Lots to see in Lexington!

Who knew that Kentucky had so much to see and do? ...and how very beautiful it is?  Not us.  I'm sure we've all seen those "magazine pictures" of luscious rolling hills with acres of white fencing and dozens of majestic horses and big stately homes expounding on the "beautiful bluegrass state of Kentucky"...well, I have to say, they weren't exaggerating!  This is what it looks like here.  There were days when we just drove our little truck around the country roads just to "ooh & aw" at the many tobacco farms and horse ranches. 

Our friend Paulette had our outings all planned out, making sure we saw the top attractions while we were Lexington.  Next up: Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.  This was a really neat place to see.  It has 14 original buildings and costumed interpreters all along the way, sharing what life was like back in the 1800's.  There are no more Shakers in Kentucky, and we actually found out that there is only one small community left in the US, and that's in Maine.  Men & women are separated in almost all the day (& night) activities.  They call themselves "brothers & sisters" and that's how they live...sooo, it's not to hard to figure out why there are only a few of them left! 

It was a pretty peaceful day, just roaming from building to building and talking with the various folks.  No blacksmith shop for Jack tho... but we did spend quite awhile talking to the cooper about all kinds of things besides barrels (like growing hemp!).  An interesting visit, all in all. Following day: Kentucky Horse Park.  We were staying in the campground adjacent to this very big park and enjoying it as a campground, now it was time to visit the "horse" side of it!  Wow!  It turned out to be a full, long day of unexpected pleasure!  First off was a show titled "Horses of the World" where various costumed riders came out and paraded each horse around while the narrator educated us.  Next was a short tour of the park via a trolley pulled by a couple of beautiful Clydesdales.  Then we ventured into the museum...oh my goodness!  It went on and on and on.  Pretty soon all of us were joking that we were trapped in this maze until we learned every-single-thing-one-could-ever-know-about-horses!  Boy, were we done in after that! 

Back at the rig, as we were all chatting away, when Jack saw a rig just like ours drive over to the dump station - he went running after them!  He discovered that Rich & Deb have a 2006 (ours is a 2007), and we were invited over later to chat and see each other's rigs.

What fun to see another rig like ours, but "personalized" differently!  Theirs was previously owned by a carpenter that added "pull-outs" to some of the cupboards that are hard to reach into, along with additional shelves in the toilet room and in the short closet.  Wonderful ideas for us to add to our "wish list".  But the best part was making some new friends.  Rich & Deb are new to the RV life, but after talking to us, are ready to go "full-timing" like us.  We plan to stay in touch and visit (when we get to Denver) and meet up when we can.

Unlike most people think, we really haven't made very many friends in our journey.  Most people are either "living" at a park and only mix with the others doing the same, or are only in the park a day or 3 like us and unless there's a real reason to talk more than the casual "hello" people don't.  We've met people who share their tips for places to visit and/or stay, but it hasn't been much more than that.  Spending time with Rich & Deb was a real treasure that we will do our best to keep for a very long time.

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

...kicking back in Kentucky,  Marie