Living Our Dream

Tuscumbia, AL Part II: Pillows and Parks

Tuscumbia, AL - Events of Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011

Our next sightseeing outing was motivated partly by fun and partly by necessity. Paul has been complaining lately that, although his pillow isn't that old, it seems to be getting a lot harder. We figured we would look for a Bed, Bath and Beyond once we got to our next stop so Paul could check out a new pillow. Then Margery noticed a write-up in a tourist magazine we got at the campground office for the Pillow Factory Outlet Store about 10 minutes away in Muscle Shoals. Not only did the Pillow Factory Outlet sell pillows, they made them on the premesis, and their website said they also had factory tours.

Muscle Shoals is named for the shoals along the Tennessee River in that area. Shoal is another name for shallow water. There are several theories about where the "muscle" part of the name came from, but the one that seems most logical is it a mis-spelling on the part of early settlers of the word "mussel" referring to the large numbers of fresh-water mussels that live in the shallow waters.

The Pillow Factory seems to specialize in supplying pillows to high-end hotels and motels, but they also sell pillows, comforters, and other bedding to the public in their online store and at their factory outlet.

The Pillow Factory uses European down, feathers, Comforel hypo-allergenic polyester, or a combination of those fill materials to make their pillows. The best part is they will customize your pillow at no charge while you wait. If you want a softer, flatter pillow, they will open the pillow up and take fill out. If you want a plumper, firmer pillow, they will add fill.

Paul was interested in a Comforel pillow because of his allergies and because they are more affordable than down. Pure down pillows can run over $100, whereas polyester-filled pillows cost much less. Unlike some polyester pillows that contain a wad of continuous fiber, Comforel is made up of small clusters of chopped polyester fibers that make the pillow feel more like it is filled with down. Comforel won't last as long as a good down pillow, but the price is much more affordable.

We were greeted by a very friendly and helpful lady who turned out to be the owner. She showed Paul samples of all their pillows and explained the virtues of each. Paul chose a Comforel pillow, but he thought it was a little too high and firm. No problem. The pillow went back into the shop to have some of the filling removed. We asked if we could tag along to watch the process.

It is a pretty small operation. We saw only two employees besides the owner. One worker was filling pillows. Down is drawn from the storage bin located in the small building next door and is fluffed by air flow in the large, blue bin behind the worker in the next photo. He places a pillow case over the small, round nozzle that is by his elbow to the right, and filling is blown into the pillow case. He is checking the weight to make sure the pillow has the proper amount of fill.

The other worker sews the pillows and adds the "Do Not Remove" tag. By the way, it is legal for the purchaser to remove the tag. The worker is shown below sewing up Paul's pillow after removing several handsfull of Comforel.

Next, the worker places the pillows into a plastic bag, which she then places into a machine that flattens the pillow to only about an inch thick to force out most of the air to save space for shipping. The machine then seals the bag. We obviously weren't going to have Paul's pillow shipped, but they offered to demonstrate the machine for us. When the bag is opened, the pillow pops back to its original fluffiness.

Margery got a water-filled pillow years ago from our chiropractor. It has a vinyl chamber for water on the bottom and polyester fill material on the top for comfort. The height of the pillow can be adjusted by changing the amount of water in the chamber. The water pillow really helped relieve Margery's neck pain. The Pillow Factory sells a few types of pillows that they don't make such as those made from memory foam and also water-filled pillows. Since Margery's water pillow is old and the padding is getting pretty hard, so she decided to get a new one. The next photo shows Paul and the owner holding up Margery's new pillow.

On our way back to the motor home, we made a stop in Tuscumbia at Spring Park. Spring Park is located right near the downtown business district. The park features a spring-fed lake that supplies the city's drinking water, picnic and playground areas, a small number of amusement rides, and the world's largest man-made, natural-stone waterfall. Cold Water Falls, which is shown in the photo below, is 48 feet high and 80 feet wide and has a flow of over 4 million gallons of water a day.

The lake has a memorial fountain dedicated to Princess Im-Mi-Ah-Key, who was the wife of Chief Tuscumbia for whom the town is named. On weekends, there is a water show where the 51 water jets and lights are timed to music.

Tuscumbia was located along the Trail of Tears, which was the route followed by Native Americans (Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw and Chocktaw) during their relocation from the southeastern United States to the western states. The Indian Removal Act was signed into law in 1830 by Andrew Jackson. We learned a little about  the Indian Removal Act when we visited Andrew Jackson's home recently when we were in Nashville. Click here to read our post about Andrew Jackson's home.

Tuscumbia was sympathetic to the plight of the Indians, and many townspeople provided for the needs of the Indians as they traveled through the area by giving them clothing and food. A sculpture called Sacred Tears stands in the park to commemorate the Indians' suffering.

There is also a chainsaw carving of an Indian brave that stands about 20 feet tall.

We had a pleasant walk partway around the lake, then headed back to the motor home.

The weather was cool when we arrived, but the daytime temperatures had finally risen into the 70s. However, nights were still cool, and the forecast was calling for another cooling trend so it was time to head south again. We'll tell you where we went in our next post.

Tuscumbia, AL Part I: Helen Keller Birthplace

Tuscumbia, AL - Events of Monday, Oct. 25, 2011

Tuscumbia, AL is the birthplace of Helen Keller. She was born at the family home Ivy Green, which was built in 1820 by her grandparents. The photo below shows the main house at Ivy Green.

The main house has 4 large rooms on the first floor including the dining room, the master bedroom and the parlor shown below. Most of the furnishings in the home are original to the Keller family. A small museum occupies the fourth room downstairs.

The second floor had two bedrooms and a storage room. The next photo shows Helen's room on the second floor.

When Helen's parents were first married, the plantation office next to the main house was converted to a cottage for the newlyweds. It was here Helen was born. Later, after Helen and her parents had moved into the main house, the cottage served as a classroom.

Helen Keller was not blind and deaf at birth. It was not until 19 months of age that she was stricken by a severe illness (possibly scarlet fever or meningitis) that left her totally blind and deaf. By the age of 6, Helen had become a very unruly child because of her frustration of not being able to communicate.

The Kellers contacted an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist in Baltimore for advice. The specialist encouraged them to contact Alexander Graham Bell, who was working with deaf children at the time. Bell subsequently put the Kellers in touch with the Perkins Institute for the Blind. In 1887, the director of the institute asked a young woman by the name of Annie Sullivan, who was almost blind herself and who was a former student at the institute, to go to Ivy Green to try to communicate with Helen.

Early attempts by Annie to teach Helen sign language by spelling words into Helen's hand were unsuccessful because Helen had become blind and deaf at such an early age, she didn't realize every object had a unique name. Then one day behind the house at the well, Annie made a breakthrough when she repeatedly spelled the word "water" into Helen's hand while pumping cool water over the girl's other hand. The pump still stands behind the house.

Helen Keller learned Braille by age 10, and she also learned the manual alphabet and how to use the typewriter. She even learned to speak by putting her fingers into Annie's mouth to feel the movement of Annie's tongue and by putting her hand on Annie's throat to feel the sound vibrations. Helen Keller went on to graduate cum laude from Radcliffe college in 1904. The photo below shows Helen Keller on the left in her cap and gown and Annie Sullivan on the right.

Annie Sullivan married in 1905. Although she and her husband separated in 1914, they never formally divorced. Annie continued to live with Helen in New York as a companion until Annie's death in 1936. Helen Keller had another companion and also a nurse in later life. Helen Keller died in 1968.

Helen Keller devoted most of her life to improving conditions for the blind and the deaf. She gave a speech at the Lion's Club Convention in 1925 and persuaded the Lions to become the crusaders they are today for vision preservation and service to the blind. Helen Keller was also a political activist and a member of the Socialist Party. She helped found the ACLU.

As we continued our tour, we visited the kitched that is located in a separate building behind the main house.

Also located behind the house is the herb garden in the foreground in the next photo with the butterfly garden behind.

Next to the house is the Lion's International Memorial Garden.

And to the rear of the property is The Clearing where there is a collection of native trees and shrubs. The collection includes the Moon Tree, which is a loblolly pine that was grown from a seed that was flown to the moon and back on Apollo 14 in 1971. The seedling was presented to Ivy Green in 1976 by the U. S. Forest Service.

Helen Keller was a remarkable woman to have overcome such adversity, and we were glad to have the opportunity to learn more about her life.

We keep saying we have shifted from sightseeing to relaxation; but we found yet more to see in the Tuscumbia area, so stay tuned.

Tiffin MotorHomes

Tuscumbia, AL - Events of Wednesday Oct. 19 to Thursday Oct. 20, 2011

Holy cow! When we said there was a general cooling trend on the way, we weren't kidding. We awoke at Cedar Creek on Wednesday morning to temperatures in the low 40s, a stiff breeze, cloudy skys and drizzle. The high temperature was predicted only to be in the 40s. Driving 3 hours south to Tuscumbia, AL didn't help much. It was only about 47º when we arrived around 1:00 PM. Fortunately, the forecast was calling for an increase to the 70s by the weekend.

In Tuscumbia, we stayed at Heritage Acres RV Park. Most of the sites are back-ins, but they do have two pull-through sites in the back row. There are full-hookups with 30/50-amp electric as well as free Wi-Fi (good signal, and pretty fast) and cable. The photo below shows our site at Heritage Acres.

There is a little traffic noise during the day from the four-lane road that passes the campground, but it quiets down at night. Although there are several railroad crossings within earshot, we only heard occasional trains when we were there.

The sites at Heritage Acres aren't very fancy. In fact, there are essentially rows of sites on a gravel parking lot. However, the gravel is clean and fairly plentiful. As you can see from the next photo showing a view down our row, the sites are relatively close together.

As we said in our last post, we are now on Verizon Broadband for our internet access. Tuscumbia is a 3G area. We didn't run any speed tests, but the 3G in this area feels a little faster than our satellite internet. So far at least, we are happy with our decision to switch.

For the past couple of years, we have stopped on our way south in Red Bay, AL where our motor home was built and stayed in the Tiffin Campground. This year, we decided to take a slightly different route through Tuscumbia and not go to Red Bay. The lens on one of our fog lights is cracked, and Paul was going to order a replacement from Tiffin once we got to Summerdale, AL where we plan to stay at least a month before heading to Florida. However, since Tuscumbia is only 45 minutes from Red Bay, we decided to take a day trip to Red Bay to pick up the replacement fog light and to take a factory tour.

Some things about the Tiffin factory tour have changed since we were there last year. Red, who is the 80-something very southern gentleman who used to lead the tours, no longer does that because of his failing eyesight. However, Red is still there every day as the official greeter. He ushers everyone in the door and makes sure they sign in and get safety glasses, then chats with individuals until it's time for the tour to start.

There is now only one tour a day (9:30 AM) instead of two like there used to be. However the tour has been expanded to include the cabinet shop and the Powerglide Chassis assembly building in addition to the main assembly building that used to be the only part of the operation included in the tour.

There were so many people wanting to take the tour the day we were there (about 25 or 30), they split us into two groups. Our group went second, and our tour guide filled us in on some history of Red Bay while we waited about 10 minutes for the other group to get far enough ahead of us that we wouldn't be running into each other once we got into the plant.

When our turn came, we headed through the gate. Tiffin is building 10 motor homes a day (5 days a week), which is down a bit from the peak of 13 they were building when we visited in 2007, but it is up a lot from only 6 a day (4 days a week) they were building when we were there in 2008 when the high fuel prices first hit. We were happy to see there were lots of cars in the employee parking lot (left) and a good many motor homes sitting in the final inspection area off in the distance.

Tiffin employs about 700 people in the town of Red Bay, and 1400 to 1500 total in western Alabama and Eastern Mississippi. They are very important to the local economy.

Our first stop was the cabinet shop. For the second time in less than two weeks, Paul got to enjoy the aroma of fresh sawdust. The first was at the Loiusville Slugger factory. Paul was really impressed by the size and scope of Tiffin's cabinet-making operation.

We entered though the warehouse where we saw stacks and stacks of lumber. This lumber is first planed smooth, then inspected for defects, which are cut out. There were numerous work stations like the one shown in the photo below where boards were being cut to size for various components.

The components are milled to various shapes and profiles, which are then assembled into drawers, doors and other parts. The next photo shows a paneled door that had just been assembled.

And the next worker is assembling a large, decorative ceiling panel for an Allegro Bus.

After assembly, the wood parts are then sanded and finished. The photo below shows finished sections of kitchen cabinets. Rather than a flip-up counter extension, Tiffin uses a roll-out extension in the larger diesel pushers. Drawers are easy to reach since they roll right out with the extension.

From the cabinet shop, we entered the Powerglide Chassis assembly building. Tiffin builds a good many of its own chassis. They build all the chassis for the Allegro Breeze, Tiffin's newest motor home launched last year. It is a smaller, diesel pusher available in 28 and 32-foot lengths. The Powerglide Chassis is also available as an option on some of Tiffin's larger diesel pushers. The next photo shows a chassis for an Allegro Breeze.

The photo below shows Cummins 450hp ISL engines waiting to be installed in chassis for Allegro Buses.

In addition to building some of its own chassis, Tiffin also buys chassis from Ford, Freightliner and Spartan. All chassis go to the welding shop to have floor structures, storage compartment frames and other components welded on. The welding shop is not part of the tour, but the next photo shows a chassis that just came out of the welding shop. Next, it will go to main assembly.

When the chassis enters the main assembly building, workers begin installing components like water and waste tanks, wiring, flooring, interior walls and cabinets, appliances, exterior walls, roof and end caps. We wrote up a fairly detailed description of the assembly when we visited the factory in 2009. If you are interested in reading more about the assembly and seeing photographs, click here.

After the tour, visitors are invited to have a look inside any of the coaches that are parked inside or outside at final inspection. We looked in a few, but some were hard to see because there were several workers inside. We didn't want to get in their way, especially since we are not looking to buy.

From the Tiffin plant, we headed over to the service facility to pick up the replacement fog light. Unfortunately, the company Tiffin used to buy the light from either no longer makes it or is no longer in business, so Paul will have to try to find an alternative. In the meantime, the light still works - it's just the lens that's cracked. We never drive the motor home at night anyway.

Since we just happened to be in Red Bay on Thursday, and since Swamp John's has their catfish special on Thursdays, we decided to have a "cheat day" and stray from our low carb/low sugar diet and stop for the catfish special. The catfish special means the catfish dinner consisting of fried catfish, French fries, cole slaw and hush puppies is available all day.

Swamp John's is a no-frills restaurant that is located in an old gas station. The pumps are still outside, and the main part of the restaurant is where convenience store of the old gas station probably used to be.

We arrived at Swamp John's at the perfect time - 11:45. Tiffin employees have lunch from 11:20 until noon. Lots of people with Tiffin logos on their shirts were leaving, there was only one person ahead of us in the order line and there were lots of empty tables. One of the Tiffin sons was eating with some of the manufacturing employees at one of the few occupied tables. As we were finishing our meals at 12:10, the order line was fairly long and the restaurant was filling up with again with people from downtown businesses on their lunch break.

The catfish was yummy. There was more than we could eat, especially now that we are used to eating less. There were 4 strips of catfish, a huge pile of French fries, a big mound of cole slaw and two hush puppies - all for $7.49.

Speaking of our diet, we are doing fairly well with our weight loss. We had a slight setback a few weeks ago when we both went up a little at our weekly weigh-in even though we had not cheated at all that week. However, in the couple of weeks since, we lost that slight gain plus a little more. Paul has lost a total of about 10 pounds since we started in early September, and Margery has lost over 6 pounds. This 'diet' is called the Belly Fat Cure which means that we get to measure our waist, too. Paul has lost 1½ inches and Margery has lost 2 inches. Taking a measurment and weighing in means we usually get to see a loss in at least one of those areas.

After lunch, we headed back to the motor home for an afternoon of relaxation (naps). As we keep saying, we have shifted into relaxation mode. However, we haven't stopped sightseeing completely, and there are still some things in Tuscumbia we want to see.

Nashville, TN

Mt. Juliet, TN - Events of Wednesday, Oct. 12 to Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011

As we said in our last post, the weather was cooling off in the Louisville area, so we continued heading south to Cedar Creek Corps of Engineers campground near Nashville in Mt. Juliet, TN. Cedar Creek has paved roads and gravel sites with 30/50-amp electric and water hookups. The sites are a good bit closer together than we usually see in Corps of Engineer campgrounds, and our loop probably had the closest spacing of all the loops. There are about a dozen lakefront sites and another dozen across the road from those that have much wider spacing, but the lakefront sites are hard to get on weekends, and they have too much shade for our rooftop satellite dish. The photo below shows our site at Cedar Creek.

Since we were going to be at Cedar Creek over a weekend, we made advance reservations. It's a good thing we did because, although the campground was only about 1/3 filled when we first arrived on Wednesday, it started filling up on Thursday afternoon because local schools had Thursday and Friday off for fall break. Kids have only been in school less than two months, and they need a break already? Anyway, the photo below shows some of the other sites on our loop later Saturday afternoon after the campground filled up.

Speaking of our rooftop satellite dish, we used Google Earth when we made our reservations to pick out a site with a clear view of the southern sky. After we arrived and leveled the motor home, we pushed the button to deploy the satellite dish. In the meantime, Paul went about connecting utilities outside and Margery put out the slides and worked on setting up the inside. After we finished up, we noticed the satellite dish had found the proper satellite, but we did not have a signal lock. Uh-oh. The same thing happened at our last stop, but we thought it was a problem on the satellite provider's end because it cleared up and we got a lock after a little while.

Unfortunately, we did not have the same luck this time. After a call to MotoSat technical support, we determined that our transmitter had probably gone bad. A replacement part costs about $200, which isn't all that bad considering how much we use the internet. However, the big problem was we would have had to order the part, and since we were staying at a Corps of Engineers campground for a week, there would be no good way for us to receive the part.

We have been reading about Verizon Broadband for some time, and we have toyed with the possibility of switching; but as long as our satellite internet dish was still working, we had no real reason to make a change. However, now that we were facing the inconvenience of being without internet for a week or more while we figured out how and where we were going to have the repair part shipped, we had an incentive to consider Verizon more seriously. The problem was, without an internet connection, we couldn't research our options online, and we didn't even have a good way to locate a Verizon Wireless Store. So we grabbed our laptop, hopped into the car and drove toward Nashville. We found a McDonalds that had Wi-Fi, so we did a little quick research and found a Verizon Wireless Store nearby.

To make a long story short, after much deliberation, we decided to discontinue our satellite internet service, and we will now connect to the internet via Verizon Broadband using a Pantech USB modem. Since we have two computers, the modem will be plugged into a Cradlepoint wireless router so both computers can connect at the same time. We also considered Verizon MiFi, but the MiFi is battery powered, and we didn't want to worry about having to keep it charged.

As it turns out, Nashville is a 4G area, and we are thrilled with the improved speed of our internet connection. We know 4G coverage is still limited, but it is growing all the time. We will probably have 3G much of the time for the foreseeable future; but 3G should still be at least as fast as satellite internet in most cases.

When we first started full-timing, there were wide gaps in wireless internet, and it was not as fast as satellite internet. Since satellite internet is available EVERYWHERE as long as your dish can get a clear view of the southern sky, we went with satellite in spite of the fact we had to buy expensive equipment to do it. Now, with the advent of 4G, wireless broadband can be much faster than satellite. We know there are still areas of the country that don't have 3G, much less 4G coverage, and there are some areas that have no wireless internet coverage at all. We will have to deal with that when we run into it. Hopefully, we will be able to find campgrounds with Wi-Fi at least some of the time in those areas.

Not having to depend on our rooftop satellite dish for our internet connection will broaden our campsite selections. We were always limited to sites with few or no trees. Our satellite TV shares the rooftop internet dish, so we will still have to be a little careful about too many trees. However, we will be able to use our portable TV satellite dish on a tripod in the event our site has too much shade for the rooftop dish.

On one of our information gathering trips to the Verizon Store, we saw a sign for the Hermitage, which is President Andrew Jackson's home. Since it is located fairly close to where we were staying, we decided we were interested in seeing the Hermitage once we got our new internet connection up and running.

Cedar Creek is nice and quiet during the week (except for the times when the maintenance crews are mowing); but it was crowded and zooy on the weekend. We usually don't do much sightseeing on the weekend, but we needed a break from the smoky campfires and the noise in the campground, so we decided to visit the Hermitage on Saturday. The photo below shows the front of the Hermitage.

Andrew Jackson, who was the son of Scots-Irish immigrants, was born in 1767 near the border between North and South Carolina. Jackson was a military courier during the American Revolution when he was only 13. During this time, he was slashed with a sword by a British officer, and Jackson developed a deep hatred for the British. Andrew Jackson eventually got revenge when he later defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812.

Jackson's father died before he was born, and Jackson became an orphan at age 14 when his mother died of cholera. Although Jackson's legal education was scant, he learned enough to become a frontier lawyer in the late 1800s. He moved west to an area that was located in what was to become Tennessee. When Tennessee became a state a few years later, he was elected Tennessee's first U. S. Representative. He also served as a Senator and as a Tennessee Supreme Court Judge. During this time, Jackson prospered as a planter and merchant. His toughness and aggressive personality earned him the nickname "Old Hickory."

Andrew Jackson acquired a plantation he named the Hermitage near Nashville in 1804. He and his wife, Rachael, moved into a two-story, log farmhouse on the property. Between 1819 and 1921, the Jacksons built a two-story, eight-room, brick, Federal-style mansion on the property. The two-story log house was then disassembled and rebuilt into the two, single-story slave quarters shown in the next photo.

Andrew Jackson was elected the 17th President of the United States in 1828, and he served two terms. His wife died a month after the 1828 election. During the campaign, his opponents called him a "jackass," a name he actually didn't mind. He was later one of the founders of the modern Democratic Party, and the donkey became its symbol after being popularized by political cartoonist Thomas Nast.

In 1834, a fire severely damaged the original mansion, and Jackson had the house rebuilt in its current Greek Revival-style. The columns on the front are made of wood, but they are painted to look like the stone columns of a Greek temple.

There is a guided tour of the home, but, as is usually the case, photography is not permitted inside. After Andrew Jackson died in 1845, his stepson continued to live at the Hermitage. Later, the Hermitage was sold to the state of Tennessee, so about 90% of the furnishings in the house are original.

After the tour, we paused for a photo behind the house near Alfred's cabin.

Alfred, who was born in 1812, was one of Jackson's slaves who lived his entire life at the Hermitage. Alfred stayed on as a caretaker after Jackson's death and even after the Civil War. He worked as a guide when the mansion was opened for tours in the late 1800s.

We also toured the garden.

Although most of the flowers had faded, there were a few like these dahlias still going strong. The orange color was almost blinding in the bright afternoon sun.

Andrew and Rachael Jackson are buried in the garden. Alfred is also buried there off to the right side. You can just barely see his headstone above the top of the railing in the foreground.

After we toured the mansion and grounds, we went through the museum. The museum has some of Andrew Jackson's personal items and numerous of old photos. We probably should have visited the museum first because the museum was laid out in chronological order, and it would have helped establish the historical timeline for the rest of our visit.

There is a lot more to see in the Nashville area, especially if you're into country music. However, since we have shifted from sightseeing to relaxation mode, and since we spent the first two or three days in the area trying in vain to get our old satellite internet working and then running around researching and setting up our new Verizon Broadband, we decided to leave the rest of the sightseeing for another time.

We watched a lot people leave the campground on Sunday. However, quite a few stayed, and quite a few new people came in later Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, the sites near us remained empty so we didn't have any more smoky campfires nearby.

We relaxed for the remainder of our time at Cedar Creek and spent a good bit of time surfing the 'net. The weather forecast was predicting a general cool-down in the east, and the temperature around Nashville dropped like a stone on Tuesday afternoon. Our scheduled departure on Wednesday to head farther south was well timed. Stay tuned to find out about our next stop.

More Louisville, KY

Shepherdsville, KY - Events of Sunday, Oct. 9 to Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011

When we arrived at Grandma's RV Camping a few days earlier, we noticed a large flea market behind the campground as we exited the interstate. We watched a steady stream of cars pouring into the flea market as we did our cleaning chores in the motor home on Saturday morning and relaxed in the afternoon. On Sunday, we decided to walk over to check it out.

The flea market calls itself as "The Most Awesome Flea Market in the World," or Awesome Flea Market for short.

As you can see from the photo above, there is a large building that houses regular indoor vendor stalls and a fairly big outdoor section. We started out inside the building because it was closer to the campground and because it was a little cool in the morning. We wanted to give the sun a little more time to peek through the haze and warm things up.

Inside, Margery paused at one stall to oooh and ahhh over the puppies that were for sale.

The flea market had a nice variety of new and used merchandise, and we saw quite a few people carrying bags filled with purchases. Fortunately, we escaped without buying anything.

After the flea market, we relaxed some more and watched the NASCAR race. Although we couldn't get the Steeler game, we found out they beat the Tennessee Titans 34 - 17 in spite of the fact Roethlisberger is playing with a sprained foot.

On Monday, we drove back toward Louisville to see Chuchill Downs, home of the famed Kentucky Derby. As with baseball, we're not into horse racing, but almost everyone has heard of or watched the Kentucky Derby a few times on television so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit the home of such a well-known event.

Churchill Downs has a Kentucky Derby Museum which includes lots of history of the race and information on thoroughbreds. The $14 entrance fee for the museum ($13 for seniors) includes a 30-minute walking tour of the track. Behind the scenes and barn tours are also available at an additional cost. The next photo shows Gate 1 for the track and the entrance to the museum to the left.

Our timing was good since we only had about 10 minutes until the next walking tour. We spent a little time just inside the entrance of the museum getting oriented, and they announced the start of the next tour within a few minutes.

The tour guide was excellent. He gave us a lot of history about the track, about the Kentucky Derby and about thoroughbred race horses in general. The first derby was held in 1875, and it has been held every year for the last 137 years. The race is held the first Saturday in May and is for three year old thoroughbreds.

In addition to the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs hosts the Kentucky Oaks on the Friday before the Derby. The Oaks is a race for three-year old fillies. Churchill Downs also has a regular racing schedule from the end of October through November and from the end of April through July 4th.

The horses are brought to the track for races from the barns located to the south. The next photo shows the paddock area where horses are saddled prior to the race.

We also got to see the grandstands and the track. Below is a view of the track toward the finish line (the white pole to the right).

The spire in the next photo is one of the original twin spires that mark the oldest section (formerly the barns) of the grandstand where most of the owners and trainers sit to watch the race. The other spire is just out of the picture to the left.

Millionaires' Row, which is the upper three levels of the section in the next photo, is where celebrities sit. 

After touring the grandstands and track areas, we went back to the museum. Hats for the ladies on Derby day are a must, and the museum has a display of some of the more unusual ones. The hat on the bottom row right next to Margery is a horse's butt. The black strip is the horse's tail that looked like it was made from yarn.

Later, Margery got to try some of the hats for sale in the gift shop.

The Kentucky Derby presents a lot of opportunity for fund raisers and balls in the days leading up to the race. The gown to the left in the next photo was worn by the chairwoman of a fundraiser for the museum. Since the Kentucky Derby is called the "Run for the Roses," the gown is appropriately covered by roses made from red fabric.

The reason the Kentucky Derby is called the "Run for the Roses" is because of the rose garland that is placed around the neck of the winning horse in the winner's circle.

 

The photo above depicts the 2011 winner, Animal Kingdom. The garland consists of 564 roses all in individual water vials wrapped in foliage and sewn to a fabric backing. The top center has one additional rose for every horse running in that year's Derby.

There are a lot of displays of trophies, photos of past winners, videos of Kentucky Derby races, information on famous jockeys, and information of many famous horses. There are also numerous hands-on displays, and Paul couldn't resist trying on jockey silks and sitting on a mock-up of a horse in a starting gate. You can almost hear the announcer yell, "...and they're off!"

Margery tried her hand at video horse racing. There are controls to move your horse right and left and a button to use your riding crop. She finished second.

We really enjoyed visiting Churchill Downs and getting to know a little more about thoroughbred horse racing and the history of the Kentucky Derby.

On Tuesday, we decided to drive through Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest located one exit south of where we were staying in Shepherdsville to get a taste of fall foliage. The Bernheim Arboretum and Forest was established by Isaac Bernheim, who was a successful whiskey distiller. Bernham purchased 14,000 acres of land and gave it as a gift to be held in trust for the people of Kentucky.

The arboretum, which is near the entrance, is planted with different varieties of specimen trees and shrubs. The photo below shows some of those trees overlooking a prairie.

Most of the area is natural forest. Although there were some trees starting to turn and a few falling leaves floating through the air, peak tree color is still at least 10 days to two weeks away in western Kentucky. 

The along the roads that wind through the Bernheim Arboretum and Forest there are numerous parking areas (many with picnic tables) and dozens of hiking trails. We stopped and walked a short loop trail so we could enjoy the fall air.

There were some sort of gnat-like bugs that kept buzzing in our faces and trying to fly into our eyes and ears. Margery's glasses helped protect her eyes, and she devised a method to protect her ears by sticking leaves under the temples of her glasses. Much to Paul's surprise, it worked remarkably well. 

Driving and walking through the Bernheim Arboretum and Forest satisfied our need to experience fall. That, along with the gradual cooling of the weather during the week we were in the Louisville area were good reasons to continue heading south. We'll tell you about where we stopped in our next post.