Kentucky Bound - August 13

It was so peaceful and quiet in Sandy Springs, that it was hard to think about leaving.  We picked out an RV park near the Mammoth Cave National Park and took off early Wednesday morning, August 13.  The bridge over the Ohio river was very narrow, and the town on the opposite side of the river was very quaint.

We mainly drive on byways, which are very scenic and clean.  We passed several Quilt Barns.  Farmers donate a side of their barn and quilters/artists design a quilt to display there.  They are found all over the country side.  They really pop on a black barn.  It's not always easy to capture them when you are driving along at 60 mph, but I did luck out with this one:

I was so impressed with the vastness of many of the horse properties and the beautiful white, black or stone fencing.  

Our RV park is right outside of Mammoth Cave National Park.  The town of Cave City is interesting with lots of tourist traps and the most interesting flea markets ever.  The biggest one in town has been there since 1925.  They had a sign inside that said, "This is not a museum ~ this junk is all for sale."  Check it out:

My altered artist friends would go nuts here!  

A couple interesting fun facts about this area:

1.  COUNTRY DECOR HAS NOT GONE OUT OF STYLE

2.  MOST ESTABLISHMENTS ARE CLOSED ON SUNDAY

3.  THIS IS A DRY COUNTY.  ALCOHOL NOT SOLD IN STORES

OR SERVED IN RESTAURANTS AND IT'S ON THE KENTUCKY BOURBON TRAIL!!

It's quiet and peaceful here.  We sat out a rain storm Sunday after church that lasted all day and dropped about three inches of rain.  Talking to a fellow that works here on Monday morning, we learned that the pond rose about 18 inches with the overnight rain.  Our outdoor rugs got covered in mud from the rain, but nothing we could 't fix with the squirt of the hose and today's sunshine to dry them out. 

We spent most of today planning our next move, arranging our RV storage while we are out west for the new baby and holidays, researching airline flights and car rental.   It looks like car rental will be our biggest challenge. 

We spent our last day in Kentucky at Mammoth Cave Natkonal Park.  It is incredibly beautiful, and another National Park without an entrance fee.  Ken is starting to think that our National Park Pass was a rip off!  Since we bought it in the Bad Lands, South Dakota, we have not been in another National Park that charges an entrance fee.  Who knew?  We hiked some awesome trails today and took a few good shots.

They still use an independent ferry system within the park to ferry cars across the Green River.  That certainly explained this traffic sign we came across on our hike:

I can certainly see where this river (Green) got its name!

One final stop in Kentucky was to a home-based woodworking shop on Cave City Road.  An older gentleman specializes in bird houses.  They were incredible.  He made them out of hollow logs, barn wood and other found objects.  I really liked this one:

The frosting on the cake, however, was the sign that hung outside of their shed:

I have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Kentucky and look forward to our time in Tennessee.  Stay tuned for more living.

A Day in Nashville - August 16, 2014

Since we are only staying 90 miles from Nashville, we decided to take a day trip on Saturday to see the GrandOle Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame Museum.  Neither of us had ever been to Nashville, so we had no idea where we were going.  I hate the feeling when Ken says, "Where do I go now?" and I have no idea!!   We found a Visitors Center and all was well.  Nashville is so crowded!  Oh my gosh, I think it is the most crowded downtown area I have ever visited.  There are only four types of businesses in Nashville, as far as I recall.
     Bars
     Restaurants
     Boot Stores
     Souvenir Shops
Every bar has windows that open onto the street and there is a band playing in every window. There are a million people walking the streets.  There are cowboy bouncers at the door of every bar. They have pedal bars on the streets - 10 - 12 people sit around a long narrow bar and pedal like they are riding a bike.  It (somehow) propels the bar forward so it can travel in the street among car and truck traffic.  Who knew?

We spent the afternoon at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  They had just opened up a new Kenny Rogers exhibit, and we were fortunate enough to get tickets for a one-on-one interview with him.  It was wonderful.  I am a huge Kenny Rogers fan and have been since high school.  I remember buying 8 track tapes by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition.  His songs all tell a story that is believable and that touch your heart.  Kenny Rogers is a very humble man, great story teller and incredible artist.  It made my day to see him.  

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The Museum is fabulous, and covers the entire history of country music.  There are costumes including boots and hats and outfits from every big star you have

ever heard of.  Many stars have donated their guitars, numerous awards and other personal artifacts for the public to view.  Take a look at Elvis' car and golden piano:

 I enjoyed my five minutes of fame and no trip to Nashville would be complete without getting your picture taken with Blake Shelton

We finished our day at the Grand Ole Oprey.  The theatre was beautiful and packed.  Who knew Grand Ole Oprey would still be going strong after 90

years?  There are four half hour segments with a different host for every segment.  Vince Gill was my favorite host, and he closed 

 the show with the band Exile.  It was a great day.

Side note for my artistic friends.  You can find great art anywhere if you look hard enough.  Here are a few items that spoke to me:

Stay tuned for more living.

Sandy Springs, Ohio

After several weeks of go go go, we were looking forward to a relaxing week on the banks of the Ohio River.  The Sandy Springs RV park was amazing.  It's run by a very young couple.  The husband is a lineman, working out of town.  His mom recently moved to the park to help.  The wife is a nursing student who is not afraid to get her hands dirty.  She mows acres of grass with a small lawn mower, weeds acres by hand and even empties holding tanks.

The property sits right on the banks of the Ohio River and they have a boat launch and plenty of river bank fishing space.  It is so peaceful there and 25 miles east or west to any town.  The river is not very wide at this point  and the banks along the other side are tree lined.  There is a train track just beyond the tree line, and if we looked carefully, we could make out the train cars rumbling by several times a day. It is fun to watch the barges going back and forth all day long.  They were empty going West and full going East.  They were carrying coal for sure, but not sure what else they were transporting.

I had lots of time to work on art projects while in Sandy Springs and am especially jazzed that I got Nicolette's birthday book started and her birthday is not even until the end of October.

I was really happy that Ken finally had a chance to relax and get some fishing in.

A day trip West took us to some really old, run down towns.    This was by far my choice for "most unusual"  ~ Why in the world would this door be on the second floor???

Our day in Portsmouth was fun, and I wrote a separare blog entry about that.  I realize that Ihave not figured out how to move entries around to put them in chronological order, so I should write them in the order that events take place.  Also, just realized that my datesshow up as of the day they are posted, so I need to either put dates in the entry or write them closer to the time they occur.  I will get this blog stuff down if it's the last thing I do.

Stay tuned for more living.