Thursday, May 1, 2008

Red River Gorge & Natural Bridge

Cool this morning but by 9 am it was warming up nicely. Off we went to explore the Red River Gorge. Up and down and around! We saw: jagged cliffs, deep gorges, the road crisscrossing the river which at times was just a babbling brook, restored cabin and barns, a 900 ft long one lane tunnel (check out the picture), deer in the roadway, sky scraper pine trees, mighty oaks and dainty dogwood trees! There was a lot we missed but they were at the end of miles of hiking so we are happy with the memories we’ve captured today! Since we did not make it to the top of the “bridge” yesterday we opted to ride to the top on the Sky Lift and took in the beautiful views once more from the cliff across from the bridge and then from the very top of the Natural Bridge itself. Once on top of the bridge we found a narrow stone stairway that led down the side of the mammoth stonewall of the bridge. The picture we’ve posted is from that stonewall at the bottom of the steps and you can just barely see where the opening for the bridge is. Time to kick back, sit by the stream behind our trailer, read some books and then roast some hotdogs before we head to the lodge to post the blog and maybe enjoy some ice cream.






Bourbon to Boone

Tuesday came and went with errands, house cleaning and fixing dinner for our guests, Steve and Rachel! What a lovely time we had burning burgers, enjoying strawberry shortcake, catching up on old times and making memories with their promise to try to come north next summer. Then it was their turn to traverse the winding roads home in the dark!

Wednesday we arrived bright and early at the very picturesque Woodford Reserve Distillery, which is only found by winding thru some of the prettiest horse country ever. Our very knowledgeable and comedic tour guide was none other than Steve!! He led us thru the 1812 distillery and thoroughly explained the process of making “Kentucky’s Best Bourbon”, from the 3 copper stills from Scotland to the storage building where the white oak barrels are kept from 6 to 10 years before being bottled in bottles made in Zanesville Ohio. The huge scale in the barreling room is even a Toledo Scale!

From bourbon in the morning to Daniel Boone by noon as we entered the Daniel Boone National Forest just off of the Mountain Parkway and parked at the Natural Bridge State Resort Park, right by a pretty babbling brook. To punish ourselves, we hiked UP the ¾ mile rock strewn, root infested, steep path to the bottom of the Natural Bridge. The marker at the bottom of the trek said that it was the shortest and the easiest path. Harry is positive that we “hiked” 20 miles up hill and into the wind – both ways. Whatever - - - - we BOTH hurt by the time we arrived back at the van. Nine pm came none to soon for this lady. I took an Advil PM and promptly crawled into bed!



Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Frankfort the capitol of Kentucky

The wheels on the van kept going round and round, ALL day Monday! Our first stop was to say Hello to Daniel and Rebecca Boone who are buried in an OLD cemetery that is high on a hill that has the very best view of the city of Frankfort. We toured the capitol building, which has more marble than any building I think we’ve ever seen. Walking around the back of the capitol complex we saw the biggest prettiest floral clock and fountain. As impressive as it is now, the colors in the clock will be ablaze in another month. The man in charge of the gardens stopped us and offered to take our picture. In conversation, we discovered that he grew up in Ypsilanti Michigan! At the Rebecca Ruth Candy Factory we enjoyed a sample of their famous bourbon candies but declined to pay the price for their tour. Other stops in downtown were the Old Capitol building and some of the quaint shops that line the streets. Before we headed out of town to meet friends for lunch we ventured to the top of another “hill” that overlooks the city from another side and found a restored Civil War fort that gave more insight to the area.

In very quaint and charming Midway Kentucky we met Steve, Harry’s Ohio University buddy and Steve’s neat wife Rachel for lunch at a restaurant called “Darlin’ Jeans” for a yummsrecious lunch that was finished off with Pecan Cobbler! They took us to the “farm” where Rachel volunteers for a tour to meet the residents. Old Friends at Dream Chase Farm is a farm for retired racehorses - - mostly stallions that must be kept in their own separate pastures. It’s the old saying-“boys will be boys”! We got quite an education along with meeting the magnificent horses! One of the 5 horses that played “Seabiscuit” was even there, but his real name is “Popcorn Deelite".

Before we headed home for the night we enjoyed a private tour of the rolling hills around Versailles, past some of the most elaborate horse “farms” and were treated to a wonderful meal at Steve and Rachal’s lovely home.

Click on older post for pictures

Frankfort the capitol of Kentucky







Sunday, April 27, 2008

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

We’re doing it again! Harry got his home chores done and once more we are on the road to places we’ve never been. Our first stops are someplace we’ve been but enjoyed and wanted to visit again- Metamora and Madison Indiana. Our next stops will be places we’ve never been – Frankfort Kentucky and the Red River Gorge. Our last stop will be my ever-favorite Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington Kentucky.

We must all learn to NEVER judge a day by the first 2 hours. Saturday, April 26th started out gray and gloomy and very windy. (Remember the Texas winds?) We removed ourselves from I75 just north of Bowling Green Ohio and cut over to Rt127 and down to Celina. . The mileage on the van was a whopping 11 miles per gallon thanks to the headwinds we fought all day long but the sun came out by noon and the roads were good. The views were beautiful! The cliffs and hillsides were speckled with redbud trees, dogwood and wildflowers in different shades of pink, magenta, purple, blue and white.

Metamora Indiana is a restored canal town complete with an operating gristmill, canal and quaint shops, surrounded by farms and friendly buckskin horses and even a brand new colt. We had hoped to camp at Versailles State Park but the cost was a bit high so we finished our Indiana leg of our adventure by camping in a small city park on the Ohio River in Madison.

Sunday was another gorgeous day. Rt 421 wound up and down and around from Madison to our next temporary home in Frankfort Kentucky. Elkhorn Creek Campground is just outside Frankfort and our great camping spot backs right up to Elkhorn Creek. We’ve gotten the bikes down off the rack on the trailer and have found a pretty little waterfall/dam just upstream from the campground.

A cold front has come thru and it has turned “cool” after reaching a lovely high of 70 plus today and yesterday. Yes, and it’s raining - - - but we are cozy and warm!

Monday we are going to explore part of historic downtown Frankfort.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!