July 30-Aug 1

We have this leg of our trip down to a science, since it is our fourth time to Frankfort, KY.  We stayed at the same RV Park but this time we scored a site on the river, setting up was easy and very comfortable.  Being in Frankfort, KY, we are only 7 miles from the Buffalo Trace distillery, Walter’s Valhalla.  If we could have set up camp in the distillery parking lot, he probably would have.  Anyways, only 1 hour in town and we were walking through the doors of Buffalo Trace.  The property is beautiful there, but the real gem is the retail store.  Walter grabbed a basket and made a b-line for the Blanton’s and Wellers shelves.  With 4 bottles in the basket we browsed the merchandise, not sure how but a few shirts made their way into the basket as well.  First mission accomplished.  The distillery put in a restaurant since our last visit.  We ordered a two turkey and bacon burnt end sandwiches, one old fashion and a bourdon/lemonade.  Perfect.

That night we were able to enjoy a campfire and figure out our plans for the next day.

We made reservations to do a tour at the Bardstown Distillery at noon so of course that allowed enough time to head back over to the Buffalo Trace retail store.  Buffalo Trace has a purchasing rule that you can only purchase 1 bottle of a single allocated bourbon per day.  (We each purchased one bottle of Blanton’s, one bottle of Wellers both days) That’s right we now have 8 bottles of bourbon that will be going home with us.

The Bardstown tour gave you a Napa Valley feel.  They are young distillery compared to most as they only started distilling in 2016.  They have a good product, will be interesting how their product matures in a few years.  They also had a restaurant (a little higher end) we enjoyed a great meal finished with chocolate bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and a tart cherry sauce. Did I mention 2 bottles of their bourbon went home with us as well. Makes 10 bottles now.  Since the Heaven Hill Distillery is just across the highway we needed to stop at there store to see what they might have. Score two more bottles, and even 12 now. 

We kind of laid back our last day in Frankfurt, we tried to do something not bourdon oriented and maybe get a little education, so what did we find but Daniel Boones burial site.  I hear that there are mixed theories about how his remains made it to Kentucky, either way it was a impressive headstone (both Daniel and his wife Rebecca are buried there) that looks over the Kentucky river and capital building.

Aug 2-4

Gatlinburg was next, right there by the Smokey Mountain National Park.  This was our 10^th National Park this trip.  Come to find out that the Smokey Mountain National Park is the most visited National Park in the US.  The traffic to get into the park was certainly a reflection of that. 

There are two Titanic museums, one in Branson, MO but fortunately for us the second one was in Pigeon Forge just a short drive from Gatlinburg.  The museum was a immersive, interactive experience of the 1912 maiden voyage, featuring authentic artifacts, replica grand staircase and personal stories of passengers and crew.  Glad we were able to do a tour.

On our last day in Gatlinburg, we just walked around town and soaked up the atmosphere.  Stopped in a few shops to sample some mead and hard cider, had lunch and then headed back to the rv before a brewing thunderstorm made its way to town.  We will be heading toward our last stop of this trip.  Concord, NC to visit daughter #2 and family before we pull in the driveway at home.  Hard to believe our almost 5-month adventure is coming to an end.  Trip recap coming soon

  

July 26

Frankenmuth, MI.  This was originally just a pin in our travel map that we planned on staying at for a few days as we worked our way east.  It was way more than that, it was a perfect place to spend a few days.  First of all, we stayed at Jellystone Park so of course there was a Yogi Bear theme throughout the park, fun.  The big surprise with Frankenmuth was that it was a German theme town, but this time not just as a tourist attraction but because it was the towns heritage (settled by German Immigrants back in 1845) we felt as if we were back in Bavaria. 

To our surprise Frankenmuth is also the home to Bronners the world’s largest Christmas store spanning 2.5 acres of indoor showroom space located at 25 Christmas Lane, the massive year-round holiday retailer features over 50,000 trims and gifts, a half-mile illuminated street and a replica of the Silent Night Chapel.  In 1818 “Silent Night” was first sung in the original chapel in Oberndorf Austria. 

We were not even in town for a hour and we were walking through the front door of Bronners.  3 hours later we left with a bag full of Christmas decorations that we be fun to put on the tree this year.

Being a German town we of course we looked for the best location for some German cuisine, success, we found the perfect place that served all meals family style, a little smoked pork and schnitzel and our belly’s were happy.

Frankenmuth was a great place to spend a few days just walking around town, eating ice cream and enjoying a little beer and wine.  Everywhere we went it was clean with beautiful flower gardens.  We really enjoyed our time there

July 29

As we bid farewell to Frankenmuth we were on a mission to Dayton Ohio to visit The Air Force Museum, you can bet that Walter was excited about this museum.  The museum was literally our first stop in Ohio even with the RV Trailer in tow (thank goodness they was parking to accommodate) What a great experience.  Walter was my own personal guide, he was able to share his knowledge and personal experiences on many of the planes displayed.  It was a perfect experience for both of us.

The Presidential airplane at the museum had quite history.  It served 8 Presidents, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H. W. Bush and Clinton.  We walked through the spot where Johnson was sworn-in after the Kennedy had been shot. We have all seen those photos in history but to actually see the real thing was so surreal.

We spent just one night in Ohio on the way to one of our favorite places Elkhorn Creek RV Park in Frankfort, KY.  Yep you guessed we will be visiting the Buffalo Trace Distillery (for the fourth time 😊)

 

 

 

July 23

It has been a few days since our time at Theodore Roosevelt National Park but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been having any fun along the way.   Found the Larges Buffalo in Jamestown, MI and had a trip down the yellow brick road when we visited the Judy Garland museum in Grand Rapids, MI.

One of our stops was at a place called Silver Sands Hotel and RV Park in Kincheloe, MI.  We arrived to find out that the RV Park was located right across the street from Lake Superior, what a great surprise.  When we went to check in, we found a very trusting owner as he was not anywhere in the hotel or RV Park as a matter of fact no employees were there. All we found was a phone on the desk with a number to call if you needed anything.  So I called, the owner was at home and did not realize that we were arriving, but all worked out as we got one of the three RV spots that had a lake view.  This was a beautiful area but there were no adventures to be had, well except the rocks.  Rocks that glow under UV light called Yooperlites they're only found in the Lake Superior area. The hunt was afoot, but we needed a UV lite, so off to the store, they wanted $100.00 for a light that was $39.00 on Amazon. Plan B we bought the rocks instead.  Bonus we didn't have to stay up till dark 22:45 to find them.  

We followed up this stay with a few nights in Kinross, MI.  We picked this town because it was close to Sault Ste. Marie, Canada and we had planned on going into Canada for the day and Kinross was it was close to boarder. 

So a little back story on planning this summer’s trip.  I made RV Park reservations all across the country based on websites descriptions, pictures and the reviews.  I have done pretty good.  Sometimes the park doesn’t look like the pictures online, but they have all worked out in the end except for one Kinross.

Kinross was an Air Force Base built in 1943 during WWII. It was decommissioned by the Department of Defense in 1977 following phased wind-downs.  Portions of the 7265 acre former military property now houses the Kinross Correctional Facility and Chippewa Correctional Facility.  All Air Force Bases have a certain look about them.  As we drove around you could tell where all the support facilities would have been, commissary, exchange and more.  Our RV campsite was smack dab in the middle of everything with both correctional facilities just 1 mile down the road.  We were a little disappointed about the look and location, it defiantly did not match the beautiful description of the park on there website.  We were not going to let that derail our fun and adventure.  That afternoon we walked around Sault Ste Marie , MI, toured the Soo Lock Museum and watched the Soo Lock system in action with a huge Iron Ore ship making its way from Lake Huron to Lake Superior.  Soo Lock was originally built in 1855 with a few modifications over the years and was expanded in 1968.

The next day we headed for Canada!!

We have traveled to Europe and crossed numerous country boarders but going into Canada somehow seemed weird.  With passports in hand, we crossed the 2.8-mile long International Bridge.  We had visions of a tourist district that we could soak in but to our surprise it was very run-down and sparsely populated.  We did find the Bush Pilot museum hidden in a corner of town that turned out to be great for Walter as it had numerous refurbished planes, he was happy.

Whitefish and walleye are a main stable both in Michigan and Canada, we found a diner about a hour into Canada so off we went on a joy ride to see more of the country.  Got a great plate of fried whitefish but also discovered a Canadian dish from Quebec called Pouline.  Pouline consists of French fries topped with fresh cheese curds and smothered in hot brown gravy.  OMG this was to die for, it made our Canada trip oh so worth it.  I forgot to mention that I had $8 dollars in Canadian quarters (somehow collect over the last 40 years) that I was determined to spend, spent it on two scoops of ice cream😊.

Back at the RV Site, we decided that we would cut our time short and leave a day earlier than planned. Besides one day was enough for our trip to Canada and we were not sure if Walter White from Breaking Bad was in the trailer next to us.  Our next destination camp site was able to get us in a day early, off we went.

 

July 17-19

Headed over the boarder to North Dakota to check out the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

The park in western North Dakota preserves rugged badlands and honors the 26^th U.S. President. The park is broken into 2 sections, the North Unit and the South Unit.  We arrived early enough to drive through the North Unit.  The North Unit has a 14-mile scenic drive with a few scenic view pull offs and trail heads.  Views were amazing not to mention some of the wildlife. It was a great first day in North Dakota.

When we were reading about the park, we found out that the town of Medora, located in between the two park Units just had the grand opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Library.  Who knew, certainly not us.  We headed to the library about 10 am thinking we would get there early.  Wow, to our surprise there was a line to enter going around the building.  So, we waited patiently to get in, and boy, it was worth it.  We have no words to describe our experience except that we will be telling everyone that it is a ‘Bucket List” must.  Maybe it was the way they told the life story of Theodore Roosevelt, maybe the high-tech interaction exhibits, who knows.  Whatever it was, we spent 5 hours there soaking it all in. 

A key interaction that was throughout the library were kiosks that you would swipe a badge you were issued when you initially entered the library that would imprint your face into a historic times or themed photo of Roosevelts life. TR’s life in N Y, ranching in the badlands, working on the NYCPD, serving in the Navy, being a rough rider, leading as president and journeying into the amazon.   These interactive exhibits really drew you into his life’s story from childhood to death.

Last day in North Dakota was spent driving 36 miles of the South Unit of the park.  The road winds across the rolling, jumbled badlands with fantastic scenery in all directions.  This drive was another great opportunity to watch wildlife.  We saw more Bison, wild horses, turkeys, prairie dogs, more prairie dogs and a coyote eating a prairie dog (yum)

 

Special Note: Theodore Rooswvelt first came to Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison.  A year later, devastated by personal tragedy, he returned to grieve and lose himself in its vastness.  He became a cattle rancher and in this broken land, found adventure, purpose, and wholeness.  Though his ranch ultimately failed, his love for rugged beauty of the land brought him back time and time again for the rest of his life.

Roosevelt credited his Dakota experiences as the basis for his groundbreaking preservation efforts and the shaping of his own character.  As president he translated his love of nature into law.  He established the US Forest Service and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 national monuments.  He worked with Congress to create five national parks, 150 national forests and dozens of federal reserves – over 230 million acres of protected land.  Thank you Teddy!!