Location: Diamond Lake Resort, Owensboro, Kentucky

Dates: July 24 to 26, 2017

Our first stop heading west from our Kentucky events was at Diamond Lake Resort. We have friends that co-own the campground that we met through their daughter (and her horses) via the internet. Though we’ve only known them three years or so, it seems like much longer.

Once we got set up, we stopped back at the office so the Smith’s could feed us lunch (they offered) at the grill. We enjoyed our food and visited for a bit before heading back to the trailer. Malcolm got some work in the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening. Otherwise, we just relaxed and took it easy.

On Tuesday, we headed into downtown Owensboro to check out the re-vitalized riverfront area. There is a lot of new construction nearby and a really nice park all along the riverfront area.

Huge playground at the riverfront

Seating near the river

Lots of “porch swings” all along the park. These faced the playground.

Neat water feature.

After walking around the park for a while, we headed to the post office to drop off some items that needed to be shipped. We also did some shopping, including groceries, and had lunch at Donato’s pizza.

We headed back to the trailer to put groceries away, then went over to the nearby antique mall, called Preservation Hall. It is set up in an old school building (there is a newer building a mile or so away) and was fun to wander around.

Outside

Inside. The old school lockers are still in the hallways.

After shopping there for a bit (Val found some clothes), we headed back to the trailer for the rest of the evening. Malcolm caught up on some more work.

On Wednesday morning, we got hooked up and pulled around to the front to say goodbye to our friends the Smiths. We then headed on out west for our next night’s stop.

Location: Greenbo Lake State Park Campground, Argillite, Kentucky

Dates: July 21 to 24, 2017

On Friday afternoon, we arrived at our next destination – Greenbo Lake State Park campground. Malcolm has been to Greenbo many times, and has tent camped with his family in the late 1970’s, visited his grandparents when they stayed their with their Airstream and has also hiked and camped there as a Boy Scout in the early 1970’s.

Our site at Greenbo and (curiously) half a tree

The site was long enough to park our trailer and our truck and still have enough room for maybe three more cars. After we got set up, we drove up to the State Park lodge and had lunch there. Later in the day, we drove on into Flatwoods, Kentucky and stopped at Crisp’s for some ice cream (late afternoon).

Russell High School

At 6:00, we all met at Malcolm’s high school (Russell High School) for his 40th reunion get-together. There were quite a few classmates there. It was funny because the sign inside the front door said that the get-together was in the library. Many of Malcolm’s classmates were wandering around trying to remember where the library was. Since Malcolm worked in the library his senior year, he remembered it well.

Friday afternoon crowd

We all visited for about an hour and a half, then retreated to Blazer’s Restaurant (formerly the Chimney Corner Restaurant) in Ashland, Kentucky for cocktails and dinner. We headed on back to Greenbo after visiting there for a while since it was late and the drive out to the park is on dark, twisty country roads.

On Saturday, we ran some errands and did some shopping. We stopped by the Ashland mall so Val could pick up some items at JoAnns and we had lunch at Panera Bread. We swung by the grocery store on the way back to the trailer to get ready for the evening’s festivities.

After cleaning up, we headed back into town via the new bridge between Russell, Kentucky and Ironton, Ohio. We drove across, turned around and drove back just to say we did. It’s a very nice looking bridge and you can see the tall towers from miles away in either direction.

Heading back into Kentucky

The Saturday evening festivities were held at the Bellefonte Country Club. There was a really good meal served and a band played music while those who wanted to danced the night away.

People filtering in for the evening

Malcolm had a great time catching up with many friends, some of which he hasn’t seen in many years.

Group Photo

We all visited, danced, ate and laughed until late into the evening. We headed out just as a line of thunderstorms was rolling in. We drove back to Greenbo fairly slowly, between rain and lightning adding to the fun.

On Sunday morning, we headed into Flatwoods to attend church at Advance Methodist Church with Malcolm’s classmate, Margaret King. While there, we ran into two of their high school teachers and one of Malcolm’s old neighbors that used to go to church with Malcolm’s Mom prior to her passing.

Sunday Church

After church, we headed out to Greenbo and several of Malcolm’s classmates joined us for the lunch buffet at the lodge. Though it was an unofficial event, it was great to see a few people in a smaller, quieter atmosphere. We ate, sat and talked until it was almost dinner time before saying our final goodbyes.

Sunday Lunch Group

Back at the trailer, we cleaned up a bit, put things away and generally got ready to leave early on Monday. Malcolm drove into Greenup to fuel up the truck, but otherwise, it was just a quiet, relaxing evening after a weekend full of fun and visiting old friends.

The creek running through the campground

On Monday, we got hooked up early and headed out, now heading westward to visit the children and grandchildren in a couple weeks.

Location: Jenny Wiley State Park Campground, Prestonsburg, Kentucky

Dates: July 17 to 21, 2017

We traveled on Monday, the 17th, from Lexington to Jenny Wiley State Park in eastern Kentucky. We were heading there to visit Malcolm’s brother and family and to see our niece, Jazzlyn, perform in a children’s theater production.

Our Site at Jenny Wiley State Park

When we arrived, we saw that Malcolm’s brother’s RV was already set up next door but nobody was around. They were all out at play practice. Malcolm went to call his brother to let them know we were here and that’s when we found out that there was practically no cell service in the campground. There was also no wi-fi except near the front check-in area.

Both RVs next to each other

The lack of connectivity posed minor issues with Malcolm’s work, but we got by using the central campground wi-fi when needed. In the afternoons, we would often drive to the nearby lodge and use the wi-fi there, as needed. Otherwise, we enjoyed each others’ company as well as a couple different play performances.

On Monday afternoon we got together and cooked out. We put up our bug screen over the picnic table and we enjoyed a dinner together.

On our way to Lexington, we had picked up some items at Camping World to fix the power cord on David’s RV as well as some self-leveling sealant for the roof seams. One afternoon, Malcolm and his brother climbed up on the rig to look at the air conditioner and seal up some seams. Earlier, Malcolm had repaired their power cord.

Roof-top Repairs

On Tuesday night, we went to the nearby outdoor Jenny Wiley amphitheater to see a production of Tarzan. We had a good time and, even though it was very warm and humid, the show was worth it. You couldn’t take pictures during the performance, so we only have a picture of the stage.

We also did a family selfie in the audience.

We all met for lunch on Wednesday in downtown Prestonsburg at Billy Ray’s. It was good food. Afterwards, David, Marsha and Jazzlyn headed on to play practice while we headed back to the trailer.

On Thursday, Jazzlyn had her first performance that was a full dress rehearsal that only one parent could attend. Marsha went with her and David hung around with us all day. We left around 4:00 and, running a bit early, we did some sightseeing in Pikeville, which is where the play was being put on.

We drove up to the top of a hill and went to an overlook for the “Big Cut-Through”. That was a project that started in 1973 and went on for 14 years, removing millions of cubic yards of earth to widen the valley below and helping to prevent the disastrous flooding of Pikeville by the Big Sandy River. It was the largest single project of its kind in the US and second in the world, with only the Panama Canal being larger.

Malcolm and David in the overlook

Here are some pictures taken from the overlook into the valley, below.

After doing our sightseeing, we headed on down into town to see the play. Jazzlyn played the part of Fiona in a performance of Shrek. She did great and it was a very fun play. We got pictures out in the lobby afterwards. We also stopped for dinner on the way back to the campground after Jazzlyn got out of costume.

Shrek and Fiona (Jazzlyn)

Jazzlyn and Dad

On Friday, we slowly got ready to leave since we had a short drive to our next destination. We said goodbyes and headed up the hill around 11:00 AM to stop by the dump station before heading up US 23 to our next destination.

Current Location: Kentucky Horse Park Campground, Lexington, Kentucky

On Friday, we headed over to the Horse Park to walk around Breyerfest. It’s a very busy and interesting event. It is put on by the Breyer Model Horse Company every year in mid-July at the Horse Park. Model horse collectors come from all over the country (and probably some from other parts of the world) to buy, sell and trade model horses and accessories.

We primarily come to see the real horses and to wander around the Horse Park exhibits (included in admission). There are several vendors of horse-related products (both real horses and model horses). We thought these fairly elaborate model horse barns were pretty cool.

We also come specifically to visit our friend Patrick the Miniature Horse. When we were grocery shopping earlier in the week, we picked up a bunch of carrots for him.

All through Breyerfest, there are various horse breed demonstrations in the main arena. Patrick and his owner, Sarah, perform various tricks and jumps during the miniature horse demonstration, dressed up in costume.

Aside from visiting Patrick, we also wandered around the Horse Park to see some of the other things going on there. We wandered through the “big barn” and caught a short demonstration on how they put the harnesses on the big draft horses.

We also visited the exhibit celebrating the 100th birthday of the famous race horse Man O’ War. It was an interesting exhibit.

On Friday evening, we went to the big horse show that Breyerfest puts on. It was fun. There were many different displays of horsemanship.

We also wandered around Breyerfest and the Horse Park for part of the day on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, we headed to downtown Lexington to meet our niece, Jasmine, at Carson’s Food & Drink for dinner and a birthday gift handoff. The food was pretty good (a bit over-flavored) and the atmosphere was pretty neat with various paintings on the interior brick walls.

On Sunday, we headed down to Nicholasville to attend church with Malcolm’s Aunt Margaret and Uncle Jerry. After church, we had lunch and visited with them at their home for a while. Malcolm was having allergy and sinus headaches all day, so we ended up heading back to the trailer mid-afternoon so he could treat those symptoms and relax.

As we expected when we got back to the trailer Sunday afternoon, the campground had nearly cleared out from being full all weekend.

As this post is being written, it is Monday morning and we’re in the process of packing up the trailer to move. We’ll catch you up again in a day or two once we get settled in.

Current Location: Kentucky Horse Park Campground, Lexington, Kentucky

On Tuesday, Malcolm worked all day again and Val worked part of the day sewing handbags. The Schaffs dropped by after they were done sightseeing to check if we wanted to head out to dinner again and we said yes. We took some time on Tuesday morning to run to the grocery store and to stock up on liquor for ourselves and others out west.

Shopping Complete

We took the Schaffs down to Joe Bologna’s for some pizza and breadsticks. We all enjoyed the food very much. On the way back home, we drove up to Georgetown to check Tractor Supply for the canned cat food our cat likes that neither Kroger nor WalMart had on the shelf. Back at the campground, we visited for a while at the Shaff’s trailer since they were leaving Wednesday morning.

Wednesday was more of the same – Malcolm worked all day and Val worked on sewing projects. After dinner at the trailer, we decided to get out and went to Bruster’s for ice cream treats. Once back from ice cream, Malcolm used his wash and wax kit to clean the truck and make it shiny.

Yummy!

Today Malcolm worked, but we went out to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. Afterwards, we wandered through Goodwill, then stopped by Kroger for milk and juice and to put our fuel points up high enough to get 10 cents a gallon off of fuel. We took advantage of that savings and filled up the truck.

This afternoon, Val did laundry at the campground laundromat (to conserve gray water in the trailer since we don’t have hookups). Afterwards, she walked over to the office to ask about shuttle service to the park the next couple days. While there to pick Val up, Malcolm found a bottle opener to hang on the refrigerator.

New bottle opener

Malcolm worked the rest of the afternoon, then fired up the grill for dinner. Burgers and dogs were the meal of the day. We sat around outside and enjoyed the warm, but pleasant weather for a while until the mosquitoes found us.

Tomorrow, we’re heading over to the Horse Park to attend Breyerfest (click link to find out more, or wait for a day or two and check the blog again).