Welcome to Kentucky!
If you pass through Louisville, I'd recommend at least driving past the Louisville slugger factory on Main Street, stopping by Churchill Downs and hitting a bourbon distillery tour or four (My favorite is the Buffalo Trace hard hat tour which is in Frankfort KY). There is also some great food in Louisville. PM me if you need anything, want a few more suggestions or want to grab a cup of coffee and donut at the best shops in town!
@Bluegrass40 Excellent! Will take your recommendations in! Thanks...
Hector,
As I said before... your pictures and narrative are awesome!!
I also said I had a similar trip (Vegas-Utah-Idaho-Wyoming-Montana-Washington-B.C. and back, perhaps through Oregon-NoCal-Reno to Vegas) planned and have delayed twice... but, your trip definitely has me jonesing to go!!
I have a spine surgeon consultation scheduled for Aug 10th and will see where that takes me.
But, I'm gonna do the trip next spring, regardless... I'll be 68 and refuse to put it off further... I need to go while I still remember where I'm going...
if Dianna wants to go, we will take the Tundra and Casita travel trailer rather than 44.
Your trip has helped me 'focus' mine somewhat... I'm a wide-open-spaces kinda 'boy' and really want to visit the northwestern US and southwestern Canadian area that you just traveled through. So, I'll/we'll spend our time in those areas... taking advantage of some awesome fly fishing as well.
We're leaving, in the morning, for our annual 3 week trip through So. Utah, No. NM, into (2 weeks camping/fly fishing with our daughter and son-in-law in) So. Colorado (I hope I can fish this year!)...
So, you will be home before we get back... and we have NO connectivity where we camp. I'll catch up on the remainder of your trip when I get back... but, I wanted to thank you for sharing your trip will all of us.
Your willingness to take a trip like this with minimal mechanical knowledge
(nothing personal, no insult intended) should open others' eyes to the potential of their 40's... as someone (
@FJ40Jim, I think... misquoting here) said, "its a tractor engine, it will continue running long after its dead".
Thank you for sharing and drive safe!!
Well, I for one will miss all of your return commentary... Hopefully someone will pick it up! All the best of luck on your medical consultation, so that you can get on that long-planned trip! The 44... take the 44...
Thanks for sharing your journey with us. Love all the pictures and the history you are seeing.
What tent are you using?
Thanks! And
here's the tent...
Not a lot of miles today... spent most of the day in Nashville, and got to crack open my tool box and get some grease on my hands! But not to worry... no real emergencies yet...
Visited
The Hermitage... Andrew Jackson's Plantation in the outskirts of Nashville. Great insight into pre-Civil War life in the South. Very well maintained property, with lots of information. We may not agree with a number of Jackson's policies today, but it's difficult to argue with his passion, commitment and drive. The guy was a dynamo... I need to read about him a bit more.
His and Rachel's (his wife) Mansion...
But walking the grounds, in a Tennessee afternoon, was murder! Someone mentioned Hot, Hazy, and Humid before... well it was Hot, Hazy and Humid today! Sweat was coming down like the first time I ate Indian food... not fun! The locals even cancelled some of their planned events at the Plantation because of the 98 Heat Index... crazy hot.
An actual Slave dwelling...
Mr. Jackson had 150+...
Visiting with one of the Jacksons in one of the homes in the Plantation...
Now the star of the night??? The Grand Ole Opry! or... the weekly radio country music "Show that Made Country Music Famous."
Now I have to admit that I have not been particularly into Country Music... my wife is a fan... but this show was a blast! The talent, the music, the energy... this was great! So much so that I KNOW I will be back here soon... I got goosebumps a few times, my typical body signal that what I'm listening to is Goooood. My wife was of course listening live on opry.com/tunein with my own commentary to color things on Messenger...
Wade Hayes sang this song... rocked the House! The best one of the night...
JT Hodges... just a picture...
Eight singers, each one of them for ~15 minutes, so a lot of varied music for about two and a half hours... this clip is ~3 minutes from Chris Janson... not the best three minutes of the show, but a good representation nonetheless... and my own video... so sorry for the shakiness.
Now, I did tell you I had to get my hands dirty today... and here's why. I get to the 40 early this afternoon and the alarm was going off! Now of course that by itself is not that unusual, tractor trailers, thunder, all sorts of things can set it off, but I couldn't get it to turn off! Tried all sort of tricks, disconnecting the battery and the horn (hence the grease), and connecting it back... no luck. It kept going off!
And, try to work under the hood with the alarm going off... not fun! I stuffed a dirty t-shirt (of which I have several at this point!
) on the horn to allow for a more manageable noise level... but still... So I ended up cutting the power altogether to the alarm. So no alarm for the rest of the trip!
Oh well, as long as I don't market this fact over the internet I should be fine...
Tomorrow??? Another milestone passes... my brother is leaving... so it will be me, myself and I for the next few days... and those of you that care to chat along! I should end up the day near if not in, Louisville, Kentucky. Planning to visit a few cool places... to include some of those recommended by
@Bluegrass40 and Whiskey Row!
. The final drive North begins...
So Read and Ride Along!
