Thurs. May 6, 2010 - Our last day with Marge

Slept in longer thurs. morning and decided to enjoy our coffee and tea on the deck and soak in the sun. Just visiting was so nice. Marge had a pilates class from 1 to 2. That gave Keith and I time to pack up all our STUFF in the car so we would be all ready to head back to the RV park later that night.

The last favorite place Marge wanted to share with us was the Fusion Cafe', Vietnamese Cuisine. This would be our supper tog.

I forgot to take photos of the soup and spring rolls....and then the main plate,*(and I'm sorry I don't remember what it was called). All I know is IT WAS SO GOOD. We are so glad she took us to Fusion Cafe. Hopefully, when we come back to visit another time, we can return here. Oh, and dessert was avacado smoothy. WOW, I never would have thought it could taste so good.
Parting was not easy that night. As we drove away, we talked about Marge coming to PA. in July and us visiting again real soon. It was almost dark when we got to the Ky Horse Farm Campground and proceeded to put everything in order to leave early Friday morning.

Wed. May 5, 2010 - Work and Celebration

First thing Wed. morning we tackled the deck cleaning. Marge had the sprayer and Olymic cleaner. Keith needed to put the sprayer tog. and while he got all that ready, Marge and I removed the furniture from the deck and cleaned it.

Marge had to cover all the plants near the deck and wet them down before Keith sprayed the deck. The 3 of us were very skeptical that just spraying this on and waiting 5 to 10 min....then just wash it off...would work, . WELL...IT REALLY WORKED...

We were finished in no time and it looked like new!!! REALLY.

It was such a good feeling for all of us to sit and enjoy .....BUT WAIT...we have to get showered and on the road....There's a full afternoon and evening ahead.

First stop was Marge's favorite "Hillside Shade Garden" WHAT A PLACE... There's no way I can post all the photos I took...

Hamming it up for the camera

This reminded Keith of " Green Eggs and Ham"

I just couldn't pass up this plant....it was just what I've wanted for home... It's called "Twist and Shout" Forever Summer Hydrangia .... I LOVE IT... So this is my Mother's Day Gift from Keith..Ha.

Our reservations for dinner were at 6:30 at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill just 24 miles southwest of Lexington...

It was quite warm but so nice walking around in the shade of the tree lined dirt roads. We arrived at 5:30 so we had an hour to explore America's largest restored Shaker community, with 34 original building and 3,000 acres of preserved farmland.

At 6:30 we entered the dining building..

There were two stairways exactly alike on both sides of the foyer.

And this is the room we were seated for dinner. We were hoping to be seated on the porch, but it was full and we didn't want to wait any longer to eat. Talk about atmosphere!

This is fine dining at it's best. Menus incorporate fresh vegetables grown in the farm garden just outside the building. Dinner entrees include sliced pork, rainbow trout, steak and traditional fried chicken and country ham.

Keith and Marge ordered the rack of lamb. Keith has been so hungry for lamb and this was perfect.

I ordered prawns with herbal barley pilaf. The salad was picture perfect and so delicious.

We were all so full we shared a coconut cream tart. Very rich very yummy.

A wonderful day, a wonderful memory:) Thanks Marge.

Monday May 3, 2010 - Arriving at Marge's Home

By 4 p.m. we FINALLY got to Marge's home. It took so much longer than we thought getting into the KY Horse Farm Campground. Well, it didn't take long to get there, but once we pulled in we had to "dump" since there are no sewer hook ups at the sites. Next it was on to the "store" to sign in...then to our site and set up.
It's now 2:30 and we're trying so hard to get packed and over to Marge's...but we both felt like we needed to shower... We love our GPS, but this time she took us the long way to Marge's...you get the picture, it took us longer than we wanted to arrive. It was so nice to finally see her house as we drove down her street. It looked so lush and green.

This is the view of the left side of her drive way going down around the back of her home. I can only imagine how beautiful it will look when all the flowers start to bloom.

This was the FIRST daylily!

Tues. May 5, 2010 - Full Day with Marge

Our list of "things to do" was quite long so we were up and out early Tues. morning. The first stop was Ashland; the Henry Clay Estate, located 1.5 miles east of downtown Lexington.

The buildings were not open so we made the best of our time there.

The grounds keeper's cottage.

We drove to the back of the buildings to see the formal gardens featuring roses, boxwoods and beds of perennials, annuals and herbs.

Marge showed me a feature on my camera that does macro photos.....I LOVE IT. Thanks Marge.

As we left Ashland, Marge stopped so we could take photos here...just magnificant!

Using the newly learned feature on my camera, I took lots and lots of photos at Marge's favorite wholesale nursery nearby. They only sell annuals at this nursery. Enjoy the beauty of the next few photos.

It was hard to tear ourselves away from the greenhouses, but we had more to see and more to do!

Oh, I forgot, this photo is for Sunny....I know how you LOVE pots...this would be a real treasure for you!

Wallace Station for lunch. I was enjoying the ride in the back seat while Keith and Marge were up front....so I can't really tell you where this was located...but I'm sure if you're ever interested in going, it's on line.

We ordered our sandwiches and made our way outside to the back deck to eat it the sun! It was lovely. AND the food was just scrumptious. Marge knows all the great places to go in this area! And we loved the ones she picked.

The Woodford Reserve Distillery - National Historic Landmark - Bourbon's Homeplace!!!!

The rocking chairs on their front porch just call your name and you HAVE to sit awhile:)

Marge and Keith enjoying a taste of bourbon... I had one of the bourbon chocolates.

These are the orig. aging buildings....

Monday May 3, 2010 - Off to KY to visit Marge!!!!

It was a guess as to what we would find traveling 75 N. to KY. So much rain and damage had been reported...but we thought the interstate would be o.k....and...it was. Left Cleveland TN at 8:30 and arrived at the KY Horse Park Campground in Lexington at 1 p.m. There is no sewer hook up at the 265 sites so you have to dump before you go to the check in. This is a lush campground with such big sites and shade trees to boot. It's right off 75 at Exit 120 and a short distance down the road to the signs for the campground. You can't miss it! By 4 p.m. we were with Keith's sister Marge. Grilling on the deck was the adgenda for supper and it was delicious. Plans had to be made for what and when we were going to FIT everything into our 3 1/2 days. So much to do and so little time.....we'll just have to make this trip again real soon.

Sat. May 1st 2010 - North/East to Chattanooga TN

It was so good to see the signs for TN! Just an easy 2 hours and we were in the parking lot of the church where Brad and Vivien were married. Cleveland TN is the fastest growing town in the US...Talk about growth!! We couldn't believe how much it has changed and grown since our last visit 3 years ago. As soon as we were settled we called Viv's parents, Roland and Dinah. It's always lots of fun to spend time with them. We had dinner with them Sat. night and planned on meeting them again after church on Sunday. Keith and I had never been to a "5 guys" to eat....Well, we have now...I liked it! It was off to Mamau's house for an afternoon visit...she looked great and was getting ready for a week visit to her dau. Karen's about 3 hours away. Dinah cooked a wonderful meal for us back at their house at 6 p.m. We no sooner sat down to eat, the skies opened and it pours buckets til 3:30 a.m. I bet it rained 6 inches or more.... We weren't sure if we'd be able to get to KY the next day without problems!

Friday, April 30, 2010 - Thru MS & AL

After a delicious complimentary buffet breakfast at the Ameristar Casino, we were checked out of the RV Campground by 9 a.m. and on our way to as far as we felt like we could drive. It was already sprinkling and by all the reports we knew the heavy rain and who's knows what else was trying to catch up with us. So glad we were on I-20 east instead of I-40...that's where all the tornados and flooding was taking place! We wanted to get as close to Chattanooga as we could and by 3:30 p.m. we decided to stop in the northeast part of AL in the little town of Ft. Payne. Thankfully, all the reports on the weather channel looked like we were o.k. staying there for the night. We only had to travel about 90 miles on 59 N. to TN 75 N. Cleveland where Vivien's parents live and our stop til early Monday, May 3rd.

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