Archive for April, 2014

30 years! How did we do that?

Tuesday, April 29th, 2014

No fancy vacation for us, we just bought a very expensive, really wonderful RV to continue living our wonderful life of exploring the USA,  but I couldn’t let the day just pass after all being married to the same person for 30 years is not something everyone can do!  Paul bought me my dream house so giving him something he has dreamed about but would never actually do it, I made us a reservation to have dinner at Ruth’s Chris.

30 years of bliss!

30 years of bliss!
April 28, 1984
… to be continued….

 

We are currently in Selma North Carolina where Paul’s brother, Stephen lives next door to Paul’s sister, Carol so we invited them as well as Stephens girlfriend, Metta to share our moment and it was wonderful!  Dinner was exactly as I would expect, the only disappointment was Paul wanted a TBone steak and they had run out of them on a Sunday evening!  Paul couldn’t believe it and was a bit disappointed but his Ribeye was huge and wonderful!

22 oz of Dead Cow!!!!

22 oz of Dead Cow!!!!

I had a bit of his because I am not a steak eater I wanted to be sure to have room for dessert!  Carol ordered the Steak and Lobster tail and the highlight of the evening was watching her savor such a wonderful dinner.  Everything was wonderful and they even put red rose petals on our table to help us celebrate 30 years of life, love and adventure!

The best part! We had cheesecake, chocolate cake and bread pudding!  I couldn't decide which I liked the best!

The best part!
We had cheesecake, chocolate cake and bread pudding! I couldn’t decide which I liked the best!

Dinner was awesome, my day was spectacular, the company was great and now we work on the next milestone!

A very happy life for me!

Who will have the most amazing hat?

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014

The grounds are almost ready, the flowers are being planted, the ponies are arriving, the odds are settling in, the big day is only 11 days away, but do you have your hat yet?  The 140th Kentucky Derby is set to begin on May 3-4 and the excitement is building in Louisville Kentucky.

ChurchillDowns

 

The gardens are taking shape

The gardens are taking shape

We took a behind the scenes look at the grounds and got to see some of the work that goes on year round to prepare the horses to be ready for race season.

The Paddock where the horses and their jockey meet before the race

The Paddock where the horses and their jockey meet before the race

The Kentucky will have more than 150,000 people attend and it only seats a little more than 50,000.  That means 100,000 people have no seat and most will be in the infield where you can’t even see the track.  This year they have installed a 9 story TV so that even those people can see the race.  The Derby only lasts about 2 minutes, so 1 horse out of the 30,000 Thoroughbreds born during 2011 will sit in the winners circle and then probably retire!

A trainer to be works a young pony

A trainer to be works a young pony

 

Practice riders work the horses

Practice riders work the horses

 

Full out practice race on the inner track

Full out practice race on the inner track

The Derby is a very short event but the excitement created by the tradition is contagious.  I almost bought a fancy hat!

 

I can’t make this stuff up!

Monday, April 21st, 2014

Saturday we are out tasting some really fine bourbon (we will get to that!)  and decided we better have something for lunch before we hit the next Distiller.  There isn’t much out here except nature, green grass and a couple of distilleries but we find a tiny town with a church and a market/hardware/bait shop/gas pump (which didn’t work) and a sign that says “Sandwiches”.  Great they have a deli inside.  We step into the store and it is very dark, I think are they really conserving energy or just don’t like to display their wares?!. There is one lady at the register and she barely whispers hello.  Paul and I venture towards the back looking for the deli counter.  Paul finds it.  It is a shelf next to a glass frig, with a white board of the list of sandwiches.  It ain’t fancy but they have several offerings of meat and cheese so Paul proceeds up to the lady and asks “can we get a sandwich”.  Yep,

He follows her back and she asks “what kind”  Paul asks for roast beef, nope.  How about Olive loaf? nope.  What do you have?  Turkey, Ham, Bologna!  Ok then.  Paul orders Turkey and cheese.  I’m thinking maybe just cheese.  A nice Swiss, Gueyere and maybe a smoked cheddar!  I see those in the case.  So I say I’ll have cheese.  She starts making the sandwich for Paul and cuts off some turkey, opens the loaf of store brand white bread and takes out 4 slices!  Whoa!  Do you have wheat?  nope!  She asks Paul, do you want Miracle Whip?  Can I have Mayo? nope!  She then takes out a chunk of american cheese and slices 2, 1/4 inch thick slices.  She turns to me, Do you want Miracle Whip?  nope!  how about just mustard!  She slaps on one slice of american cheese a squirt of mustard and tops it with the other slice of bread, wraps our sandwiches in a napkin and hands them to us!  I was hungry!  so I ate a doughy cheese sandwich!  I hope I don’t have to do that again!  The funniest thing was the look on Pauls face watching me, watch the lady building this sandwich, knowing I am hating every step!

 

Kentucky Blue Grass!

Kentucky Blue Grass!

 

Back to the Bourbon!  Bardstown, Kentucky, the Bourbon Capitol of the World and it is just beautiful.  It seems like everyones front yard is about 2 acres and all lawn!  There are more barrels of bourbon in this county than people – this is going to be fun.   Bourbon tasting is a lot like wine tasting in California,  the distillers charge you for a tour, take you around for about an hour, knowing you only want to get to the tasting and then they offer you 2-4 sips of some pretty good stuff if you like bourbon.  I don’t really care for the taste but it is fun to have just a small sip.

Our first distiller was Makers Mark on the Bourbon Trail where we got our first glimpse of how this stuff goes from a grain to a pretty expensive beverage!

Makers Mark Distillery

Makers Mark Distillery

The shutters on all the buildings have a bottle shape cut out!

The shutters on all the buildings have a bottle shape cut out!

This distillery had beautiful grounds and the tour took you right in where they are making bourbon.

That is the mash, you can touch it, you can taste it!  It tastes like sour beer!

That is the mash, you can touch it, you can taste it! It tastes like sour beer!

Everyone on the tour was a bit creeped out by the fact that we could stick our hands into the mash and taste if you wanted.  No washing of hands before or after here cause they are not worried about germs when they are going to cook it during the distilling process.

Makers Mark still hand dips every bottle so they are individual.  If you bought a bottle you could dip your own.

Makers Mark still hand dips every bottle so they are individual. If you bought a bottle you could dip your own.

In the bottling room they had some of their advertising campaigns on the wall

In the bottling room they had some of their advertising campaigns on the wall

My favorite

My favorite

 

bourbon (4)

A glass ceiling in one of the buildings to represent the bourbon process

A glass ceiling in one of the buildings to represent the bourbon process

We went to three other Distilleries and tasted all of them.  Heaven Hill makes Evan Williams an other brands.  They are the second largest Bourbon seller to Jim Beam which is number 1.  I learned something while touring – Paul’s favorite,  Knob Creek is made by Jim Beam!  We got to see Knob Creek go from –

Opening the barrel

Opening the barrel

It is being pumped from the the tray under the barrel into that clear container on the wall - then it is off to bottling!

It is being pumped from the the tray under the barrel into that clear container on the wall – then it is off to bottling!

washing the bottles

washing the bottles

Drinking!

Drinking!

For the cost of a bottle of Bourbon you could choose your bottle, wash it, watch it being filled with the sweet, brown liquid, sealed and then hand dipped and labeled.  We just had the free (for the cost of a tour) 2 tastes.  I tried one of the new Knob Creeks with maple flavoring – I might be able to drink that!

My favorite distillery was Willett Distiller.  It’s a small family operation with about 40 employees making about 80 barrels a day.  The bourbon was strong so not my style but the distillery was really cool.  We watched the corn being delivered and run through the auger into the distillery.

Willett Distillery

Willett Distillery

 

Their signature Still

Their signature Still

 

The barrels are stored in Rikes which are really large barns!

The barrels are stored in ricks in really large warehouses!

We learned a lot about Bourbon and of course enjoy the tasting.  Picture of the Day!  Look closely at the front porch!

Booker Noe of Jim Beam

Booker Noe of Jim Beam

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are Free!

Friday, April 18th, 2014

They finished the RV Wednesday afternoon and we hit the road south looking to warm up!  Spring here in Iowa certainly doesn’t look like spring to me!

Forest City Iowa April 15, 2014 22 degrees at 9 am

Forest City Iowa
April 15, 2014
22 degrees at 9 am

Windmills right in town

Windmills right in town

I am standing right under as electricity is being generated!  There are windmills everywhere in Iowa, this one was right on the school grounds in Forest City, IA.  The wind was howling the whole time we were there so I guess that makes sense.

Paul was so excited, on our route we came upon the Worlds Largest Truckstop and of course we had to stop!

If you are traveling and need anything this place has it!

If you are traveling and need anything this place has it!

A truckstop bigger and cleaner than any others I have been to in the past 5 years!  They have a barber, laundry, dentist as well as all the other stuff.  The store is huge and has everything!  Trucks, parts, accessories and if you ever need a Barbie Pink Semi  they got one!  I’m thinking truck drivers are pretty special when they arrive home with gifts they purchased from their trip!

We headed southeast and into Illinois where it is definitely much warmer.  We put the coats and scarves away and by Friday am, I’m back in capris and summer tops!  The sun is so nice!

 

Wednesday, April 16th, 2014

Day three in Forest City, IA and it is still too cold to venture outside.  We get up each morning and hand our RV over to Kirk who takes it behind the gate and begins the task of doing what we have asked and then at 3 pm he returns her to us to repark and get back to life only to repeat tomorrow!

There are about 10 couples who are doing the same thing and each afternoon the men watch the parking lot for their RV to return!  As each one returns you here ” there’s mine!”  it reminds me of the days of picking the kids up from daycare!

Today we are getting the estimate to repair the roof from the hail storm!  We now have to return here in September to have the roof replaced!  Yippy! 10 days of this process although then we will have to be out of the RV and into a hotel-  I see a trip to California for me in mid September!

Burrr….

Sunday, April 13th, 2014
A shiny red golf ball finds snow!

A shiny red golf ball finds snow!

The adventure continues!  Last night we enjoyed a fabulous thunderstorm while overnighting in the Walmart parking lot in Des Moines Iowa.  And today we had buckets of rain and as promised via the national weather service the temp has dropped and we have snow!

The good news is we are all cozy in our home with a nice fire and a good movie!

Tomorrow they fix our motorhome here at Winnebago and then we are off to North Carolina!

So it isn’t a total!

Monday, April 7th, 2014

The shiny red golfball is not a total loss!  Only $6,000 to fix the dents!

Oklahoma Day 2

Monday, April 7th, 2014

Rain!  Rain! Rain!  A good day for a Museum.  We hit the mini lottery, The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum had a free weekend for any BofA customer!  Yippee, we got that!  We saved $12.50 each and had a great afternoon enjoying the museum.  Paul and I each have our own interests when it comes to museums so right at the start we split up!  I headed for the Walter Ufer exhibit and Paul headed for Cowboy memorabilia.  This museum had so many exhibits and both of us enjoyed it immensely.  The art was beautiful and the Cowboy stuff was very interesting; my favorite was Prosperity Junction, a circa 1900 western cattle town complete with full size structures, including a saloon, school and church.  Something I observed in the school was the 1st, 2nd and 5th grade reading books-  reading has always been very important to the learning process.

We headed home in hopes of watching the Nascar Race in Texas – Surprise, it was rained out!

Oklahoma!!!

Sunday, April 6th, 2014

 

Bricktown Riverwalk

Bricktown Riverwalk

We hit the highlites of this city as we are focused on heading north to Iowa.  Friday we arrived at the Elks in Midwest City for our weekend stay in Oklahoma.  A fun Elks lodge where we enjoyed Steak & Shrimp and Karoke.  We are the only RV staying here so it will be a quiet weekend.  So far the weather seems to be tolerable so we are excited to get out and see the city.

Saturday we headed downtown to see the Oklahoma City National Memorial,  a very powerful reminder that life can be unpredictable no matter where you are.

The Surviving Tree

The Surviving Tree with the Journal Record Building in the background

The reflecting pool with the 9:01 gate and the empty chairs

The reflecting pool with the 9:01 gate and the empty chairs

The Childrens Wall

The Childrens Wall

Paul downloaded a narative of the architects who designed this memorial.  It is very interesting listening to their vision.  I really am in awe of the chairs, a visual reminder of the lives that were lost.

Oklahoma City seems to be putting a lot of resources into their downtown with Bricktown.  They have a very nice riverwalk around lots of fun restaurants, stadiums and parks.

lovethisbar

I Love This Bar

Riverwalk Art

Riverwalk Art

We stopped into Toby Keith’s I love this Bar.  Lots of fun and lots to watch and see.

 

 

 

 

The Squirrel went Berserk….

Saturday, April 5th, 2014

Laying in bed reading USA today and a gun blast goes off right next to my window!  Paul “the electricity blew up!”   Paul jumps up, pulls on the shorts and out he goes.  Yep, no power to our power pole.  Are you kidding me, I am thinking the RV blew up!  We are the only ones parked at the Elks Lodge in Midwest City, OK.  He checks things out and observes that it looks like the transformer to the pole that serves us is blown up.  It is all black and ugly.  A call to the local power company and we start the generator.

While waiting for the electric company to respond Paul walks over to the pole and on the ground is a very large, very dead squirl!

and I was thinking we were going to have a bad day!

and I was thinking we were going to have a bad day!

ber·serk

adjective

1.violently or destructively frenzied; wild; crazed; deranged: He suddenly went berserk.noun

2 ( sometimes initial capital letter ) Scandinavian Legend. . Also, ber·serk·er. an ancient Norse warriorwho fought with frenzied rage in battle, possibly induced by eating hallucinogenic mushrooms.
Origin:
1865–70; < Old Norse berserkr, equivalent to ber- (either *ber-, base of bjǫrn bear2 or berr bare1 ) +serkr sark, shirt, armor
Related forms

ber·serk·ly, adverb
ber·serk·ness, noun
Synonyms
1. violent, mad, maniacal, rabid, demented, lunatic.
Antonyms
1. rational, calm.

(according to Dictionary.com)
The utility guy comes and it is only a fuse so he replaces it and we get power. Whew, the fun never ends.