Kentucky...Unbridled Spirit

This is the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. There is a campground at the park and that is where we stayed. Kentucky is beautiful. Around Lexington, there are lots of horse farms. The fencing is mainly black. The houses are mainly large and you can smell the MONEY!

This statue is at the horse park. I believe it's life size.

Just a quick view of one of the many horse barns we saw.

Lush greenery here. It was hot and humid, thus keeping things very green. We left Lexington and headed South through Bowling Green and then into Nashville.

West Virginia, Mountain Mama, take me home.....country roads...

We left Pennsylvania and headed to West Virginia. I forgot we would go through a part of Maryland...did any of you remember that there's a little Northwestern part of Maryland that borders Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia? Well, it's absolutely beautiful. The Interstate is 68 and it is the prettiest one we've been on this whole trip. West Virginia has a lot of mountains, at least the part we traveled through. Our gas mileage took a hit yesterday, we were only getting 9.4 on one tank we checked.

Here is the road we're taking to Coopers Rock State Park near Morgantown, WV.

This is the view from our campsite. It was cooler there in WV. I guess because we were in the mountains. Nice to have a respite from the warm weather.

Here's the 'stream sitting pretty in West VA.

The next day in Amish territory

I took a picture of this sign because I never want to forget the most delicious homemade ice cream we had there. Their little store is right by their house and barn and we were waited on by some nice teen aged Amish girls. There were hymns playing and verses framed on the walls. Of course I wanted some pictures inside, but my better judgement took over and I didn't even try to sneak. I have more respect for Amish teenagers than I do for grown ups playing Elvis. (if confused, refer back to my first blog entry.)

Wouldn't this make a neat set of cards? This mailbox was RIGHT beside the road, making it easy to get a good shot.

Can you see the laundry on the line? It was raining like crazy and they were all wet. We figured they just get rinsed good before they eventually dry out. We saw lots of laundry hanging on lines, even in the rain.

This is the same place but zoomed out. One thing we noticed back there is that the farms were very close to the roads. Also, everything was neat and tidy. I guess they really do believe that "cleanliness is next to godliness." They are very good with flowers, too. Lots of the homes have beautiful flower gardens all around the house. On our drive we stopped at a house that advertised "Lapp's Toys". (small sign) We went in and it was fairly dark inside considering it was a very rainy day and the fact that these Amish were very strict about no electricity. There were the neatest things for children in the shop. There were wooden pull toys, Amish clothes that would fit the American Girl doll, handmade high chairs, cradles, well, you get the picture. We had to splurge a little on The Grandchildren....:)

Amish Paradise

Greetings from Lancaster County, PA. This is beautiful country! There are farms everywhere you turn. Amish people are living their lives right in front of us. Here we are at our RV park and this is the view from the front of the trailer. Buggies are everywhere. Here are Grandpa and Grandma Stoltzfus...just kidding, I have no idea what their names are, just sounded good. I caught them rising out of their rocking chairs, not too flattering of a pose.

This is Lydia. Well, maybe not Lydia, but she sure looks like one to me. She is riding a bicycle/scooter so she can get around in a dress. These are quite common. She is wearing the traditional navy blue but is being safety conscious in her bright safety vest.

We are now at our RV park and this is the view from the back of our trailer. Quite picturesque would you say? Today, we went to a dairy farm that sells milk products and homemade ice cream. Oh boy. It was absolutely wonderful, and it should be considering the fact it was made with 14 % fat. We plan on going back tomorrow and making complete pigs of ourselves. (again)

Here is a typical view from one of the many back roads. More to come.....

Virginia: Ruckersville, Madison, Friends and Family

Such a nice couple! Looks like they are posing for Good Housekeeping. Here we are at Wesley and Kelsey's. We arrived in Virginia on Friday evening. Phillip and Ronda graciously allowed us to park our trailer at their home in Madison. Madison is 9 miles from Ruckersville, where Wes and Kels live. Saturday we spent the day with Wes and Kelsey. She fixed us a delicious brunch and a wonderful dinner.

Wesley had finished grilling the chicken, so he came in, sat down, picked up his knife and fork. He then told me to take his picture for my blog!! How could I resist such a perfect photo-op? He really isn't this demanding in real life. (so they say...)

That evening, they invited a few folks over for homemade ice cream. Here is David and Janelle visiting with Wesley about some music Kelsey wanted us to sing. (imagine that...Kelsey wanting to sing?!) Well, we did sing and it sounded pretty good for only having one piece of music for 14 singers. Not quite up to par for Sunday morning, but we had fun practicing.

Here's a few of the folks at Wes and Kelsey's. That's Caleb Steinc on the left, Jeremy at the far back and some girls on the couch.

The girls on the couch: Shauna, Brooke, Kels and Rachelle.

Fast forward to Monday night. We are at Phillip and Ronda's for dinner. Here we are sitting around the living room. Left to right: Jeremy, Cory, Wade, Amy, Aubrey and Kelsey.

Aubrey, Wes, Kelsey.

This is Ace Collision, the business Phillip owns, and where Wesley works. While we were there, Wesley noticed that the paint was peeling on the hood of Dave's truck. He said he wanted to paint it for us. (No, we didn't hint or ask! :) So, late Sunday night the guys were out at the shop stripping the hood and primering it. (late as in 1 am) Wesley finished it Monday morning. It looks so nice and we appreciated it very much.

Here is Phillip and Ronda's charming farmhouse where they allowed us to park the trailer. We even had full hook-ups! Yes, this one site campground comes highly recommended.

Charleston, Charleston....

This is at The Battery. The Battery is a portion of land that has cannons on it that were used during the Revolutionary War to protect Charleston from an attack via the water. Downtown Charleston has water on 3 sides: Charleston Bay, Cooper River and Ashley River.

Welcome to Charleston, SC. This is overlooking Charleston Harbor from the bridge that connects from one of the many islands around the city to the downtown.

There are many streets of houses such as these. These are along The Battery, which is located along the water facing Charleston Bay. We located a townhome for 1.5 mil. After being in Savannah and Charleston both in one day, I would say that Savannah is smaller, more laid back. Charleston is fancy and citified. Both have their charm.

Savannah, GA

Savannah is a beautiful town. We walked from the Visitor's Center a few blocks to have lunch a a famous "dining room" which came highly recommended by David and Lauren. On our walk, I took some pictures. The scenery looks much like this: The streets are lined with hundred year old trees and every block or so, there's a "square" where it's more trees with park benches dotted through out. Very picturesque.

Here we are at Mrs. Wilkes. She's only open from 11am-2 pm and we knew a lined formed early. We got there at 10:30 and there were already about 20 people in line ahead of us. It was starting to get hot. Like 90 degrees hot. Fortunately, we were seated by 11:05. (they took the first seating at 10:45)

At Mrs. Wilkes, you eat family style. We were seated at a table for 10, so you chat with your neighbors. This shot was taken right before we were seated, just to give you an idea of what it's like inside.

Here's the line by 11 am. We're almost at the front of the line, but those poor people clear to the corner were in for a wait. There is a water jug out there, which was a good thing. The food was the BEST Southern food I have ever had. When you sit down at your table, the food is already there. There were bowls and platters of : fried chicken, potatoes, rice and gravy, mac and cheese, collard greens, rhutabagas, cucumbers, black eyed peas, butter beans, green beans, creamed corn, biscuits, squash, sweet potatoes, (are you getting hungry yet?!) and for dessert the choices were peach cobbler or banana pudding. Of course, you're served sweet tea! Delicious. Worth the wait, but that's easy for me to say, our wait was nominal compared to some of the poor souls.