Travelog August 2017

We started off the month departing Kentucky and heading to West Virginia.  Our first destination is a revisit after some fifteen years to Pipestem Resort State Park.  I must say WV knows how to do state parks, as this one includes two hotels, a campground, restaurants, a pub, two golf courses, indoor and outdoor pools, a nature center,  a riding stable and a plethora of hiking trails. We enjoyed several hiking trails, waterfalls, golf, and a wonderful seafood buffet where we feasted on crab legs, shrimp, salmon, and prime rib. 

 

 

 

After a week in Pipestem we headed north to Canaan Valley State Park, another WV beauty with a hotel, golf course and ski resort.  We enjoyed some of the quaint small towns in the area as well as day trips to Elkins, Blackwater State Park and Seneca Rocks.  Blackwater River also known as the River of Amber is actually the color of tea.  The mountains and valleys within the Blackwater drainage contain many plants and trees contain tannins that contribute to this phenomenon. 

 

 

 

Our trip to Seneca Rocks was nice and easy on horseback instead of the steep hike to the top.  Seneca Rocks is a prominent and visually striking formation rising 900 feet above the confluence of Seneca Creek with South Branch of the Potomac River. It overlooks the community of Seneca Rocks consisting of a North and a South Peak, with a central notch between.

 

 

 

We spent two great days in Elkins WV first with a scenic 4 hour train ride aboard the Tygart Flyer along the Cheat River to the High Falls of the Cheat.  The vintage diesel-powered locomotives climbed mountain grades, an “S” curve tunnel, a high bridge and miles of unspoiled mountain views terminating at the stunning High Falls. We really enjoyed the ride and the buffet lunch aboard the train was also very good. 

 

 

We returned to Elkins again for the 44^th Annual Augusta Festival which included local crafts, workshops for artists, concerts, and pickin’ contests for banjo and fiddle.  Wow did we see some talented artisans and musicians and some great foot stomping “Mountain Music”.

 

 

From WV we headed to PA for two weeks of fun in the sun with our four youngest granddaughters.  We arrive at Buttonwood Campground in Mexico PA, set up camp and headed to NJ to pick up the kids.  We enjoyed this destination campground for a week of tubing, swimming, fun and games with the kids and a weekend visit from our daughter as well. 

Next stop was Mt Pocono Campground where we enjoyed a carnival and demolition derby which the girls really loved.  Our daughter visited again this weekend and brought our great grandson.  On Saturday Chippy and I stayed back with the baby and Dina and the girls headed out to hit the zip lines. 

 

 

From PA we headed to Rhinebeck NY for a week to help celebrate Mother Sexton’s 89^th birthday.  We enjoyed a fantastic dinner at the Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park NY.  Mother really enjoyed the truly authentic regional Italian cuisine surrounded by her loving children and in-laws.  

 

The Sexton brothers also enjoyed a nice round of golf at Red Hook Country Club in the morning, and no clubs were thrown.  We also enjoyed many more gourmet dinners at Patty (sister) and Peter’s house.  Our brother in law really is a great cook!!  On another day trip we visited the Storm King Art Center in New Windsor NY, which is one of the most visited sculpture parks in the world.  There are over 100 gigantic sculptures created by some of the most acclaimed artists of our time spread over 500 rolling acres of woodlands and fields of wildflowers and native grasses.  

 

 

 

Travelog July 2017

On the Road Again, love being on the Road Again, seeing things that we have never seen and best of all, traveling with my best friend.  No more Workamping, the rest of the summer is just fun fun fun. Wow, July has been very busy.  Started out with a journey through Tennessee on the way to our first stop in the Renfro Valley KOA in Kentucky.  We stumbled on to the little town of Berea KY and learned some amazing history.  Founded in 1855 as the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, Berea charges no tuition and admits only academically promising students, primarily from Appalachia, who have limited economic resources.  Berea’s cost of educating a student for four years is nearly $100,000. Berea College offers rigorous undergraduate academic programs leading to Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in 28 fields. All students work at least 10 hours per week in campus and service jobs in more than 130 departments.  About one in three students represents an ethnic minority.  The surrounding community is flush with artists of every distinction, from sculpting to knitting.  We were lucky enough to be there on the weekend of the 36^th Annual Craft Festival and were treated to an amazing display of music and art and great food. 

Recycled soda cans

Then we were off to the 96^th Family Motor Coach of America (FMCA) rally in the Indianapolis State Fairgrounds for four days of RV seminars, entertainment, vendor displays and camaraderie with fellow RV’ers.   We really enjoyed the nightly entertainment, meeting new friends, and of course spending a few bucks on stuff we absolutely needed (LOL) for the Motorhome.  Especially our new camping sign since we hung our last sign in the Signpost Forest on our way out of Alaska last year.

 
 

Then we headed back to KY and stayed at South Louisville KOA for a week as we explored the infamous “Bourbon Trail” as well as a few area wineries.  We really enjoyed learning the history of the bourbon in KY and sampled many many bourbons with our favorite tour and smoothest bourbon found at Maker’s Mark. 

 

 

 

 

 

We toured the horse racing shrine aka Churchill Downs home of the Kentucky Derby which has a grandstand that holds 50,000, for the Derby they also put 100,000 in the infield.  We were not permitted on the track or in millionaire’s row but I did manage to put my foot on the track.  I do have a special memory of the Derby as I won $50 on a $2 bet in 1967 at the ripe age of 15, on a horse named Proud Clarion, long story, but my mother made me place the bet, but I was very happy with the result.  That was the last time I ever place a bet on a horse race…LOL.

 

 

 

 

After the track we headed into town and visited the Louisville Slugger Museum and factory where they make baseball bats for Tballer’s to Major Leaguers.  They make bats from mini to supersize which is displayed outside the museum.  The Vault inside the museum holds bats of great historical value from the past through the present.  Next to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, this is the neatest place of baseball nostalgia. We arrived too late to tour the Ali Center which commemorates the life of the Greatest of all Time Mohammed Ali, but enjoyed the view of the center as well as the urban Bourbon Trail in Louisville.

 

 

Next we headed south to Mammoth Cave to visit the biggest cave on Earth.  There are currently 400 miles of mapped passages and an estimated additional 600 miles of yet to be explored passages including underwater passages.  We took two tours of the underground matrix and were amazed at the length and breadth of the caves.

 

 

 

While in the neighborhood we took a ride some 25 miles south to visit the Corvette Museum which was amazing and we don’t even like Corvette’s.  We were a bit disappointed that the factory tour was closed until 2019, but we really enjoyed seeing the classic Corvette’s and learning the history of the brand.  We also learned about the sinkhole that swallowed eight classic Vette’s in 2014 of which only three could be restored. 

 

 

These are two of the six that could not be restored

 

These two where restored after falling in sinkhole, white one was 1 millionth Vette made.

Our final stop in KY was the Daniel Boone National Forest including the Red River Gorge and Natural Bridges.  We started out with the 1.5 mile hike up and down to the Natural Bridge, which was both amazing and exhausting.  On day two we decided to visit the other features of the area the easy way, we took the sky ride up to visit Observation Point and Lover leap on the opposite side of the Natural Bridge.  Our other adventures of the area included some hiking and horseback riding the Red River Gorge area.  It is really a beautiful area which is probably more amazing just before or after the foliage fills in as it is a heavily forested area.