We picked up three more states!
We are just concluding the
final leg of this 4 month Dream of a Lifetime Trip – in a repair shop, of
course. Only a half hour from Hilton Head. Yup, it’s always something with our homes on wheels, but it’s just part of this incredible adventure ….
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| OUR OVERNIGHT HOME AT THE SERVICE CENTER |
After we Lake Michigan, we
spent the next week at the Monaco Service Center, then a coach renovation shop,
both in Indiana. Windshield was
replaced and lights upgraded. We then headed south to
Kentucky, the equestrian epicenter (not chic like Aiken, but very horsey).
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Yup, he's a Clydesdale.
Love, love, loved Kentucky! We spent two weeks exploring incredible
Bluegrass country. |
We camped for the first week at the 1200 acre Kentucky Horse Park in
Lexington, clearly a horse lover’s dream.
The foliage everywhere was stunning.
And, of course, went to the
races at Keeneland, the most beautiful racetrack in the country with limestone
grandstands in a tree shaded setting.
The place was so crowded,
parking was almost a block’s walk. Of course, I decided to look for a spot up
front where the important people park. One of the parking guys said, What are
you looking for Miss? I said, A parking spot up front. He said, I can
give you one of those for $10. I quickly stuck it in his hand, he removed
the rope from the from the inner circle section and directed me to my space for 'the stakes horsemen' as he smiled and said, ‘Enjoy your time at the races, Miss.
Yup, this is the place.
Wore my ‘Kentucky derby’
hat instead of the cowgirl one, was a good choice. Many Kentuckians told me they liked my hat as we enjoyed the
excitement together. I bought my binoculars with me, like I used to in the olden days. What a joke since you felt they were next to you on all the close up screens!
Hard to believe but I picked the winner of the first race
and made $8.40 for my $2 bet [on a budget to buy the Petoskey lot]! His name
was So Vain.
Loved the race track experience. I watched these beautiful thoroughbreds being prep’d to race, they tie a gag around their mouth I guess so they won’t bite their tongues. I watched them parade before us before the race, then in the winners circle.
We drove endless miles on
two of America’s most scenic byways, Old Franklin Pike and Paris Pike, along
the Bluegrass Parkway, and the non-stop country back roads, all tucked under
canopies of century-old trees, now all autumn hues.
Farm after farm was rolling jade hills dotted with mares and
foals.
In Lexington, the fences are white. In the neighboring town of Georgetown, they are black. This is so uniform that it must be a regulated development standard.
And, the more historic homes have centuries old rock walls that go on forever.
Most farms are named after their Derby winning studs and wanna Bs. One farm, obviously with open-minded owners, named their farm ‘Never Know ‘.
We spent the last week 10 miles north in Georgetown, KY to be
closer to the charming historical towns – Georgetown, Paris, Midland,
Frankfort. Endless history,
1850s!.
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| A BAPTIST CHURCH, GEORGETOWN |
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| GEORGETOWN MANSION, 1850s |
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| DOWNTOWN GEORGETOWN |
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| DOWNTOWN GEORGETOWN FROM DRIVER'S SEAT |
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| ANOTHER DOWNTOWN HISTORIC MANSION |
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| GEORGETOWN MANSION, FRONT IS LIMESTONE, SIDE IS BRICK |
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| THIS SAYS FOUNDED 1821, GEORGETOWN |
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| MIDLAND, JUST WEST OF GEORGETOWN |
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| DOWNTOWN MIDLAND |
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| MIDLAND, TRAIN TRACKS THROUGH DOWNTOWN |
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| MIDLAND, ABANDONED TRAIN STATION |
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CASTLE ON THE WAY TO FRANKFURT
Loved this town called Paris just a half hour East of Georgetown. Has black fences since it is in Georgetown vicinity! |
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| PARIS, ENDLESS ROLLING HILLS |
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| DOWNTOWN PARIS FROM DRIVER'S SEAT |
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| PARIS, BAPTIST CHURCH. |
Kentucky is plumb full of Baptist churches, every few corners, and Government Buildings
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| PARIS CITY HALL |
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| PARIS DERBY WINNER |
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| PARIS, PARKED NEXT TO THIS CAR AT THE GROCERY STORE |
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PARIS, ENTRANCE TO CEMETERY .... WOULD LIKE MY ASHES TO GO HERE ...
EPILOGUE |
This trip from South Carolina to Tennessee music country, New
Mexico, up through Colorado and Wyoming to Montana, East through North Dakota,
a brief stop in Canada, Minnesota, then south through Michigan, Indiana,
Kentucky, Tennesse, NC then back to Hilton Head was about 7,000 miles through
16 states and five national parks, including the granddaddy of them all,
incredible Glacier National Park. We have now been to every state except
seven. We visited about 50 more place in our bible, 1000
Places to See Before You Die,
including Chattanooga & Rock City, historic Franklin, Graceland,
Beale Street jazz scene, Civil Rights Museum, Belle Meade, the Grand Old Opry
and The Hermitage, in Tennesse, to name a few; Route 66, Santa
Fe, Santa Fe Opera House, Taos, in New Mexico; Colorado Springs (my favorite US
city), and The Garden of the Gods,
the amazing Broadmoor Hotel there,
Great Sand Dunes National Park in Alamosa, Pikes Peak, Rocky Mountain
National Park, all in Colorado Jackson Hole and Teton in Wyoming; Yellowstone
and Glacier in Montana; the amazing International Peace Garden in ND and
Canada; Michigan Lakes area –
Mackinac Island, Little Traverse Bay Area. And, finally, horse country Kentucky.
We met new friends, Vicki in Colorado Springs, Ruth Ann and Jim Newberry who, standing on my car, jettisoned me through my bathroom window when I was locked out, Dick Havaere who made me feel so
welcome at Hearthside Grove, and old ones who visited with me along the
way. And … The kids became very bestest
friends.
They now play about three
times a day, pee where the other pees and walk through life together.
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| AND THEY HANG OUT AT HOME TOGETHER |
I ended
my eight month battle with my bank over three of my properties by reinstating
two and in short sale for the third.
I became spiritually more aware via continued study in The Course in
Miracles. And, found a new summer home and learned over and over again that our
country is amazingly beautiful and its peoples are loving and generous.
I have been dreaming of taking this trip for much of my adult
life. Never thought I would do it
in the company of dogs, but life unfolds as it does and you go with the
flow. We couldn’t have made it
without the guidance of our friend and neighbor at Hilton Head, Ed Knott, who
was our travel guide, remote mechanic and spiritual advisor. There’s always something happening as
you and your house rattle down the road, so one must have access to remote
ministry and mechanics.
This adventure would not have been the same without you,
either. It could have been a bit
lonely on the road for four months, but I knew you were with me. Sharing this blog with you was so
cathartic, as I took photos for you to see and found words to describe our
experiences. Thanks for coming along!
LOVE, THE O'SULLIVANS
