Part 2 takes our journey to Frankfort to visit some special friends who traveled across waters with us before to the land down under. We do hope to have a reunion tour to there someday...maybe with the kids this time. :)
Those who know me know that I am a little less than domesticated but while there my friend's daughter started teaching me to crochet. Yay!! I hope to get time to practice in the coming weeks.
Meisi has a love for all animals...
thankfully their cat didn't mind her desire to carry it around like a baby - for HOURS.
After leaving the capital of our lovely home state - we drove on to Louisville.
Visiting with precious friends from pharmacy school,
and my roommate all the way back to pre pharm days at Cumberland. Wow what memories we share. Such a gift to spend time with these ladies.
Our kids had such a blast playing with my old roomies kids (old as in it happened in the past not old as in age - because that would mean I am and well... Dad always said, "you are only as old as you feel." I'm feeling...not old!)
A break from visiting to say...
"You might be a redneck if...
you get too small of a Uhaul and put your boxes in your parking spot for most of the day to get a bigger Uhaul"
At least we had a shade tree. Yes - there is our remaining pictures, dishes, knick knacks and things my parents wanted from all of our belongings... It fits in my brother's parking space. As we stood there we realized we will have more things to go through and throw away every time we return home - lol... Having stuff really isn't all it is cracked up to be folks.
My men took a break from us gals (we went shopping) and had some quality time going to the little man's FIRST UK game. :) He says this is his favorite thing on our journey so far. A football game that KY won! Now that is a call for celebration! ;)
While on the subject of UK and KY - some nickel dime knowledge...
I'm thinking this product may only be in KY. It is from the makers of Big Red which I have only ever gotten at White Castle. Big Blue was a yummy product that was a mix between a cream soda and Big Red - kinda like drinking cotton candy. Pretty tasty in small amounts.
One of the mottos of UK is "See Blue." Big Blue Nation is serious about this - our Arby's and Fazoli's both have removed the red from the buildings and replaced with blue on campus. :) Whether you want to or not - you will See Blue!
Not UK related...but did you know that there is a castle just outside Lexington? Look it up!
And folks - there is your nickel dime knowledge for the day. ;)
This trip has been full of fantastic KY moments provided by our dear friends - some pretty awesome campfires, creeks, fishing ponds and more good ole' fun than my kids have had in a lifetime.
The majority of our trip we have had no internet and as I think we said before - they have used their imagination in ways they may have never done before... they also have engaged in more conversations with one another than before. No screen time has been so very good for our family.
Across the water from L'ville is Indiana which was our next stop. :) In the midst of our nonstop talking I sometimes forget to take group pictures but these families are not only part of our journey they were actually our journey group. :) That is what we called our small group back then. We have grown tremendously since our beginning. I think us and another couple were the only ones with a child - now each family has 2-4! Look at all these cute little blessings!!
And more awesome campfire fun...
We said goodbye to my brother who has graciously let us sleep in air mattresses and his couch the last few nights then headed on to Russelleville to visit my parents.
It is always hard to get our kids to sit still for pictures but after traveling around so much I think it is getting harder. :) It does make for some cute candid shots though.
Wanna play dress up Papa?
No words...just taking it all in...
The kids got industrious and decided to open a lemonade shop. They stood in the driveway trying to sell their $0.05 lemonade. I think aside from us they had one customer and he never came back with the money. I'm not sure business ownership is in their future. :)
Admittedly, it could've been a little scary to see one jumping out of a box periodically.
Driving away from KY was different this time than before. So many emotions filled me as we drove from place to place. Especially as we drove away from L'ville. While we haven't lived here for a number of years, we come back at least every year or every other. The reality of time and distance is setting in I suppose. Am I sad? Of course. Yet, the urgency to go is greater.
I'm certainly not getting as much reading accomplished or getting as far along in my learning to crochet as I had hoped/planned while we travel. I'm just trying to soak in as much as I can in the time we have here. The beautiful scenery, the fresh air... Hopefully, the images in my head from the drives we've been on and places we've stopped will remain. The snapshots on my computer will certainly help. :)
Our last stop before leaving this lovely state - Corbin. We visited the original KFC. The chicken actually tastes different there. It is the original recipe - for real. Much more pepper. It was pretty tasty.
We happened to have some really cute guides available to show you around the place.
This is the Original cafe.
They used to have a moterlodge behind the restaurant and people would ask if they could see the room before staying. Col. Sanders built a full scale model of the room right inside the restaurant so he wouldn't have to take them to show them. They could decide while they ate.
The Original kitchen
With the Colonel himself...well, kinda....
