IT'S TIME TO LEAVE KENTUCKY

 Christmas Eve 2013,  our last day at Green River Stables in Campbellsville Kentucky we brought our remaining carrots to the pony who lives there.  The pony LOVES carrots.

  Here is my home-away-from-home.  I worked 50 & 60 hour weeks during their Christmas peak.  I worked in packing your orders.  The managers were super helpful, patient, motivated and everyone had fun during the long long days.  But check out the guys in the pic.  Looks like they are wondering what I'm up to doesn't it?

 All the barns we saw in this part of Kentucky are decorated with these designs known as a barn quilt.

 A barn quilt is a large piece of wood painted to look like a quilt block.  They usually measure 8 ft.  If you want one on your barn I found a web link (http://ces3.ca.uky.edu/madisonquilttrail)  that for $300 will paint and hang a quilt block for you.  

The earliest versions of barn quilts have been around for hundreds of years.  Barns were not painted back in the day.  They were decorated with different types of folk art.  This included quilt blocks once paint was readily available and affordable.  Legend has it that quilt patterns used in a certain order, relayed messages to escaping slaves.

Welcome to Kentucky

We have traveled to Kentucky as I am working in a seasonal position in an Amazon distribution center through approximately December 23rd, 2013.

 As we cross into Kentucky is this huge power plant.  I thought it might be nuclear due to the cooling towers but apparently it is not nuclear.

 This is where the vampires go to study.

 Huge horse farms are in Kentucky too. 

Not sure who owns this castle but I did see a sign offering it as a sight for your wedding.

 We're in the center.  In less than a month this whole place filled up with other Amazon "Camperforce" people.  This place is called Green River Stables RV park. 

 These are turkey vultures that we saw hanging out around Green River Lake, Ky.  Big birds of prey.

Green River lake is maybe 3 miles from us.  There is a boat ramp and people fish from shore too.

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Meet the resident campground rooster.  His name is Obama and likes to walk around in the early a.m. when we are trying to sleep and do his crowing.  Actually a very handsome rooster.

Smithsonian Air & Space Museum

 The Welcome Center at the Air & Space Museum.  I love this place.

 Rockets, rockets, rockets everywhere!

 There is even a full size Zeppelin.

 This is an amazing sight to see.  All these historical planes hanging from all the ceilings.

 The silver plane in the foreground was built by Howard Hughes.

 The Gossamer Albatross, a peddle powered plane hangs from an upper balcony.  The Gossamer Albatross is a human-powered aircraft built by American aeronautical engineer Dr. Paul B. MacCready's company AeroVironment. On June 12, 1979 it completed a successful crossing of the English Channel.

People have called me a "space-cadet" in my youth.  I wonder if this is what they meant.

Smithsonian Natural History Museum

 Getting there is half the fun is the saying.  We used the underground rail system to get downtown for the museums and National Mall from where we were staying, Cherry Hill RV Park.

 The big elephant greets everyone as you enter the front door to the Natural History Museum.  It is said that an upraised trunk in an elephant sculpture signifies good luck.  Personally if I had a bull elephant in the wild doing this to me I would run for it.

 Lots of bones of aquatic dinosaurs in very interesting exhibits.  You gotta come see it for yourself.

 I don't know why anyone would want to turn their back on a full size T-Rex.

 We had to see the mummies.

 The taxidermy in this hall was fantastic.  Quite well done.

Believe it or not they had security folks watching this display.  You had to keep moving too.

Our Week In Washington D.C.

 I went on a night tour bus of the National Monuments.  As we went by the Capitol building our driver said they must be working late.  It was just before the government shutdown.

 This is the White House and a view through an open window.  That's a huge chandelier in the lower window.  I put my camera on maximum zoom to get it as their is an iron fence that prevents you from going very close.

 Right across the street from the White House was this protestor.

 Pretty cool view from within the Washington monument.

 Great national inscriptions on the wall of the Washington monument.  I wondered if the politicians Ever visit here for inspiration.  Just saying.

 And of course NO protesting.

 I have always wanted to stand in front of the Lincoln memorial.  It is as impressive as I thought it would be.

 This famous memorial is huge.  Their canteens could hold 40 quarts of water.

 Standing in the middle of the National Mall I took a picture of first facing the Capitol building.

And then I turned around and took this picture of the other direction.  Far in the distance you can see the beginnings of large tents.  The presidents wife was sponsoring National Book Month celebration.

We Say Goodbye To Pennsylvania

 Besides the terrific motorcycling back roads, it's views like this we will miss.  This stream is across the street and a few steps down the roadway from Four Seasons RV Campground in Scotrun, PA

In our final days campground even sponsored a yard sale for everyone complete with balloons and advertising.  I sold some stuff I didn't want to drag around anymore.

Close to the campground is this leaded glass store.  We wanted this Art Nouveau  shell lamp really bad so I had to drive down and take this picture of it.  It's still there if you want to get us a present.

NASCAR Pocono Raceway

 Through the Mount Pocono Harley-Davidson dealership I got a chance to ride on the Pocono Racetrack.  It was a sponsored Cal Schock Sr Memorial Ride (the previous owner of this dealership) with all proceeds going to Camp Cadet Troupe N (kids that want to be in law enforcement).  250 riders pre-registered for this event on August 25, 2013.  All bikes were welcome on this ride too.

 Here we are filing in at the racers entrance.

 We had to wait for an hour and a half until others has completed their allotted practice runs.

 I'm thinking that these formula looking cars were for classes someone has?

 We finally got on the track.  And we got to drive around for four laps as fast as we wanted to got.  I can tell you that at a slow 104mph the banked parts of the track sure came up fast.

Here I am standing in the winners circle.  I wondered how many famous drivers had stood in this same place over the years.

Candle Shoppe of the Pocono's

We went to see this candle shop.  It is supposed to also be haunted!  This entrance is just for the "museum" basement section with the main entrance on an upper level around to the right.  They wanted $13 per person to see a laboratory and an "actual monkey cage".  We didn't go.  But we did see the candles.  They advertised a 31' (yes) carved candle that I had to see.  I've seen big candles before but not bigger than 3-4'.

 Dr. William Redwood Fisher built the home for his family in 1897.  The home was built over a cemetery.  He was trying to find a cure for Small Pox and Yellow Fever.  He performed many valuable experiments, using animals for testing, particularly spider monkeys in the very early 1900's.  It is said the" basement is full of restless spirits of monkeys".

 The candles occupied every room of the entire house.  Lots of colors, smells, shapes, styles and sizes that you can imagine.  Every room I kept looking for the carved candle.  Since I didn't see it I was going to ask someone where it was before we left.  Maybe in the haunted basement?  I forgot to ask by the time we left.

 I had to have my picture taken on this giant chair that's located at the front of the candle shop.

Driving by a few days later I found the so-called 30 foot carved candle in the front of main entrance to the Candle Shoppe of the Pocono's.  Can you see it?  Now, also check just to the upper right of the castle picture above.