Wayne loves to agitate the dogs

Dresden and Cletus spent the morning being harassed by (I mean introduced to) Talking Tom and animal sounds this morning.  Cletus has been barking up a storm at Wayne and me since our arrival yesterday, partially, I think, because I was wearing a lot of DEET when they sniffed us initially, which would probably put off a sensitive puppy nose. So, when Cletus started up again this morning, Wayne opened up Talking Tom (iPhone/iPad app), and the cat proceeded to echo Cletus’ barking.  At first perplexed, Cletus finally realized it was a game, and tried to instigate Wayne into playing the app again.

As if Wayne needed instigating.

For our morning’s activities, we decided to go a little further east again, and hit two locations.  The first was Rock Bridge Arch.  It was labeled an “easy” trail, but it started with dozens and dozens of steps.  We continued to proceed down the hill (realize this means you have to go up again), and started searching for the arch itself.  Wayne had given up hope completely on finding the arch when we turned around a bend, saw a waterfall, and then continued on to the arch itself.  From there it was another half mile (directly up) back to the parking lot where we were parked.

I have to say that the park is well maintained.  At the parking lot there is a composting toilet that smelled freshly cleaned - and it was Monday, and there were a lot of people there over the weekend.  They do a much better job here in Kentucky than we do in Hawaii.

From there we went up to the Sky Bridge Trail, and headed out to do the loop.  It really was amazing, and amazingly beautiful.  Wayne ran down to take a photo from below, and Philip followed as the two Stephanies waited.  Once the photo ops were done, I went down the arch to meet up with Wayne, and then we finished up the trail.  We tried heading to the scenic overlook, but the brush growth was so overwhelming that it didn’t really work.

After this, I was particularly hungry, so we started to head first for the Lodge at yesterday’s hiking spot, then we revised that plan to Subway, and then finally decided on the restaurant at the end of the road - Sky Bridge Station.  It had 4 1/2 stars in Yelp, so I figured we were good.  Oh well, best laid plans of mice and men and all that.  They had good local microbrews, and the menu pretty much consisted of hot dogs and quesadillas.  Unfortunately, we had a waitress who was perhaps three weeks on the job, and not quite on the ball.  I cannot truly describe the experience in words, but imagine that it takes 45 minutes for 2 hot dogs and 2 quesadillas, they get the quesadilla order SERIOUSLY wrong, and then trying to pay.  The restaurant also had a section with climbing gear, which Wayne went to check out.  He came back with a Cliff Bar, and he told the waitress that he “would like to get this.”  She then proceeded to explain what an energy bar was…we gently explained that we would like to purchase it.

When she showed me the receipt, I wasn’t wearing my glasses, so I pointed to the total and asked her what it said.  She replied, “That says tip, and the next line says total.”  Again, the gentle explanation.  Poor kid.  She’ll probably never wait on people over the age of 40 again.

And then it was back home to the dogs, a nap, and dinner preparations.  We had giant salads, leftovers from last night, and juicy hamburgers.  Followed by a hot tub soak.  What a wonderful day, with wonderful human beings.  Wayne has promised that we will come back to Kentucky again next year.  I simply cannot wait.  I so very much enjoy Kentucky, and love my very good friends.

Good night, y’all!

Log cabin bound

How do I explain my relationship with Philip and Stephanie to the world?  Maybe the Dynamic Trio??  Anyway, however I do it, the three of us were quite a team in Karlsruhe, Germany, exploring, dining, and having fun.  I can honestly say it was miserable when they left to return to the mainland (see how Hawaiian I’ve become, it’s no longer “the States”).  After I returned I visited them a few times (once in Tulsa, twice in Mays Lick), and they came to visit me in Hawaii.  Despite the distance in miles, we are still very close, and I am sort of following Stephanie in my career path - late in life student of law.  Sadly enough, they had not yet ever met Wayne even though he and I have lived together for over 10 years, but that changed today!

Philip sent a strip map to help guide us in the final phase of our 2 1/2 hour scheduled journey today, and Wayne used that to pinpoint the location in Google Maps.  The drive was quite pretty as we left Lexington and headed further south towards Slade, Kentucky, to a rental cabin nestled in the middle of the Daniel Boone forest.

The last portion of the drive took us up a very steep incline (aka cabin driveway) towards Philip & Stephanie, who watched me drive the car partially into a rut on the side of the driveway.  Reversed, got out of the rut, and gunned it up the driveway all while they were watching.  I was glad to be done with the driving!

Stephanie, Philip & Wayne were introduced, and then Stephanie heated up some pork curry for lunch before we headed out to see the natural bridge on top of the sky lift.  We paid our fare for the sky lift, and then headed up the hill.  There were dozens of ferns, magnolia trees, and lush foliage as we went up the hill.  A number of people (well, women) on the downhill side of the lift were confessing to being anxious on the lift.  Not me, it was a great view and a great ride!  There were a few signs that appeared to be designed for Dad…or Wayne…or Phillip...

The bridge itself is very wide, probably as much as at least 1 1/2 lanes of a road.  We walked out along Laurel Ridge trail and out to the bridge itself, and then headed back to the other side of the trail.  

We went back and unleashed the hounds for a potty break, and headed back out on a circle tour of the surrounding Red River Gorge area.  We went through the Nada tunnel, which was carved with steam driven jackhammers in order to let the railroad through, and then further along the Red River Gorge National Scenic Byway.  We stopped and went out to see a suspension bridge along the Sheltowee Trace Trail (and walk across it), encountering young, dumb (maybe) teens jumping off a rock into the river below.  Ouch if the jump went wrong.  We finished up our drive and headed back home for the evening, where Philip & Stephanie barbecued up a storm.

Philip then staged for us an elaborate bourbon tasting, starting with rye bourbons, and moving along to wheat bourbons.  We tasted 9 in all, and we both had our favorites.  Philip did a most outstanding job with the tasting, clearly putting a lot of thought into the selections, and Stephanie brought out dark chocolate, almonds and craisins.  It was wonderful!

I think Wayne really enjoyed the day, definitely enjoyed the bourbon, and was pleased to make the acquaintance of Philip & Stephanie.  I don’t know WHY ON EARTH it took me so long to get these three together, but I’m so very happy that I did.

Good night, y’all!

What to do in Louisville besides see how baseball bats are made

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t was a long, long day for me - as you might imagine - yesterday into today.  I finally closed the MacBook and headed to be shortly after midnight, and I slept mostly all the way through the night until about 6:30 am.  Breakfast was had at 7, and a subsequent nap until 10 am.  

Yeah, I know, lazy.  But it’s been a stressful few weeks working on the appeal and doing work for Professor Conway at the same time, only to have the appeal go by the wayside with the Judge’s revised ruling.  She took the wind out of our sails.  But after that, it was a non-business kind of day.

We’ve been driving by the Fort Knox Mint several times, and at first, I wasn’t ready to take the shot, and the other two times I was driving.  :(  No luck.  We have one more shot tomorrow morning, where I will hopefully have Wayne driving, and I can get my substitute for the placeholder above.  Nothing like the picture of a postcard to adorn the web site.

We started out heading to the Jim Beam distillery, quite close by.  If you come to Louisville and want to tour the joint, make sure you reserve your tickets (weekend/holiday tickets in particular).  Just click here to make your reservations!  The actual tour is quite extensive.  You get to mash the contents that make up the whiskey, help shape a barrel, and help pour out the whiskey from a tapped barrel.  It’s about an hour and a quarter, it costs $10, and you get a tasting of the bourbon or rye at the end.

A little secret - anyone 21 or over can get a tasting of at least two of the whiskeys and go on a self guided tour.  If you are not interested in doing the mashing/shaping/pouring yourself, want to learn a little about the history of making bourbon, and sample a wee dram, just go get the ticket for the free tasting.  Wayne and I each got a ticket, and each were give 2 half ounce portions of our choice of whiskeys.  They have a sweet side and a dry side, we chose the dry.  The Knob’s Creek rye was particularly good, and the Knob’s Creek 100 proof singed our eyebrows and nose hairs.  We each had a sip or two and then poured out the rest into the champagne bucket.  So many of my friends would be so disapproving of that!

Lunch was at the delectable Mussel & Burger Bar in Louisville.  If you want to see the menu, log into Yelp, look for my profile (StephanieB), and check it out.  We shared a calamari sweet and sour appetizer, and then each had our own servings of Prince Edward Island mussels in individual sauces (mine was blue cheese, beer and pancetta based; Wayne’s had a sort of lobster rioux, tomato based).  They were both great, and the sweet potato and regular potato frites were quite tasty.

From there, I took over driving for the day, and we headed off to the Louisville Zoo.  The Louisville Zoo was founded in 1969, on land acquired by the City of Louisville in the 1960s from the estate of Ben Collins. Much of the initial funding was donated by local philanthropist James Graham Brown.  The Louisville Zoo has six geographic settings within the zoo: The Islands, African Veldt, Asian Plains, North and South America Panorama, Aquatics and the Australian Outback. The zoo itself is situated within the middle of suburbia, and I commented to Wayne that those who live most immediately outside its borders are probably those who hardly come in at all!

We saw lots of lovely critters - cats, elephants, giraffes, simian species, birds, you name it.  When we wind up publishing our photo album, I will return to this page to give you a link.  I think I am going to have to break this trip’s photo album into a lot of mini photo albums.  

My only anecdote - the first place we visited was The Islands.  At the entryway into the exhibit, two parents were standing with their children looking at storks.  The mother told her sons that the storks were here on earth to bring babies to their parents.  All I could think of was teenage pregnancy.  But I was good and stayed quiet and moved ahead!

The zoo itself can be covered in about an hour and a half if you don’t stop for any of the shows.  I was very impressed that the zoo housed caged areas exhibiting small children in their natural, albeit wild, habitats — there was a kiddie water park and there were several playgrounds within the park area.  It’s a little over a mile to walk the perimeter walkway, and it appears there are a number of annual members who get their exercise in by walking the pathway.  There is also a tram that covers the entire outer perimeter of the grounds, and it appears that there are several trains that do limited areas of the zoo.  We chose to walk, though, since it was very, very manageable!

For the adventurous, try the Louisville Underground Zip Lines - we didn’t have enough time, so that is something that is still not crossed off from the bucket list.  We won’t head there tomorrow, as we are off to see Philip and Stephanie in Slade, KY.  I have not yet introduced them to Wayne, and it has been 10 years now.  I feel like a bad kid in Catholic school!  I can’t wait to bring the three of them together in one room!  We also didn’t make it to the train museum, as it was a little too far off the beaten path to make it worthwhile this time.  But if we ever come here again...

Dinner was close to Knox - a Mexican restaurant called Los Nopales.  I recommend them if you come to Knox for any reason at all.  Good sized portions, some nice spicy salsa, and a HUGE menu it would take eight years to eat through.

And now to bed to get ready for a short two hour drive to see S&P tomorrow!  Yay!!

Eerily quiet...except for the bagpipes!

Oh my god, what a long trip this has been.  We started by leaving the house at about 10:30 yesterday morning, and had lunch at Gordon Biersch at the airport.  We then went to meet Alison and her family, and give her the key to Wayne’s car.  Alison is watching the house for us until the 5th (the whole family is here while her husband is training).  She actually said that my cats were beautiful and sweet and attentive.

I wonder if she got the wrong house.

Grant will start on the 6th until our return on the 16th.  In the meantime, wheels are turning, brains are churning (well, mine) as we start out on this trip.  The Judge in our CASA case amended her findings of fact, and made them more in alignment with In re: AS, which means we don’t have an argument.  We emailed back and forth quite a bit over the course of the day today, and it looks like we are retracting the appeal.  It was a gut wrenching decision, but I couldn’t see the practicality of moving forward - the program needs to maintain its credibility, as do its attorneys.  Insert sad face here.

Anyway, here we are in Kentucky!  And don’t even ask me to describe the leap in logic it took for me to go from court to Kentucky.  You don’t want to know.

Our first flight was to LAX, and we were scheduled for a roughly two hour layover.  We were upgraded on the Houston leg, so we felt it wouldn’t be too bad.  Unfortunately, our flight attendants were coming over from another flight, where they had to take care of a passenger (who knows what the emergency was), so we departed quite a bit late, but made up time in the air.  We arrived at Houston, got to take a shower in the United Club, and had some breakfast before heading to B terminal.  There, our flight was delayed again because of problems at the point of origin.  I wasn’t too worried, after all, Faye’s retirement ceremony was scheduled for 3:30 pm.  And we got in to Louisville in plenty of time, checking into the visiting quarters, grabbing a hasty lunch, and prepping for attending her ceremony.

There was a lovely detailing of the ceremony as a whole in the program you see to the left.  And it mostly followed the schedule.  Except for the fact that the retirement party was preceded by a bagpiper both at the beginning and the end of the ceremony!  Amazing gift that her colleagues shared with her.  Plus the Army Band.  How much more could a girl want? Her host of the ceremony knew her so well, and coordinated his commentary with so very many of those she has touched in her past.  I can honestly say, with no hesitation, Faye Brown is a woman of integrity, precision, and love.  And it flowed back at her 1000 fold today at the ceremony.  I was really just so happy to be able to be here to share in it, and both Wayne and I were surprised to be recognized, but certainly not overly so.  Faye touches everyone with her heart.  It was particularly heartwarming to see so many of her family here at the ceremony today, and to see the cadre of professionals who came forward to pay their respect and show their love and support.

After the ceremony, we were all brought in to a dinner where there was a partial roast by hubby, Skipper (aka Roger Brown), and a bit more from all others who came forward to speak.  I think Faye’s day was a lovely day, and it’s one that I will remember for a very, very long time.  

Wayne and I left at about 7, and had a nice stroll around Fort Knox for about an hour in order to finally get our ducks in a row and get some sleep.  He certainly got his fair share last night and today on the plane rides, but I had a rough night of it.  The turbulence we experienced influenced my dreams, I think, and caused me some unpleasant dreams.  At one point, I think I woke up with a bit of a scream coming out of my throat.  Not reassuring to others, I am sure.

Tomorrow looks like it brings the zoo and perhaps a bourbon tasting session, but definitely lunch at a place called Mussel and Burger Bar.  I can’t wait to see what it brings.

Night, y’all!

On another adventure

Today starts a multi-leg trip visiting friends, family and going diving.  First leg is to Fort Knox, KY, where we will see our good friend Faye finally retire after 30+ years of service.  She leaves at the top of the game, and with some sadness on the part of her colleagues.  From there, we see Philip and Stephanie Varvell - they and Wayne have not yet met!  This will be followed by a trip down to the US and British Virgin Islands, where we will hike and dive with Jodi and Matt for about 10 days.  And we’re off!