and land they were promised by the government, but double portions of land and money.  Only York received no payment.  As a slave, he was owed nothing.  All of his work was the property of his master, William Clark.  York and Clark soon moved apart and never made contact with each other again. 

Today was a day we would walk a lot…  After taking in the river front, we headed back into town again to check out what Louisville offered for lunch.  Bristol’s was going to be our choice, and what a great choice it was…  We not only had a great meal, but we had a server that went above and beyond to make us welcome to Louisville.  We stopped into a shop just across the street from the restaurant.  They had a large display of “Derby Hats”

and we just had to check them out seeing as how the Derby was coming up next week.

Located in the heart of historic downtown Louisville, Kentucky, we walked over to the Muhammad Ali Center. 

 It was set up as a cultural attraction and international education center inspired by the ideals of the hometown hero Muhammad Ali.  They put together a great collection of pre-Ali to Ali today.  Unfortunately we didn’t have to time to do the center justice, but we sure hope that the next time we get back we will find more time to enjoy it. 

We had previously made arrangements to view “The Kentucky Story” at the Kentucky Center and Brown Theatre.  I was expecting it to be like “Flying Over Washington”, but it really let me down…it would rate “Fair” and barely worth the $6. 

OK, our last stop for the day…The Louisville Slugger Museum and manufacturing plant.

  Surprising to us it was locate on Main Street, Louisville.  Brass commemorative Home Plates were imbedded in concrete just outside of the museum for such baseball greats as Babe Ruth

and softball great Dr. Dot Richardson and others.  Inside you could purchase Louisville Bats with your signature etched into it, tour the plant were they spin the bats to perfection, and…for a dollar, you could take swings at 10 balls in the batting cage to see what you could do with a 40mph baseball coming at you.   

I must say, it has been a long time since I’ve had a bat in my hand and…I didn’t do too bad at hitting a few back to the fence with some force (I did it twice…).