Louisville Hot Browns & The Airstreams!

** I believe I inadvertently left out Day #36….so, here it is…out of order…

Selfie w/ a cool Airstream

Day 36      July 15

When in Louisville, one must do the obvious…..go to Churchill Downs, and, eat a Louisville Hot Brown.

We began the day with a visit to Churchill Downs & the Kentucky Derby Museum.  The 360 degree film that’s shown in the museum theatre was fabulous, so be sure to watch it if you go there! And be sure to gawk at how tiny the jockey’s outfits are that are on display. We’re talkin’ about some tiny peeps!

Willie Shoemaker @ Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs

When we had finished going through the museum, and taking the mini tour of the track, we ate lunch in the cafe. At the instruction of Mark’s cousin Susanne, we ordered the Louisville Hot Brown. She told us that, while in Louisville, we HAD to have one. It’s a tradition kind of thing, an epic food thingy that we had to try.

We obliged Susanne, and ordered the Louisville Hot Brown. All I can say is, once is enough. That is one mass of heart attack inducing food that I do NOT ever need to have again. Don’t get me wrong, it tasted good, but, holy moly…just NOT good for ya! Bread, turkey, bacon, and massive amounts of cheese.

The delicious, heart-attack-inducing, Louisville Hot Brown

Besides the Louisville Hot Brown, the other thrill of the day was seeing our first Ikea of the entire trip! We are total Ikea junkies, and were thrilled to see one as we drove through Westchester, Ohio in the afternoon. Didn’t need anything, so we didn’t stop in. But we felt at peace, knowing that one was right there!

Our ultimate destination on this day, was Jackson Center, Ohio at the Airstream mothership! We’d made a service appointment months ago, knowing that we’d be going through Ohio. And the day had finally arrived. Well, the day would arrive tomorrow, but we finally arrived there, happy that’d we’d made it on time!

Hello Ohio!

Hello Airstream Mothership!

Fiona, docked for the night at the Airstream Terraport.

 

We had a fun time looking at the amazing collection of classic Airstream trailers on the property.  A way cool site to see!

Wally Byam’s old Airstream

 

Old Airstream

Lots of old Airstreams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Found an ATM machine in the town of Jackson Center.

 

Just Say “NO” to Caves. The Selfie Festival

Trixie & Me. Selfie

Day 35    July 14

This morning we drove the 15 minutes back to Mammoth Cave National Park. Mark wanted to do a cave tour. I did not. I mean, I would have, had it not been underground and all. Nope, I was staying above ground!

Mammoth Cave National Park

While Mark went into the dark abyss, I took the dogs for a little hike on a nearby trail. Surprisingly, though this is a national park, they do allow dogs on the hiking trails. Extremely rare, indeed. Unfortunately, it was still pretty warm out, and Dax and Trixie didn’t feel like walking very far, so it was a short little hike. Was still nice though.

After our little hike, Dax and Trixie and I went back to the parking lot where the three of us enjoyed hanging out in the shade of a tree. There was a nice little breeze to keep us cool, and we spent the time napping and taking selfies, while we waited for Mark to return from his cave tour.

Selfie

Trixie & Me. Selfie

I photo bombed Trixie’s selfie

Dax and Me. Selfie

Dax photo bombed my selfie

Upon Mark’s return, we hit the road again. This time we were headed for Louisville, Kentucky, to visit Mark’s cousin, Susanne. It was a pretty unremarkable drive there, followed by a comfortably cool evening in the drizzling rain, in the driveway at Susanne’s house. This was the first evening in over a week, that we didn’t need the a/c. Thank goodness…it was finally cooling off!

Mark, Dax, and cousin Ryan, hanging out in the back of the Space Shuttle. Louisville, KY

Hot Diggity Dogs In Nashville!

Must be Nashville

Day 34      July  13

July 13 was a great day because we got to spend it in Nashville. 

Before hitting the downtown tourist area, we made a quick stop at the state capitol building.

Hangin’ on tight as we hit a round-a-bout

The Space Shuttle, parked in the spot reserved for the Attorney General. Whatever, dude.

State Capitol Building

And then we discovered the most awesome public farmers market, where we stocked up on all kinds of fruits and veggies.

Very cool bike stands outside the farmers market

Farmers market

This market was huge!

Beautiful produce

And more produce…

And more…lots more!

Alas, we hit the fun and funky downtown fun town. Even on a Sunday afternoon, the place was bursting with live music coming out of every bar and restaurant. So much energy in this place!

Great use of an Airstream trailer

Must be Nashville

Fun Nashville signage

The main drag

Fun and colorful signage

Cool building

It was one of those super hot and humid days again, and we had to stop frequently to water Dax and Trixie. At one point, when I could tell the pups were a little over-done we actually took them inside the Music City Center building to let them lie down on the cool tile floor and cool off in the air conditioning. Luckily there was nobody official hanging around there to tell us that dogs weren’t allowed inside.

Music City Center building

Music City Center building

Music City Center building

Music City Center building

It was really hot out, and I warned Mark NOT to go outside.

We were back were back on the road in the afternoon. We made a stop in Bowling Green, KY to see the campus at Western Kentucky University. That is one heck of a hilly campus!

The final destination of the day was Mammoth Cave National Park. By time we got there it was too late to check it out, so we went directly to a little campground nearby called Singing Hills RV Park and Campground.

Singing Hills turned out to be a little gem of a place. The owner was super nice. The park was small, well kept and quiet, and we met some really nice folks there. Best of all, it had a blazing fast internet connection!

It was still very hot outside, and we knew we’d need to run the a/c at night, so we got a site with electric and water hook-ups. With our Passport America discount, our site was only $16. A great deal and a great find!

That night I had what was, and still is, the largest skeeter I’ve ever killed. It was almost the size of a dragon fly. Huge sucker. Yuck!! Good Night Irene!

Where The Chatty Peeps Are

Mark @ the TVA Kentucky Dam.

Day 32     July 11

We took our usual morning dog walk, and checked out our new campground. We met some of our neighbors, and got the low-down on the area. All of the folks we met were from nearby towns. And all of the folks we met were super chatty (in a good way)…must be something in the Kentucky water.

Despite the heat and humidity, we rode our bikes to the TVA Kentucky Dam, and then over to Grand Rivers. I was sweating like a pig. Mark barely broke a sweat. Weird, ‘cause at home, Mark has to turn on the a/c at the first hint of humidity, which, in San Diego, is like negligible. And yet, in Kentucky, on this day, it was about 90% humidity. Why wasn’t he sweating?!

@ TVA Kentucky Dam

The Dam

Are all these wires necessary?

When we got to Grand Rivers, we stopped at a little ice cream/smoothie shop and got a nice cold ice slushy to cool off. Next, we hit the local bike shop, where we got the scoop on some local bike rides from the very nice and very chatty owner. Again, I wondered about the Kentucky water and the chatty peeps.

Blue slushie time!

Cooper the Wonder Dog (and bike shop mascot)

Strike a pose @ Grand Rivers

And then ride like the wind!

We rode a little further up the road, and then turned around. It was just so hot and humid, and we still had a ways to ride back to our campground. Plus, we’d left the dogs in the space shuttle with the a/c running, which is great, but, I still worried about them. We’d told the campground host that we were leaving the dogs with the a/c on, but to please call us if the electric went out at the park. But I still worried!

When we arrived back at the campground, the dogs were nice and cool and happy in the rv. And we were thoroughly exhausted from our ride. Spent the rest of the day just hanging out and talking with our nice neighbors.

Relaxing, now that their peeps are back.