Bluegrass State

For the past week Janet and I have been sweltering in the...I mean enjoying the great state of Kentucky (no kidding, it has been really hot!).  We are just outside of Lexington which is the center of horse farms and my favorite adult beverage (more about that later).  For obvious reasons this is the horse capitol of the USA.  We toured the Win Star Horse Farm that was just down the road from the campground where we have been staying.  Win Star is home to several champion studs that command quite a large fee (http://www.winstarfarm.com/stallions.html).  We also visited Keeneland Race Course and were treated to several horses in training on the track.  Here are a couple of pics that I took:

We also visited the Kentucky Horse Park in Frankfort.  Now, I am not much of a horse person, but I did develop quite a bit of respect for these magnificent animals.  Here is one of the shows where they showcase many of the breeds of horses at the park:

Now for the highlight (at least for me) was the Bourbon Trail.  We visited 7 distilleries in the area including Maker's Mark (the one I usually drink), Wild Turkey (Janet's favorite), Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, Four Rose's, Woodford Reserve and Buffalo Trace.  If you are ever in the area, I would suggest going to at least one or two as it is quite educational.  Not only do you learn about the Bourbon making process, but there is quite a bit of history built into the story.  My suggestion is to go to Maker's Mark (for the beautiful grounds), Heaven Hill (for the education on Bourbon making) and Woodford Reserve (for the history).  I now have a better understanding of the distilling process and a taste for some really expensive Bourbons.  Yep, they got me!

Danville Missouri

It's hot...very, very hot.  We haven't felt heat and humidity like this since, well, since the last time we were in the Midwest.  It is currently 90 with a heat index of near 100.  Thank goodness for air conditioning.

The most interesting thing we have encountered is this noise coming from the trees.  I first noticed it while driving along I-70 cruising on our way here.  At first I thought it was something wrong with my truck.  Keep in mind we are driving 65 mph down a freeway with the windows rolled up and the AC and music blasting and I can still hear this weird sound.  We pulled into the campground and to my relief and amazement it was not coming from the truck, but from the trees...

The noise is absolutely deafening.  It seems to get louder as the heat index rises.  It is insanity I tell you...INSANITY!  OK, I feel better now.  Mostly because I am back in my air-conditioned RV.  Thank goodness for air conditioning.  Did I already say that?  Oh well, it bears repeating.

Still in Kansas - Things are Looking Better*

*I need to preface this by saying that Karma can really be a b****.  After my previous entry I have been subjected to extreme wind gusts (not a lot of fun when pulling this big of a trailer), severe lightning and thunder storms (kept Janet up all night), tornado watches (also kept Janet up all night), a very tired spouse (see previous) and a second bout of "gum on shoe" (seriously, how hard is it to throw your gum away!).  So to appease the Kansas gods I present the following.

In all seriousness, once we got past Salina going east things really improved from a landscape perspective.  Contrary to popular notions, Kansas is not one big flat plain.  It is actually a very pretty state with rolling green hills and expansive wooded areas.  We haven't provided enough time here to really explore, but I think we may want to come back and take a better look at this part of our great country.  We were told by some Kansas natives that the area around Wilson Lake and Lucas were particularly interesting places to go.  The town we stayed in last night (Paxico) has a nice homey, small town feel that may be worth exploring as well.  Alas, today we head further east to Missouri since that is where our mail will be going and we have some real life chores to attend to.  Hopefully we get a chance in the future to get to know Kansas a little better.