Bluegrass Horse Country - Kentucky

Relaxing... er.... yes ~ The Americana Kitsch and Culture Tour ~ originally posted 8 May 2011

 

Aloha MM's, First of all, I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone who reads the blogs every week. It is so nice to see and I am fascinated to see where people are reading them from! It makes me feel so good! So thank you all!   Well, here we are are back at our favorite RV park in Kentucky —John, he of the blessed day message place. What we love most about John is his totally relaxed style, which we have yet to emulate. We rung John on Thursday night to book in. He didn't answer, so we got the cat fishin, smoking hog, blessed message. Well, how annoying we thought, when we are trying to book in somewhere for the night! John sent us an email a couple of hours later. No worries, see you tonight. We call him again—we get the message again. We decide to email him. He finally rings us back. Yesssssss, noooooo woooooooorries...... seeeeeeee youuuuuuuuu soonnnnnn (said in slow Kentuckian drawl). Okay, we then figure out there is no way we are going to make this RV park for the night. We ring John again - so sorry, not going to make it, our time is out... Sorry. John is fine with this. We feel slightly guilty.   We get up here the next night and ring John again. Could we come tonight. Sureeeeeeeeeee, commmmmmmmme in.... we haveeeeeee a ralllllllllyy but theeeeeere's a spot... (Now, I am taking off this accent, but I deeply LOVE the Kentuckian accent.) It turns out to be a lovely wee spot indeed. So quiet you can hear a pin drop here at night, so we sleep like the dead. John wasn't here when we got here, so we just backed into a spot and hooked up. Eventually he turned up, told us we were welcome to join the band and party for the rally people and sold us some OMG smoked pulled pork with some OMG BBQ sauce. As well as Bourbon, horses and bluegrass—this is also BBQ country. We had a wonderful sleep here in the Kentucky horse country. Surrounded by green soft rolling hills, black painted wooden fences that stretch as far as the eyes can see, horses, big leafy trees, dry stone walls, big stud farms. It's gorgeous! We arrive at Saturday feeling a lot more human. We had alloted ourselves a day to do 'The Bourbon Trail.' Tomorrow is Day 4 and we're still on it... Somehow this is okay. We are finding it hard to be like John and be flexible and okay with whatever happens. Aaron signing his name on a Bourbon barrel at Woodford Reserve, his favorite Bourbon  Look at the fermentation on his Bourbon vat The big tall sheds stack the Bourbon barrels for years   The Bourbon sheds at Heavens Hill where we got the BEST Bourbon info ever Make sure you get on Bill's tour. He was amazing! He told us that the Kentucky sipping Bourbons require 2 drops of water to bring out the aroma and flavor. They really do. He was a mine of information. Amazing! We decide it's so nice, we will do some more of the trail on Day 2 and come back here for the night. We underestimate our time—again and end up way over in Bardstown—we've managed 2 Distilleries today. There's only 6 on the Trail and we've done 3 so far. We realize driving all the way back, means we'd have to come all the way back in the morning to virtually the same spot to continue. We see a really nice RV park and it has a spot, so we call John and apologize—again.   John is absolutely fine with this. Are we having a good time? Are we loving it all? We are. He's happy with this and we say we'll see him tomorrow. We do Day 3 and get in 2 more Distilleries, we have one left to do, so we can get our stamp in our Bourbon Trail Passports and get a free t-shirt each. Somehow the t-shirt seems fun and important to get. Never mind that I don't wear t-shirts. We are having fun getting the stamps. We realize we have spent 3 days here but we love this part of Kentucky. It's truly panoramically beautiful. Incredibly peaceful. Makers Mark Distillery. One of the most gorgeous, apart from Woodfords. The original test kitchen at Makers. I love a red kitchen. Me in my new Kentucky Derby hat This is where they came up with the unique waxing of the bottles You can dip anything here in the wax, but Aaron gets a wee bottle of Makers and becomes an Ambassador We actually make it back here tonight but John is elsewhere. He finally rolls up. All is well.  Now, if this was me! I'd be fuming with these pain in the arse RV people who book one night, don't turn up. Book another night, turn up. Then book another night and not turn up. Then turn up again... But he was absolutely fine with this? Now why the hell can't we be that relaxed about things? It infuriates me that I am supposed to be 'on holiday' 'on the road' 'going with the flow' and I am not feeling relaxed or at peace. I am having to work 'hard' to be relaxed and going with the flow... Eeek. So what's happening here? I'm not really sure. We feel completely weird about being 'RV owners'—don't ask me why. I was going to stop Leo sharpening his claws on the couch the other day and I realized he could go for it—we own it! Yes, furniture is not a god in our household. Cats are. Part of what is going on, is what happens anytime we make a big change in our lives. It's plain scary on some level. It's all so new and uncharted. And we feel vulnerable and out of sorts and out of depth. What happens with any new change like this, is that slowly, bit by bit—we get used to it though. Have you ever moved anywhere new and for ages, the new supermarket you shop at, feels irritating and foreign and you have no idea where anything is? Then one day, you realize you know where things are and you feel at home there. Shopping takes half the time and it's come off the 'thinking' list and gone onto the 'can do this in my sleep' list. And so it will be with us in the camper. Despite really knowing we are doing the right thing—we are at the new stage of something and that can be awkward and feel foreign and scary. What amazes me though is how resilient we really are as humans. It's Day 5 of our new life, and we can already pack up the camper every morning in a well practiced speedy way. We have stopped being delusional about the shower—oh, we have our own shower, we must use it... If we ever figure out how to light the pilot light on the hot water—maybe... There are some lovely palatial places in Kentucky horse country This is where I had the Peach Iced Tea—I've been a fan every since In the meantime—we happily use the RV park ones—easier, bigger and requires no thought when blearily facing the morning. Instead we have put the shower and tub to a more appropriate use and now have it filled with...let me see...the dirty washing bag, the clean washing bag, 2 huge things of water, Leo's cat litter bag, the carry on suitcase, the souvenir box, a flower arranger bowl I got at Kinrod market, my winter cape, and my Kentucky Derby hat. No, we didn't make the Derby but I got a hat anyway! I love hats! I would have worn this new outfit to the Derby, if we could have gotten tickets. :-) Which leads to a) new things that you get used to and b) not caring if 'other' people are really organized and use their shower like good religious RV camper people. What you have to keep in mind with any new thing or change, is that you have to give yourself time to fit with it. And for it to fit for you. It might take you a while to be relaxed and at peace and to feel like you know what you're doing.  I had a friend years ago who saved up for ages to go to London to live, as many New Zealanders do. What a lead up to it. We were all so excited for him. He finally went to much fanfare and excitement. He was back 5 days later. Half way around the world and he came back 5 days later. He hated it, so got on the first plane he could out of there. Part of me thought, wow, good on you for being honest. That was refreshing. And another part of me now also knows that sometimes you do have to give things a few days to settle in.   When we arrived in Ohio, punch drunk, jet lagged and exhausted. We got the camper and both thought—OMG—what have we done? Eeek. But today is Day 5 and we are already settling in, slowly getting into our rhythm of traveling. We are night people, so going to bed at midnight or 1.00 is normal for us. Which means we tend to get on the road about 11.00 every day. No surprises our time is always out—I know.   But the truth is—you have to go with your own flow. Your own style of doing things for things to work for you. The more you can go with your own timing, your own flow, and listen to your heart—not following the set rules—the more you will be relaxed and thus—in the flow.   What we haven't given ourselves probably so far, is the luxury of being in something new. We are here on the Mainland, which is so different from Hawai'i—it IS like being in a foreign country in some ways. We have a new vehicle with things you have to work on it that you usually don't do, like winding up the TV aerial or finding the circuit breaker at 9.00 at night or figuring out how to unplug the chemical toilet, because, yes, that's right, I remember now, you need to buy blue stuff for it that dissolves paper. Those things... And I've just remembered—I hate new things. Most of us do. It shouldn't stop us though from following our dreams, or following our heart. We can be a bit scared, a bit out of our depth and that's okay. Because despite new things being scary, they can also be fun. A local child we met, called Oreo, at the place we got the Hot Brown from. This week, here in Kentucky—I got to—try peach iced tea, wow, incredibly yummy, appreciate the differences in Bourbon and not think of it as a cheaper version of Scotch, talk to all sorts of people from all over the world, try  a Kentuckian dish called a 'Hot Brown'—really good. Get a small oval ramekin dish. Make toast, pile on some ham and turkey. Cover it with grated cheese, sliced tomato and bacon slices, then pour on a cheesy sauce to the brim and bake it in the oven until hot and brown. Delicious! Kentuckian Hot Brown—so delicious!!! We have also seen all sorts of wonderful things that I captured on film everyday and love seeing the photos every night when I download them. The Distilleries are thoroughly interesting. There are a few in the area but 6 on the designated 'Bourbon Trail.' Our favorites have been Woodford Reserve and Makers Mark. Beautiful grounds, old fashioned Distillery looks to them, great tours, lovely souvenirs and all of them—the friendliest Kentuckian people! All so happy you are there to see the distilling process and they must have shown people a million zillion times but still utterly friendly and polite. Just lovely. Even if you're not a Bourbon drinker, which I'm not. This tour was amazing to go on. The barrels that the Bourbon is stored in are fired and the charcoal is what gives Bourbon it's color and flavor All this set in beautiful Kentuckian horse country, that even if you're not a horse person will capture your spirit. It's all very magical and I am glad we have managed to take on even a quarter of Johns energy and do it over 4 days instead of 1.  Perhaps we are starting to relax and go with the flow, after all... You cannot call anything made outside of Kentucky—Bourbon. Jack Daniels is actually a Tennessee Sipping Whiskey. In a funny tribute to Aaron. I have just realized that I bought this Bourbon for his wake for the shots.