Free Bird's Adventures

Thursday, July 13, 2017

🚗2017 July 11, Tuesday, Day Trip to Hopkinsville, Kentucky

Ate a waffle topped with , , and for breakfast. Hubby put syrup on his waffle.
We stopped in Loretta for lottery tickets before heading to .
We traveled past the Nissan Stadium, Home of the , around a quarter till eleven.

We arrived at the , around 11:30 A.M. We must always stop and check out the rest area/Visitor Center in every state. has some of the best rest areas that I have seen.
Kentucky is known for its and , and we saw a little of both here.

Horse Racing and Kentucky Bourbon

We were seated at in Hopkinsville, KY, at 11:57 A.M. Hubby ordered the Logan's Roadhouse hamburger, and I ordered the with homemade chips.
The girl who waited for us was very busy, and getting our food took quite a while.

The fish I ordered was undercooked and not very good, and Hubby said his hamburger had no taste.

Cod Fish with chips, , and
The fish was tough, and the breading wasn't applied on the inside, but it still looked good.
When cooked right, it is delicious.

The real American Roadhouse, Hopkinsville, Ky

Former , now

We were greeted by the curator, who was eating her lunch. We paid a small admission fee, and the curator gave us a short history of the PennyRoyal Museum.
She said the museum was a former Post Office, and it still had windows where people would send packages and purchase stamps.
She also said that we could send a postcard to someone or to ourselves, put it in the mailbox on the table, and have it stamped.

Don't forget to send a postcard and put it in the mailbox here.

Upstairs in the PennyRoyal Museum, we saw a display about the early life of a .

Pioneer Life in Hopkinsville

Behind the loom was a quilt telling the history of Hopkinsville
25th Annual Quilt Show
Hopkinsville Heritage Quilt
Quiltmakers
Designed by Dixie Thomas
pieced by Kathy Croft
Quilted by Edna Baker, Linnie Wallis, Kathy Croft, Nell Young & Betty Young

Downstairs, we saw a , made by , and a Winton Upright Piano, made in .
We saw local notables such as .
We saw , and several displays about Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows.
We saw , ridden by three generations of children from 1907 to 1994.
We saw a display of the and .
We saw a hand-carved wooden display about the by .

Wooden Carved replica of the Trail of Tears

Display about Edgar Cayce, the Sleeping Prophet

http://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/the-life-and-times-of-edgar-cayce.aspx

The Kelly Encounter (Little Green Men)
The Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter was a claimed close encounter with extraterrestrial beings in 1955 near Kelly and Hopkinsville, Kentucky, United States.
UFOlogists regard it as one of the most significant and well-documented cases in the history of UFO incidents. At the same time, skeptics say the reports were due to "the effects of excitement" and misidentification of natural phenomena such as meteors and owls. Psychologists have used the alleged incident as an academic example of pseudoscience to help students distinguish truth from fiction.

The Tobacco War 1904-1911
http://www.nkyviews.com/Other/text/text_night_rider_movement.html

There is a story behind each display that could be told.
I bought three postcards, and we paid $2 each to visit the Transportation Museum.

The Transportation Museum was located across the street from the Pennyroyal Museum. It was once a Fire Station.

A crew of men was working on the roof, repairing the Clocktower. (Many years ago, the Captain's room caught fire and burned the first clock tower, which is more significant than the one now on top of the firehouse.)
The firehouse was built before automobiles, and the first fire truck was pulled by horses.

The curator said
We have the first (Auto) fire truck ever used by the fire department
It was bought by a former firefighter, and he restored it to its glory days.
He gave the town the fire truck when he found out the city was opening a Transportation Museum in the old firehouse.

We saw a couple of Dalmatian dogs, a couple of fire trucks, a carriage, Firemen's boots and caps, and the original fire pole the firemen used. We also saw a couple of miniature train displays, benches from a train depot, a sleigh, and three different Gasoline tanks: the Shell, Gulf, and DX.

First Gasoline-powered Fire Truck and Dalmatian

The Clock Tower is being repaired.

Firemen's hats

Miniature Train Display and another fire truck.

Our next stop was the Casey Jones Distillery.

The Casey Jones Distillery

Grape, Peach, and Apple Casey's Cut
Casey's Moonshine, Barrel Cut, and Total Eclipse Moonshine.
Lights Out

We sampled Casey's cut Eclipse-A-Rita, the Peach, and the Apple at the distillery.
We were shown how Moonshine was made and bottled.
There was a wedding later that day at the distillery.

Many events take place here, including the upcoming Total Eclipse on August 21, 2017.
The weekend of August 18 in Hopkinsville is the best time to see the total eclipse.
Music, vendors, hot air balloon rides, and much more will be there.

Our next stop was the Commemorative Trail of Tears Park.
Inside the small cabin, we meet a Cherokee Indian Woman.
She told us how this spot was a favorite stop for the Indians on the Trail of Tears.

The nine flags representing the states of the Trail of Tears
Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
The removal of the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole

https://www.britannica.com/event/Trail-of-Tears

Commemorative Trail of Tears Cabin

Statues at the Trail of Tears

We stopped at Chick-fil-A in Hopkinsville, where we ordered Lemonade, Peach Milkshake, and some chicken fingers.

Chick-fil-a Hopkinsville KY

Peach Milkshake (my favorite), Chicken strips, and Lemonade

Our next stop was the Fort Campbell Memorial Park.

As we traveled through Nashville, we encountered work traffic.

The sunset on the clouds as we encountered our last mile home
around 8 P.M.

2017 July 4, Tuesday, Day Trip to Huntsville, Alabama

Hubby and I rode into to eat breakfast at . I ordered one scrambled egg, two slices of bacon, and two slices of sourdough toast with strawberry jelly. I also ate Hubby's fried apples.
Hubby ordered the big breakfast...
We traveled east to , stopping at to pick up a couple of canned drinks.
We rode to , where they had just installed a for kids.

Splash Pad Rogersville

Playground and restrooms, Rogersville Park

In Huntsville, we rode through , where we saw statues of and standing in front of the . (Characters from the )

Darth Vader and R2-D2

I wanted to see the construction work where the was once located, so we rode there next.
The mall is gone, with its piping and wiring all dug up, leaving only dirt remaining.

No longer a mall

Next, we rode through the to .
We paid the admission price to enter the park and stopped at the restrooms at the campsite. We stopped at the overlook near the one-room , which was closed.

Overlook near Birding site 29 (overcast day)

CCC Museum (one-room museum)

We stopped, and I took pictures of the and .
We rode down the mountain onto Governors Drive, passing the Hospitals.
Next, we rode to Brahan Spring Recreation Center on .
We stopped at the park, where we saw the .
The marker mentioned the Merrimack Manufacturing Co., the Huntsville Manufacturing Co., and Springs Industries Inc., from 1899 to 1991. It also mentioned the and the , established in 1900 and 1967.
Next, we stopped at Brahan Spring Park for a few pictures and to use the restrooms.

We started home, stopping in at to eat dinner.
I ordered boneless wings and a side salad. My husband ordered a boneless chicken wing meal.

Boneless Wings

Side Salad

We were home for about an hour when my husband got a call to go to work.
Another trip to Huntsville.
The job didn't take long, and we were home by 7 P.M.

My son, Andy, called and said, 'Mom, we're going to shoot at 8:30 P.M.' So, at 8:15 P.M., we rode to my son's house.
We sprayed ourselves with bug spray, grabbed our fold-out chairs, and off we rode to my son's house.
We had a great time with family, watching them shoot off fireworks.
These three hated the sound of the fireworks, and we had a hard time keeping them away from chasing the fireworks.

We were home by 10 P.M., and both of us dropped into bed from exhaustion.

🚗2011 ~ Sept 14, Wednesday, Day Trip Paducah, Kentucky

Left the house at about 6:30 A.M., drove up to leading to , then onto toward .

We rode through construction and early-morning traffic.

We arrived in ., at about 10:30 A.M.

. Each mural tells a story

We walked along the riverfront on Water Street, which displays several blocks of 43 beautifully painted storytelling murals by and his team. It has taken over 11 years to paint these depicting the "3 queens": visiting Paducah, the , the , and the .

We walked around the town back to Whaler's Catch Restaurant and Oyster Bar Market to eat lunch.

Whaler's Catch is located in the historic on .

Outside is the main dining area, the , which overlooks the River.

We had , cooked shrimp, crab cakes, baked fish, salad, and iced tea. Their specialty is a pot of ; everyone is welcome to take a bowl.

After the meal, we walked across the street to the .

Quilt Museum, along with

On the lawn outside the museum were displayed five statues: Lewis, Clark, , Man, and . (The dog Lewis paid $20 for, and he only paid $5 for Paducah.)

At the National Quilt Museum, we saw , , The National Quilt Museum Collection, and the .

In the sense of balance display, we saw how quiltmakers of the past balanced form, color, and lines in their quilts.

In the Chicago School of Fusing, we saw works by artists that featured vibrant, whimsical, and 3-D quilt-cloth objects. "," by , , by

Ongoing exhibits include quilts donated by the museum's founders, , as well as award-winning quilts from the quilt show and contest, donated through AQS.

The collection includes more than 300 quilts created by more than 333 quiltmakers.

The miniature quilts may not be wider or longer than 24 inches, and they must be reduced in scale.

We rode along the , where we saw tugboats, , and historic markers along the .

We drove back through Paducah, and I took pictures of old buildings (bank, churches, theater, , , , etc.).

We rode past the Oak Grove cemetery, where , , and others were buried.

Indian wood carving by to honor the .

We stopped at Noble Park to take a picture of Peter Wolf's Indian wood carving to honor the Chickasaw Indians. The , is intended to foster understanding.

We then drove to Metropolis, where we saw two statues. The first statue was a ten-foot Superman in front of the Metropolis courthouse, and the other was in front of .

We rode to , where we spent $5.00.

We saw a sign that said we would get $100 and a free meal at Harrods, so we went to check it out.

You had to be a first-time player, play for a solid hour, and lose $100, and they would reimburse you.

Beautiful staircase at , Welcome Center, Paducah

We stopped at the Welcome Center located! -24 Eastbound Mile Marker 28 in Paducah at Whitehaven

On our way home, we stopped in , a , where we saw a small church, animals, boating, a waterwheel, and a flower garden.

Patti's 1880 Settlement

For dinner, we ordered an appetizer at .

We arrived home at about 9:30 P.M. We had a wonderful day.

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Sentences using the word LOST !!!!

The next thing I knew, he was calling for help because he had lost his balance and fallen into the water.

We watched a 30-minute scene from the in .

We lost Madison in the crowd.

A group of six toured the .

I had lost twenty-five pounds.

Sierra had a softball game, and they lost.

I replied that he lost both legs.

We met a couple from Oregon who had lost their little girl to kidney failure and had come back to the to bury her.

We met a family from Oregon, who had just lost their seven-week-old daughter to kidney failure.

So we lost them; neither Ron nor I had brought our cell phones.

Finally, they arrived, and Dakota gave Ron his cell phone, just in case they got lost again.

We walked through the mystery maze, got lost, and had to ask for directions to get out.

Madison got lost, and we went to look for her.

We lost Madison for about 45 minutes.

We exited and went to the parking area, where there were rides, archery, a , and a . We walked through a maze of lost trails.

I had been in the field of an electrical storm and had lost my short-term memory.

I thanked him and went in search of my lost sisters.

I lost the forty dollars in my shorts pocket and had to go back to the car for more cash.

We met a member who was on his way to catch the bus home. He asked if we were lost and if he could help.

The Patriots lost by one point, 30-31.

I thought I was lost!

My friend had lost a son in an auto accident the year before, and her husband was having a hard time dealing with his grief.

The lost spaceship.

Hubby lost his job at the end of January 2002, so we drove our RV home to Alabama.

We saw the memorial for the seven crew members who lost their lives when the .

🚙Getting lost leaving Chicago

We spent the weekend at the for in .
We checked out of our room at around 12 P.M.

We called for a bellhop to help us with the luggage.

We checked out, loaded the truck with all our belongings, and rode to for lunch.

had arranged for everyone who had attended the conference to have a free day of fun at the .

Lora and the kids went down the tube, and Meadow and I played in the swimming pool.

Wheeling Aquatic Park Center is an outdoor aquatic center with amenities:

has tube and body slides, and has two drop falls.

has a toddler slide, and the swimming pool has lap lanes.

have sand volleyball, a Grassy area for tanning,

Willies Coconut Café for food, a picnic area for eating, and a diving board, and has zero depth in the entry of the main pool.

has a sand play area, locker rooms, and lockers for storing valuables.

has a water playground with tipping buckets.

has a splash pool, water basketball, and monkey bar activity pad.

We stayed at the aquatic center until 4:30 P.M.

Lora then drove us to to tour the Sears Tower "sky deck."

, completed on May 3, 1973, was the tallest skyscraper in the World until 1996.

It is still the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. What a view!

We walked to , across the street from the Sears Tower.

We had to wait 40 minutes for a table and another 40 minutes for our food.

We ordered a with sausage, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese. It was covered with and as thick as a medium cake.

Madison enjoyed the stinging mozzarella cheese.

Lora drove us out of downtown Chicago, leaving at about 9:00 P.M.

I took over driving for several hours.

Everyone fell asleep except me, and when I got sleepy, we stopped at a somewhere in , off .

We were so sleepy that we did not even inspect the room, which we should have because the beds were falling apart.

That does not matter when you are too sleepy to drive.

It was late, I was very sleepy, and I drove seven miles in the wrong direction.

The first clue was our location because the following day, I had taken a wrong turn about seven miles off during the night.

I remember going through a lot of construction, with orange cones everywhere. I am sure that is where I got lost.

We had to do a lot of backtracking.

Anyone could get lost by leaving late, getting sleepy, and traveling with kids.

It is strange how a sermon can trigger your thoughts about something that happened in the past.

Have you ever been lost or gotten lost driving? Ask yourself and tell your story.

Engulfed by Darkness

was swallowed by a whale for disobedience.
I was engulfed in darkness, heavy traffic, and blinding rain.

I loaded my grandson, Justin (age five), and my granddaughter, Hannah (age seven), into the car, and we began our journey to .
We traveled all the way to .
From Birmingham, we took to Pell City, which took about 2.5 hours.

I did not have my grandson's exact address, as he had moved from his old one.
Now, I was depending on a five-year-old to get us to his new address.

We rode up and down the same highway for over an hour before I could reach his dad.

By the time we left for home, it was getting dark, and it had started to rain.
On the Interstate, we got behind a large truck, and I couldn't see around it, so we missed our turn.

All I remember was that we were headed north on a very rough highway. (79)
Several times, I almost stopped because I thought my tires were going flat, but I was afraid since it was very dark and there was not much traffic.

Thank God I had a cell phone that worked, so I called Hubby, who was working in St Louis at that time.
I told him what happened, and he said, What highway are you on? This was before we had GPS on our phones or our vehicles.

Hubby said I will call you back when I locate you on the map.
Hubby called and said you will have to go over the mountain to get back to I-65.

The darkness and rain did not help to see along the winding roads we took over the mountains.

We almost rammed into a stalled car on a dark bridge.
It took us twice as long to get home, but we made it safe and sound.

God was in control in both cases.