my old Kentucky home

This episode of the adventure would see a closing of a story we had been following for several stops.

We left WV heading in the west, south-westerly direction driving through the rest of WV into Kentucky, through the mountains, on into the rolling landscape and then the famed Kentucky horse farms with its abundant bluegrass in the Lexington area and … kept driving.

Eventually we reached a spot that appeared to be in the middle of nowhere with a sign Pike's Ridge Campground (which was on the Green River reservoir) 20 miles. What? 20 more miles into where? We turned off the "main" road (at least it had a number) onto a significantly less populated road (we'd given up lines marking lanes several turns prior to that). It's hot, I'm tired and cranky, we've been driving all day and I can't imagine what kind of place this is going to be, but I'm pretty sure it's not one I'd really like to be at if I had my druthers. Now I know things can't be perfect all the time, so I'm trying to be a good sport, but I'm feeling a bit, no, to be truthful, I'm feeling quite testy.

We pulled into our site. It was on a little promontory and easily had 180°+ views of the water. Not only that, but there was a heron that liked hanging out just across the cove from our campsite (be still my beating heart). And the most stunning sunsets. Besides the heron, there were ducks, deer and a family of immature turkey vultures (I nicknamed them Larry, Daryl and Daryl, in a nod to the Bob Newhart Show 🤭 We also lucked out by not having neighbors on either side for several days.

Our campsite…life is tough (sigh) ❤️

"My" heron

Now there were a few, how should I phrase it, peculiarities, no, I don't think that's right, a few actions or terms that started to crop up as the drawls lengthened, accents deepened and my ears searched for familiarity while my brain searched for comprehension. Our neighbors two sites over dog's name was Bun Bun (I kid you not, it was a terrier type dog). And I noticed most people drove their trucks everywhere, to the beach (which was less than 0.1 a mile away) to the neighboring campsite to say hello to friends, to the dumpster (which was just across the playground). It was amazing 🤔(?) And need I mention … there was no thought of recycling and they'd never even heard of composting when I inquired. We were quite close to the boat ramp which provided no end to the amusement. My personal favorite was a man in a fairly large speed/fishing/cruising boat in the lake who was shouting directions to his wife who was backing the boat trailer down the ramp with a large pickup truck. Did he really think she could hear him over the boat and truck motors? After watching this for a good 20-30 mins, Martin suggested this could be a good idea for a new reality competition show. Have couples do backing challenges with trailers! 😂

But that aside, I met some lovely people, another dog that watches tv and saw some great wildlife. I was at the beach area looking at some flowers when I recognized them as trumpet flowers. I'd never seen them growing just wild on the side of the lake. As I was processing this and what info I knew about them, I thought, oh, these are the flowers you always see pictured with hummingbirds. Then I wondered if they would ever find them out here. Sure enough, the next second, a hummingbird flew up, stuck that long beak, so clearly designed for this very purpose, deep into the throat of the flower and started collecting nectar. Wonders every day, every where ❤️

More pics of my heron and thanks again to the choir for the fabuloso lens!!!

A deer seeking some refreshment

Ducks at dusk, which was about 10:00pm

While we were in Kentucky we went on a tour of the Makers Mark Distillery. The grounds were beautiful, lots of art, statuary and history, to say nothing about teaching us about distilling Kentucky Bourbon Whisky (It isn't a typo, that is the way they have always spelled whiskey). And oh, right, lest I forget … letting us sample several as well. Let me just say, the more we sampled, the better the samples tasted and the better the tour seemed to become. 😂

I wonder if there is a correlation. 🤔

The place where it's made.

Lots of shiny copper in the distillery.

The mash. Big old wooden vats of fermenting mash.

And barrels

and barrels of aging Makers Mark Bourbon Whisky

The bottling process. Bottles being filled.

The hand dipping of the wax seal. Each bottle is wax sealed by workers hand dipping and twisting the just filled bottle tops in hot wax.

Then the wax is dried with giant blow dryers.

We purchased a bottle of a special blend and Martin was able to "hand dip" the seal.

Dipping it in the wax.

The special twisting technique.

Success!

Our bottle of Makers Mark Bourbon Whisky

A couple of pics of the grounds and the Chihuly glass.They had sculptures, (indoor and outdoor) ceiling tiles and wall dividers made of Chihuly glass designs.

Our last visit was to Boonesborro, a living museum, of the town Daniel Boone settled on the western side of the Cumberland Gap. A conclusion to the Daniel Boone story. We'd visited his birthplace, the place where the Cumberland Gap/Trace started and now here we were at the town/fort he settled on the "other side", the beginning of the opening of the west for expansion and settlement.

The actual spot Fort Boonesboro was founded.

The living museum of the recreation of Fort Boonesboro.

Quarters for the soldiers.

The tavern was more than a place to drink and for the men to relax. It was the center of the fort it was a meeting place and essentially served as the newspaper and office. It was where most business was accomplished.