As we drove east through Kentucky, the landscape changed. The rolling hills and pastures of horse country gave way to forests and taller hills. The roadways were hemmed in more by hills and we started to see the hollows ("hollers") for which Appalachia is famous. One of the hollers we went past was Butcher Holler, birthplace of Loretta Lynn, the coal miner's daughter. We were driving into the Appalachian Mountains that extend 1,500 miles from Main to Georgia. These mountains were formed when the land mass that is now the eastern 2/3 of North America bumped into what is now Africa, back when all of the land masses on earth were loosely connected as Pangea. When they were young, the Appalachian Mountains were taller than the Rocky Mountains we saw last summer, or the Alps in Europe, Now they are old and worn down, with Mount Mitchell in North Carolina the tallest at 6,684 feet, compared with 14,433 feet for Mount Elbert in Colorado. While lacking in height, the Appalachians have the blessing of being almost entirely covered by dense forest.
The limestone of horse country also gave way to sandstone, shale, and ... Coal. This was reflected in bumper stickers:
"Friends of Coal"
"Coal keeps the lights on"
"If you don't like coal, stop using electricity"
We saw huge piles of coal, long trains filled with coal, trucks being hosed down before driving out of coal yards, coal-fired electrical generating plants, and commercial carbon-extraction plants. It's called "King Coal" in West Virginia, just a few miles from here. There are lots of arguments for and against coal: environmental, economic, social. And it's not just in Appalachia. The same arguments are happening out west where we were last summer, including just a few miles from Zion National Park in Utah.
Well, that's enough for a Tigger to think about today. On a lighter note, we saw lots of flea markets today. Some we small, in front yards. Some were big, in parking lots. Some were just by the side of the road wherever a few cars could pull off. We must have seen fifty in an hour. Do they do this all the time, or just on Memorial Day weekend? What are they selling? The clothes they outgrew over the winter? Presents they got for Christmas but didn't like? Is it a social thing or economic?
Poppa was sitting at a gas station a couple days ago when a man tapped on the window and showed him a plumber's snake. He said "It's almost new and I can let you have it for a dollar." Poppa thinks he was trying to get money for gas.
Today we stopped at Jenny Wiley State Park. Jenny Wiley was a pioneer woman who was kidnapped by Indians in 1789 and held captive for 11 months. She escaped and became something of a folk hero in the area. As we were driving out of the park, we passed a golf course with a big sign that said "Jenny Wiley Executive Golf Course". Honest. I'm sure that made her pioneer spirit so happy. Sigh.
Tomorrow we head into West Virginia and on home to Pittsburgh. I think I'll post one more time after we get home to compare traveling in the trailer with traveling in the motorhome.
- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Friday, May 24, 2013
Thursday, 5/23 - Natural Bridge and Red River Gorge
Thursday morning we took a hike up to the Natural Bridge, a big sandstone arch. We had to be careful on the way because There Be Bears:
Some signs will explain a lot:
Where is the wildlife? That's easy - in our back yard at home!
Dottie and I took a rest:
At the top, Poppa had to negotiate some very narrow steps:
and another Fat Man's Misery:
The top of the bridge looked like this:
and the view looked like this:
Nana waited under the bridge:
This is what it looked like under the bridge:
In the afternoon we took a drive through the Red River Gorge. Of the 25 miles, 20 of them were on a very narrow, twisty road.
Did I mention that we don't have a dinghy? A dinghy is a smaller vehicle that is towed behind the motorhome and used for side trips and excursions, especially on very narrow, twisty roads. Actually, Poppa does have a dinghy, but the motorhome was so late being delivered that there was no time to set the dinghy up for towing. So the dinghy is at home and we're driving the motorhome everywhere on this trip. Including through this 900-foot-long one-lane tunnel:
We just barely fit! It was an interesting drive, but because it was so narrow, we didn't have a chance to pull off and take many pictures.
Tomorrow we got to Jenny Wiley State Park.
- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa
Some signs will explain a lot:
Where is the wildlife? That's easy - in our back yard at home!
Dottie and I took a rest:
At the top, Poppa had to negotiate some very narrow steps:
and another Fat Man's Misery:
The top of the bridge looked like this:
and the view looked like this:
Nana waited under the bridge:
This is what it looked like under the bridge:
In the afternoon we took a drive through the Red River Gorge. Of the 25 miles, 20 of them were on a very narrow, twisty road.
Did I mention that we don't have a dinghy? A dinghy is a smaller vehicle that is towed behind the motorhome and used for side trips and excursions, especially on very narrow, twisty roads. Actually, Poppa does have a dinghy, but the motorhome was so late being delivered that there was no time to set the dinghy up for towing. So the dinghy is at home and we're driving the motorhome everywhere on this trip. Including through this 900-foot-long one-lane tunnel:
We just barely fit! It was an interesting drive, but because it was so narrow, we didn't have a chance to pull off and take many pictures.
Tomorrow we got to Jenny Wiley State Park.
- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa
Wednesday, 5/22 - The Castle Post, Fort Boonesboro
Do you remember back on May 11 when Dottie and I tried out the new bed? Well, it turns out that it was Nana and Poppa's bed, not ours. Here is where we sleep, in the attic of the RV:
But Nana and Poppa make sure we're safe by putting up the safety screen:
Autumn and Brenna played up here before we left Pittsburgh, and want to sleep here when they travel with Nana and Poppa.
So, last night we arrived at The Castle Post. A big rain storm came in, so we only got a picture of the bed last night:
I had a feeling this was going to be Nana and Poppa's bed and that Dottie and I would be sleeping in the backpack again.
Here's what we got this morning:
There be dragons!
But no center strap.
More dragons!
Time to practice. Are Mommy and Autumn practicing at home?
Poppa loved the billiard room...
...and the poker room.
We left The Castle Post and drove to a less glamorous place - Fort Boonesboro. Poppa was a big Daniel Boone/Davy Crockett fan when he was young, as were most boys back then. (WAAAY back then - giggle)
Outside:
Inside:
The settlers were coming west from Virginia looking for land that they could own. Land was available for homesteading, similar to what we saw in the Badlands last summer. They had to carry all of their belongings and tools, pots and pans, food, seeds for planting - everything. The first settlers had to cut roads through the forest in very hilly land. Once they got there, they had to build a fort for protection from the Indians, with little lean-tos to sleep in. Their deal for land said that they had to clear it and grow a certain amount of crops. they had to build a cabin and do other things to keep the land. Here are some of the things we saw in the fort.
Inside a cabin:
Linen break to separate flax fibers to make cloth:
A loom for weaving flax and wool together to make linsey woolsey:
A flintlock pistol:
Who would have guessed - a still:
The blacksmith shop:
There have been beautiful irises all through Kentucky. Poppa hopes his are still blooming when we get home. This one was at Boonesboro:
After Boonesboro, we drove to Natural Bridge State Park and got set up for Thursday.
- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa
But Nana and Poppa make sure we're safe by putting up the safety screen:
Autumn and Brenna played up here before we left Pittsburgh, and want to sleep here when they travel with Nana and Poppa.
So, last night we arrived at The Castle Post. A big rain storm came in, so we only got a picture of the bed last night:
I had a feeling this was going to be Nana and Poppa's bed and that Dottie and I would be sleeping in the backpack again.
Here's what we got this morning:
There be dragons!
But no center strap.
More dragons!
Time to practice. Are Mommy and Autumn practicing at home?
Poppa loved the billiard room...
...and the poker room.
We left The Castle Post and drove to a less glamorous place - Fort Boonesboro. Poppa was a big Daniel Boone/Davy Crockett fan when he was young, as were most boys back then. (WAAAY back then - giggle)
Outside:
Inside:
The settlers were coming west from Virginia looking for land that they could own. Land was available for homesteading, similar to what we saw in the Badlands last summer. They had to carry all of their belongings and tools, pots and pans, food, seeds for planting - everything. The first settlers had to cut roads through the forest in very hilly land. Once they got there, they had to build a fort for protection from the Indians, with little lean-tos to sleep in. Their deal for land said that they had to clear it and grow a certain amount of crops. they had to build a cabin and do other things to keep the land. Here are some of the things we saw in the fort.
Inside a cabin:
Linen break to separate flax fibers to make cloth:
A loom for weaving flax and wool together to make linsey woolsey:
A flintlock pistol:
Who would have guessed - a still:
The blacksmith shop:
There have been beautiful irises all through Kentucky. Poppa hopes his are still blooming when we get home. This one was at Boonesboro:
After Boonesboro, we drove to Natural Bridge State Park and got set up for Thursday.
- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Tuesday, 5/21 Town Branch, Kentucky Horse Farm Park
One more distillery, one more time for Dottie and I to be left in the RV because we're too young. By the way, friends of Nana and Poppa's had an RV and rather logically called it "Harvey". You know, "RV", "Harvey"? Well, since they sold "Harvey", Nana and Poppa are thinking about calling our RV "Harvey". So we might try it out for a while to see if we like it and to make sure R&B don't have a copyright on "Harvey".
Anyway, Dottie and I have played all of Nana and Poppa's games - cribbage, scrabble, rummikub. Dottie found a game on the internet called "Strip Poker" so we decided to try it. We shuffled the cards, dealt them, and saw who had the better hand... then the game didn't seem to make any sense.
Maybe this game doesn't work for Tiggers and Dotties (or for Poppa on weekends).
Nana and Poppa had a good time at the Town Branch Distillery in Lexington. I'll let him tell you about it.
OK, here's a sign from the Town Branch Distillery that shows how the government works:
In Pennsylvania we have the Johnstown Flood Tax.
This is a 10% temporary tax on all alcohol sales in Pennsylvania, enacted in 1936 to pay for cleanup, repair, and assistance to the victims of the Johnstown Flood. It was never repealed, and was raised to 15% in 1963 and to 18% in 1968, were it still stands. The government has taken in over $16 BILLION since 1936, ostensibly to cover the $40 MILLION in flood damages.
(Climbing off the soapbox now.)
The Town Branch distillery is small and new. It uses two beautiful copper pot stills imported from Scotland:
We thought we had found a very low-tech labeling department:
Actually, they were taking labels OFF because the labeling machine had malfunctioned.
Here are the eight steps at the distillery:
Poppa bought more samples to take home and share with friends. Now we're on the road again, headed for the Kentucky Horse Farm Park.
Kentucky is really pretty - very green, rolling hills, limestone outcroppings. We're in horse country with beautiful houses and stables, acres of grass, miles of wooden fences, and ... HORSES!
Poppa was looking at the names of some of the horse farms:
Ardmore Stud
Wainscote Stud
Snootynose Stud
Oldemunny Stud
and finally said "WoW! That's got to be even better than owning a Corvette - having your name on a horse farm with 'Stud' after it:
Coatsworth Stud
Uh-oh - Nana just fell down and is rolling around on the floor laughing.
Our next stop was the Kentucky Horse Farm Park. Man o' War was one of the most famous horses of all time:
We got to see four other famous horses up close:
Be A Bono is a famous quarter horse - they specialize in runing a quarter-mile race.
Funny Cide won the Kentucky Derby in 2003.
Da Hoss won the Breeders' Cup in 1996, and after suffering several injuries came from behind to win it again in 1998.
Cigar is the leading money winner of all time, having won just $115 shy of $10,000,000.
We thought Siggie had followed us to Kentucky:
Dottie and I got a ride on a REALLY big horse:
Now we're off to The Castle Post! It started raining really hard when we got there, so I'll write about it tomorrow.
- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa
Anyway, Dottie and I have played all of Nana and Poppa's games - cribbage, scrabble, rummikub. Dottie found a game on the internet called "Strip Poker" so we decided to try it. We shuffled the cards, dealt them, and saw who had the better hand... then the game didn't seem to make any sense.
Maybe this game doesn't work for Tiggers and Dotties (or for Poppa on weekends).
Nana and Poppa had a good time at the Town Branch Distillery in Lexington. I'll let him tell you about it.
OK, here's a sign from the Town Branch Distillery that shows how the government works:
In Pennsylvania we have the Johnstown Flood Tax.
This is a 10% temporary tax on all alcohol sales in Pennsylvania, enacted in 1936 to pay for cleanup, repair, and assistance to the victims of the Johnstown Flood. It was never repealed, and was raised to 15% in 1963 and to 18% in 1968, were it still stands. The government has taken in over $16 BILLION since 1936, ostensibly to cover the $40 MILLION in flood damages.
(Climbing off the soapbox now.)
The Town Branch distillery is small and new. It uses two beautiful copper pot stills imported from Scotland:
We thought we had found a very low-tech labeling department:
Actually, they were taking labels OFF because the labeling machine had malfunctioned.
Here are the eight steps at the distillery:
Poppa bought more samples to take home and share with friends. Now we're on the road again, headed for the Kentucky Horse Farm Park.
Kentucky is really pretty - very green, rolling hills, limestone outcroppings. We're in horse country with beautiful houses and stables, acres of grass, miles of wooden fences, and ... HORSES!
Poppa was looking at the names of some of the horse farms:
Ardmore Stud
Wainscote Stud
Snootynose Stud
Oldemunny Stud
and finally said "WoW! That's got to be even better than owning a Corvette - having your name on a horse farm with 'Stud' after it:
Coatsworth Stud
Uh-oh - Nana just fell down and is rolling around on the floor laughing.
Our next stop was the Kentucky Horse Farm Park. Man o' War was one of the most famous horses of all time:
We got to see four other famous horses up close:
Be A Bono is a famous quarter horse - they specialize in runing a quarter-mile race.
Funny Cide won the Kentucky Derby in 2003.
Da Hoss won the Breeders' Cup in 1996, and after suffering several injuries came from behind to win it again in 1998.
Cigar is the leading money winner of all time, having won just $115 shy of $10,000,000.
We thought Siggie had followed us to Kentucky:
Dottie and I got a ride on a REALLY big horse:
Now we're off to The Castle Post! It started raining really hard when we got there, so I'll write about it tomorrow.
- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa
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