The World as We See It

Bourbon! Horses! On the road again!

May 30, 2022 in photography, RV, Travel | Tags: animals, Full Time, photography, Photos, RV, Travel | 2 comments

Since I’m so far behind on last season’s posts, and since we’re already doing interesting things this year, I figure I’ll intermix last year’s and this year’s posts. Having said that, here’s our first post of our RV travels this year.

Our first stop of interest this year was in Kentucky. Can you say “Bourbon”? “Horses”? ‘Cause we saw plenty of both. I was in heaven having finally made it to the Makers Mark distillery where we saw their beautiful campus, toured their distilling facilities, and sampled several of their products. One advantage of Patti not enjoying bourbon is that I was forced to drink her samples as well as mine. It was a rough job, but I struggled through. Of course I bought a bottle and had the opportunity to hand dip the iconic red wax across its neck. We also snagged a couple of t-shirts. A good time was had by all.

We also toured a small local distillery called Three Boys. It was initially named after the three triplet boys of the original owners, but the place has passed on to new owners that kept the name. It’s located on a small farm and they only sell direct from there as they don’t have enough volume to distribute. After sampling five different bourbons, each with their own proportions of ingredients, direct from the casks, I filled my own bottle and left a happy man once again.

We also had a couple of “horsey” days. We spent a day at the races at the famous Churchill Downs a week after the Kentucky Derby. It was nice to see the venue as well as watch the horses run (and women in silly hats). Patti won her bet, which I promptly lost in the next race. And that was that. We also went to the Kentucky Horse Park where we had the chance to see many different breeds of horses, from miniatures to the really big draft horses. It was very interesting and Patti was in heaven. Another good day well spent.

As always, here’s some pictures, including some of our walk with the Giants…pretty cool. Now we’re off to drop a bunch of money on both the truck and RV.

One of the Forest Giants (Little Elina) in the Bernheim Arboretum. Clermont, KY 5/10/22

One of the Forest Giants (Little Nis) in the Bernheim Arboretum. Clermont, KY 5/10/22

One of the Forest Giants (Mama Loumari) in the Bernheim Arboretum. Clermont, KY 5/10/22

Art at Makers Mark. Loretto, KY, 5/11/22

The Three Boys Distillery, Frankfort, KY, 5/17/22

An Icelandic pony at the Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, KY 5/18/22

A day at the races. Churchill Downs, Louisville, KY 5/13/22

What a face. Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, KY 5/18/22

Orcas Island

May 6, 2022 in Life, misc, photography, RV, Travel | Tags: Full Time, photography, Photos, RV, Travel | 2 comments

Last summer we took a break from our permanent vacation to go to Orcas Island in Washington for a week with friends and family. It was my first time in this part of the world and I loved it. The week was filled with fun…hanging on the porch watching the light on the water and islands, visiting with one of Patti’s friends from back in the day who happened to live within walking distance of our rental, eating well, walking, and going to view whales. Spoiler alert: we didn’t see any and I still believe they are mythical creatures. We must be the only people in the world to have spent time in not one but two prime whale watching areas (French Polynesia and the Pacific Northwest) and never saw so much as a fluke. Maybe next time.

So, here’s a handful from that trip. It was awfully nice.

Mt. Ranier from our porch, Orcas Island, Washington, 8/4/21

Well, It’s Been Awhile

March 31, 2022 in Life, misc, photography, RV, Travel | Tags: Full Time, photography, Photos, RV, Travel | 1 comment

Hello. Anyone there? Yeah, it’s been awhile. Sorry. The writer decided to take a break. Artists. We’re about to come out of winter hiatus so I thought I’d step in to catch this up before starting a new season of travel.

The last post is from Wisconsin. We were there in June of last year. There are a lot of miles (and time) between then and now so here’s a list of where we’ve been since.

Wabasha, MN (for July 4^th; lovely little town)
Sioux Falls, SD (another ER trip)
Belvidere, SD (overnighter)
Spearfish, SD (like this town a lot)
Sheridan, WY (rodeo and polo)
Garryowen, MT (next to Little Bighorn)
Reed Point, MT (took a road trip to drive a bit of the Beartooth Highway)
Bozeman, MT (almost like home now)
Orcas Island, WA (left the trailer in Bozeman and spent a week here with family and friends in a beautiful house with a stunning view)
Livingston, MT (more family time)
Billings, MT (overnighter)
Cody, WY (Buffalo Bill Museum)
Casper, WY
Cheyenne, WY (feeding bison!)
Longmont, CO (Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park)
Woodland Park, CO (Garden of the Gods)
Alamosa, CO (Great Sand Dune Nat’l Park)
Santa Fe, NM (Georgia O’Keefe Museum)
Tucumcari, NM (fighting bulls)
Shamrock, TX (nuthin’ much)
Shawnee, OK (horses)
Sallisaw, OK (Fort Smith)
Hot Springs, AK (hot springs)
Memphis, TN (MLK and Blues Hall of Fame)
Starkville, MS (overnighter)
Tuscaloosa, AL (beautiful COE)
Auburn, AL (nice little college town)
Bainbridge, GA (nice COE)
Mayo, FL
Melbourne, FL aka winter quarters

We’ve been in Florida since the end of October with a 4-week interlude in January/February. We spent a couple of days in Myrtle Beach, SC, then 10 days in Hatteras, NC with family. Followed by 2 weeks on the west side of Florida for more family time.

We are about to pull up stakes again, starting with a trip to France. The trailer will go into storage while we’re overseas. When we return, we hook up and hit the road for some more adventures. Stay tuned!

(Well, I think that about sums it up. Over the next few days I will post some random photos from those travels prior to our trip overseas. Hopefully I will be able to post from there, also.)

Texting while driving. Sheridan, WY 7/17/21

Horse digging in his heels. Sheridan, WY 7/17/21

Cowboy digging in his heels. Sheridan, WY 7/17/21

Polo in Sheridan, WY. It was 105 degrees when I took this. 7/18/21

Evening near the Little Big Horn. Garryowen, MT 7/22/21

View from the Beartooth Highway. 7/25/21

We Dash From New York to Wisconsin

October 7, 2021 in Camping, Life, photography, RV, Travel | Tags: Full Time, nature, outdoors, photography, Photos, RV, Travel | Leave a comment

After New York, we quickly moved west in order to meet a family obligation later in the summer. Quick stops in Ohio, Indiana, southern Illinois, and near Chicago had us suddenly in Wisconsin. A quick word in how we generally travel. We choose destinations to explore (think Mount Rushmore or the Grand Canyon) and then fill in the blanks with stops in locations that are appropriate travel durations apart. We sort of choose these based on campground reviews that point us to decent places. Somewhat random. Which is how we found ourselves staying at the Wisconsin Dells for several days. The Dells, as it turns out, is the “Water Park Capitol of the Upper Midwest.” It is very touristy. It is also incredibly pretty. We took a boat ride into the Dells proper and were surprised at the gorgeous scenery. It really was something to see and was somewhere that, had we been vacationers, we would never have stayed.

This happens to us all the time. We choose many stops strictly because they’re on our way and the right distance and, because we pretty much always stay multiple nights and can explore, we find cool things to do and sights to see. Everywhere we go. See here. Or here. Or here. It’s the payoff we’re looking for and we love it. And as long as we keep having such success, we’ll keep at it.

The Wisconsin Dells. A dog leaping the gap. 6/22/21

This pizza place had a whole fleet of these for deliveries. They even delivered to the RV park. 6/23/21

We’re Still Here

September 15, 2021 in photography, RV, Travel | Tags: Full Time, nature, outdoors, photography, Photos, RV, Travel | 2 comments

As you can tell, it’s been awhile since we’ve posted. No special reason … just busy traveling and having fun. I’ll try to do better for the rest of the year.

No, really.

Since we left Gettysburg, we’ve been busy: north to Watkins Glen, west to Bozeman (and then the San Juan Islands without the RV), down through Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, and now heading east towards Florida in a meandering sort of way. We’ve had a great time, as you will see in future posts.

Watkins Glen and the Finger Lakes in New York were beautiful. I wish that I had taken advantage of the area when I lived in Baltimore, but better late than never. The biggest attraction was Watkins Gorge. I had no idea that this was here. Wow.

From there, we hunkered down in western NY state for Memorial Day. Yes, that’s how far behind we are. While there, we got another surprise by visiting Letchworth State Park. More fantastic beauty. Man, we really love state parks.

Having survived Memorial Day, and a power related failure on the Friday evening of that holiday weekend, we ran west. I won’t go into the details since we were essentially just moving across the country, but we did stop in the Chicago area so that I could show Patti where I grew up in small town America. Oh, and we bought a couple of eBikes which have proven to be lots of fun. Here are a few representative photos.

I’ll try to get more posts out in a timely manner. I have lots of cool photos from our summer in the smoke out west. Stay tuned.

A small town theatre that happens to be where I saw my first movie, a long time ago. Barrington, IL 6/14/21

My Connection To Gettysburg

July 20, 2021 in Life, misc, photography, RV | Tags: Full Time, photography, Photos, RV, Travel | 3 comments

After the Shenandoah, we headed to Gettysburg for two weeks. This post is not about the battle itself, which was horrific, or the private horseback tour we took, which was an experience we’ll remember for an awfully long time. Rather, it’s about my personal connection to those events.

One of my great-grandfathers was Orlando Porter. On August 22, 1861 he enlisted in Company I of the 7th Regiment, Michigan Infantry on the day it was formed. The 7th Michigan got around quite a bit during the war, fighting at most of the significant battles in the Eastern Theatre, including Gettysburg. Today at Gettysburg, there are monuments to virtually every unit, northern and southern, that was present during those three days. While we were there, we found the monument to the 7th Michigan and I, of course, took some photos.

Orlando went on to have an interesting time. He was eventually made a sergeant and acting sergeant major in another Regiment. And on August 22, 1864 (three years to the day of his enlistment) he shot a private of the 11th Maine Artillery dead. The shooting took place on a train platform in Beltsville, MD and occurred in the line of duty while defending soldiers and civilians from the rowdy, and possibly drunk, private. He was incarcerated in the Central Guardhouse in Washington, DC, and eventually exonerated of all charges. He mustered out of the service on December 20, 1864 at the age of 32 when his enlistment expired..

My family has a bunch of documentation, including 5 witness statements, his acquittal letter, a letter of recommendation from the Commandant of the prison, and various other documents from his life but unfortunately no photos of him are in my possession. Reading these documents provide a strong link for me to the historic events that took place so long ago.

If you get a chance, visit Gettysburg. If nothing else, it’s a beautiful spot for long walks on cool spring days. And a beautiful spot to remember awful events.

The letter releasing Orlando from confinement.

From The Top Of The Ridge To Deep Underground

June 26, 2021 in photography, RV, Travel | Tags: Full Time, nature, outdoors, photography, Photos, RV, Travel | 1 comment

Next big stop: Luray, VA and a bit of the Shenandoah National Park. I have spent a lot of time in the park over the years and even a couple of visits to the town of Luray. One of my closest friends lives very near there so we booked this spot so that we could walk the park, hit the famous Luray Caverns, and visit people we haven’t seen in too long. Mission accomplished on all counts.

We spent 10 nights at the Luray KOA. We chose it based upon two criteria: it was close to my buddy’s house and it had good ratings. It blew us away. One side of the RV faced a farmer’s field where a grain crop was just coming in. It was a beautiful shade of green, particularly in the morning and evening light. The other side faced a huge, open lawn. Very nice indeed. The park has several nice walks and drives, always enjoyable. Surprisingly, this was my first visit to Luray Caverns and all I’ll say is that it was worth the trip.

So, a good time was had by all. We visited with our fully vaccinated friends (no masks! hugs all around!) and actually had dinner out (no masks! food we didn’t cook!). Jeez, normalcy (at least a version of it) seems to be lurking just around the corner!

The view from our site. Luray, VA 4/23/21

The view from the Shenandoah National Park into the valley. SNP 4/26/21

An underground lake in the Luray Caverns. 4/29/21

We go to the other side

May 21, 2021 in critters, photography, RV, Travel | Tags: Full Time, photography, RV, Travel | 2 comments

After a week in Cherokee, we moved to the other side of the mountains immediately outside the park in Townsend, Tennessee. We were right against the park; so close that while walking a trail inside the park I could look down and see our trailer. Nice. We enjoyed a week of hiking, driving in Cades Cove, and simply experiencing the park in the spring. The weather was nice and we had a good time. We saw a couple of bears and had the pleasure of identifying bear scat which was about 15′ from our RV. And fresh. Good thing we don’t need to walk to the bath house in the middle of the night. Turns out the bear is a regular every year and this was his first appearance of the season. His name is Pedro.

I sure do like the Smokies and it was lots of fun showing Patti my favorite spots. The campground was perfect and we will be back.

This little guy was frolicking right next to the road. GSMNP 4/13/21

Proving that a bear does, indeed, shit in the woods. In this case just a few feet from our rig. Townsend, TN 4/19/21

A view from the Laurel Falls trail. GSMNP 4/18/21

An idyllic scene in Cades Cove. GSMNP 4/19/21

It’s Been Awhile

April 25, 2021 in photography, RV, Travel | Tags: Full Time, photography, RV, Travel | 1 comment

Prior to my 2012 heart attack, I would head off to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park for a week or so of solo camping and hiking. (See here and here, for example) Since my cardiac adventure, we deemed it unwise for solo trips of that kind, so I haven’t been back since 2011. Until now.

We have four “destination” stops planned for our spring tour and the GSMNP is our initial one. Our first week here was spent on the North Carolina side of the mountains. The goods news was that the crowds weren’t too bad for the GSMNP, which can get quite crowded. The not as good news was that our campground, which was large, was packed to the gills with families due to spring break. It was crowded and noisy during the daytime. It was nice to see all these kids running around, though, since we got the impression that these families come back year after year and these kids were being with their “annual” friends.

We did lots of hiking, saw Bryson City, bagged a bunch of waterfalls, and did lots more hiking. Spring was just kicking in and the trees really greened up while we were here. It was interesting to experience the park this early since the views are obviously different without leaves. It was also interesting to watch the whole area get greener every day. It was nice.

Here are just a few shots that don’t do the park justice. It needs to be experienced for that.

The dogwood is blossoming! GSMNP 4/11/21

The view from Clingmans Dome. GSMNP 4/6/21

We Always Find Something

April 14, 2021 in Life, photography, RV, Travel | Tags: Full Time, Photos, RV, Travel | 1 comment

Our travel style is such that we look for a destination, for example, the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and then work our way there with random stops along the way. Often we don’t research those intermediate stops but rather plan them based upon travel time. We’re retired so we generally aren’t in a hurry. Therefore we base our stops on making our travel days comfortable, meaning a 3-4 hour drive. When you throw in the time to tear down and set up our site this makes for a pleasant journey. And since we’re not in a hurry, we stay at least several days in each location.

A by-product of this strategy is that we look for cool things to do in places that would normally not be, at least for us, a “destination” location. This is one of the great things about traveling as we do; we have always found interesting things to see and do, interesting people to meet. Our recent stop near Newberry, SC was a typical example. We discovered that a Revolutionary War battle, The Battle of Musgrove Mill, took place nearby. Fun fact: there were more Revolutionary War battles fought in South Carolina than in the surrounding states combined. Who knew? Anyway, we checked it out and it was informative as well as a nice walk on a cold blustery day. We also took a field trip to Greenville, SC. Nice little city with an awesome downtown area. We would never have seen either of these had we not been moving slowly.

Just a few pictures this time. Prepare for a bunch more since we leave this area to spend 2 weeks nestled against the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Life can be rough.