KREIDER FARMS

We visited Kreider Farms yesterday, called in the morning to make reservations, got an appointment for 1 pm. We arrived at Manheim Grill Restaurant, met the tour guide and one other vehicle, but they had three same crying children, and they decided not to go. We had followed the tour guide, in our car, to the farm, where we met two other cars.

We were really surprised to find out that they milk 1400-1500 cows three times a day, seven days a week, each milking takes about 4 1/2 hours. The cows go unto a carousel, into a stall, their feet get sprayed and then their teets get sprayed with disinfectant. As the carousel goes round, a worker wipes the teets, another worker puts on the milkers. We stood and watched the milkers work, the milk went down into the pipes and went into a tank and when it got so full, was pumped out and got cooled down to 32 degrees, until it got to one of the three 7,000 gallon tank. There are 55 cows on the carousel at one time, while going around they are only given water. We had gone upstairs to see all the cows waiting to get in line to get on the carousel. When they are done being milked they back off the carousel so the next one can get on. Each cow produces about 10 gallons per day, and eats 60-80 pounds of salage, drinks 30 gallons of water per day, this really makes a lot of manure in one day. The farm is really environmentally friendly.


We then got back into the car, drove to see the salage area, perfume house, vacation barn, hospital area and then into the cow palace, this is were they are feed and rest. While driving around the farm we also saw a place where a rabbi lives that before every milking blesses the process, so they can sell Kosher milk, nothing was said about the chickens.


We then drove around to the state of the art chicken houses. They house 450,000 chickens per house, which is seven stories high. In all there chicken houses around the county they have 4 1/2 million layers.

This is the third generation running the farm, wife of the first generation was a relative of Milton Hershey. Is tour was really worth the time and money.


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Location:Manheim

Day 20,   May 17

Moving again today, we are parkers along with leaders and two other couples. We had driven only 26 miles, to Renfro Valley, this is the place that started country music before the Grand Old Opry took over.

After getting everyone parked, we carpooled to Berea College for a tour. A student took us on a tour through their work study program which includes furniture making, pottery, broom making, metal working, and weaving. The students get to go here free, except their room and board and books, in exchange for working 10-20 hours a week. They must show that they have a need of money before being accepted. This college is well known for their art work and it's not cheap to buy their wares.

Day 21,   May 18

Carpooled again this morning to Whitehall Historic Home, the home was built in 1799, and has been remodeled in 1860's. The home of Cassius Marcellus Clay; emancipationist, newspaper publisher, Minister to Russia, and a friend to Abraham Lincoln. Clay's daughter, Laura was a politically active for women's suffrage and states rights. In 1920, she became the first woman to be nominated for U.S. President by a major political party.

 For lunch, we all met at Hall's on the River, buffet of hot brown, grilled chicken breast, roast potatoes and green beans. We have had three different hot brown's, all a little different, this one was one of the better ones.

Next onto Fort Boonesborough State Park, when Daniel Boone and his men

reached the Kentucky River on April 1, 1775, they quickly moved to establish Kentucky's second settlement-the site still known Fort Boonesborough, the fort has been reconstructed as a working fort complete with cabins, blockhouses and furnishings. Resident artisans perform craft demonstrations.

 This evening we went to a show at Renfro Valley, within walking distance from trailers. The show was "Tribute to the Legends", all the singers really did the real artist justice, in singing their songs, really good show.

 Day 22,  May 19,   Final Day

We all had breakfast across the street at Historic Lodge Restaurant, family style, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, fried potatoes, gravy and biscuits and sweet cooked apples.

We had the rest of the day to ourselves, so we drove to the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea to see what they make in this area. While there, a trolley came by and took us for a ride around Berea, free, was a nice ride, through the old part of town and to see the Boone Tavern Inn, in the heart of town.

We had our final banquet at Boone Tavern Inn, good food and had a slide show of our trip around Kentucky. We had three different people taking picture through out and they put it into a slide show and gave everyone a copy, really nice. We really had a great time and would recommend this caravan to everyone.

Day 17,   May 14

 Left this morning in the rain and traveled 117 miles to our next stop which is Levi Jackson State Park in London, Kentucky. We drove mostly on Hal Rogers Parkway, which is a two lane road, beautiful scenery, saw one lone turkey and then a flock of turkeys, about six, the drive was hilly but really nice.

 After we had arrived, we had a short time before heading out again to Corbin, for Colonel Sanders Restaurant and Museum. This restaurant was not his original one, but this is where he made his seasonings and first coating for his famous recipe of fried chicken. The museum is part of the restaurant with different items and rooms around inside. We all had dinner there, chicken, mashed potatoes, and cole slaw, everyone seemed to enjoy it.

 We had rode with someone else, and afterwards, drove through the town of London, looking for an ice cream store, we missed the first one, 5 minutes after the closed. We then continued on and found another one, down the road, stopped and had our ice cream for the night.

 Day 18,   May 15

We had a free day today, did some laundry. Someone came around the campground and announced that in Renfo Valley they where having a free concert, so we decided to go and listen. But before we went we stopped at McHargue's Mill, this mill runs differently than our mills around home. It still runs with water, but it doesn't have a wheel, it runs with a turbine and it also uses different stones.

 At Renfro Valley, they were taping different groups for RFD TV, we had watched two groups, they were setting up the third group and we decided that we had better leave.

 Another couple had asked us to come for dinner, I told her that I would make spaghetti corn and bring over. When we were on the Yellowhead Caravan with them, they had made us dinner one night also. They make a tenderloin, marinate it for a short period and then put it on the grill, it is really tender and good. We had a nice pleasant time with them, we ate around 6:30 or 7 pm and then just sat around a fire and talked until 9:30.

Day 19,   May 16



Blue heron Coal Mining Camp

 We carpooled this morning to Big South Fork Scenic Railroad, Stearns, KY. When we arrived, we had a little time to spend and look around the gift shop and listen to two men playing their guitars. We then boarded the train for a 16 mile round trip, into the Daniel Boone National Forest and Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area. The trip is full of spectacular scenic vistas, lush vegetation and mountain streams as it descends 600 feet into the gorge before stopping at Blue Heron Coal Mining Camp, a NPS outdoor interpretive site. When we got to the mining camp, we had a coal miners lunch, the meal was packed in a souvenir bandanna, sandwich, cole slaw, applesauce, dessert and drink. We had time to look around and explore all the exhibits, one of the Park Rangers gave a speech about the town and how the company ran the coal and lumber company.

After returning from the train ride, we walked to the museum and took the tour. We then walked to the different stores in the area. We stopped at a bakery and had apple stacked cake, very good, this is made by layering dried apples between layers of cake.

We then continued to the Cumberland Falls, this falls is known to be the largest in the country, and is 87 feet high, but the water looks very dirty. We had walked on trails to see different views of the falls, and the mist rising very high.

We then had dinner in the DuPont Lodge that was on the same grounds as the falls, just around the corner. It was a buffet, with really good food, fried chicken, roast beef, and tilapia fish.

Day 14,   May 11

We moved again today, we drove about 100 miles. On the way we had stopped at the Natural Bridge, outside Slade, Kentucky. The leader said to be careful that not too many stop cause of parking, not much room, but there was plenty of room. We had taken a sky lift to the top which is 600 ft up, the mountain laurel are blooming and they were really neat on the ride to the top. When we got off, we walked to a ledge to see it from a distances and then walked across the top of the bridge and to the stairs down under the arch. Ken had walked down, I did not, too many stairs for my leg to climb, he did say it was worth the walk. While there, we came upon a group of kids that we saw in the Capitol and then in the candy store, Ken had talked to then under the arch and they said they are from the area and are on a three day trip, some did remember him.

 Got to camp around 2 pm, relaxed a little before it was time to go again. We had driven into town to the Mayo Church, and met John Mayo, actor, he talked to us about the churches history, stained glass and pipe organ. The church building began in 1808, the cost was estimated to be $10,000, the land was donated, and at its completion the building's cost was over $30,000 and it was considered the finest church in the area. The church was constructed of native sandstone, the roof is made of over 12,000 glazed green tiles that weigh 6 pounds each. The stained glass windows portray the Birth, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ. The church is also notable for it's Pilcher pipe organ donated by Andrew Carnegie, the organ has been refurbished, a process taking about 6 weeks.

 Day15,   May 12

Left this morning and went to the OSCAR center, for arts & crafts. This was really different, we never did arts and crafts before on a caravan. It was very relaxing for some and nerve racking for others. Some painted tiles, flower pots and some did tin punching, and then some did clay work. They also had coffee and refreshment for us, cookies made with cornmeal, salsa made with corn and corn on cob made with twinkles, Reese's pieces and corn candy, really cute looking, no one ate these, they were just for show. This was an old school that they converted into an art center. When we were done, we went back to our trailer and had lunch.

Left again and went to Mountain Home Place for a tour, which is just a short distance from our campground. This place showcases the McKenzie farm house, once a family residence, which was constructed in the double pen design. A one room schoolhouse, double crib barn and the original Fishtrap United Baptist Church are among the attractions. The museum offers visitors a chance to see and touch authentic tools, clothing and wares that were used during the 1850's.

 Later toward evening we had a cookout, where a few couples got together and had planned this for the 49 people that are on this caravan. They served soft shell tacos with all the fixings, tortilla chips with salsa, mixed fruit, and klondike for dessert.

We then went to Country Music Highway Museum for a tour, this tour highlighted the people from this area that made it into country music. Loretta Lynn, Crystal Gayle, which are sisters, The Judd's, Patty Loveless, Tom T. Hall, Gary Stewart, Billy Ray Cyrus and Dwight Yoakum, just to name a few. After our tour, we had entertainment, Five Miles From Nowhere, this is a group of men from the area that have been singing together for 20 years or so. They were really good and included some of our group, singing, and dancing, we all enjoyed them.

Day 16,   May 13

 They changed our schedule this morning, we were to go to Jenny Wiley gravesite and Black Barn Produce. We decided to go out on our own, drove to the Black Barn Produce store, this is a store that sells things in bulk. They had seeds to plant in your garden, and food items in barrels and tubs, like rice, dried beans, hominy, and candy. They also sold flowers in pots and plants for the garden.

We then continued to Jenny Wiley's gravesite, this women was married with one child and pregnant. She was captured by the Indians in 1789 and witnessed the slaying of her brother and five children by savages, she was held captive for several months. She escaped from the Indians, and was reunited with her husband in Virginia. They returned to Kentucky , built a cabin, raised five children, and she had died in1831.

 We had returned, relaxed and carpooled to Loretta Lynn's home, about 10

miles away. We had taken turns visiting her home, her brother was there to give us the tour. Her cabin was only four rooms, situated on the side of the hill. Loretta got married when she was really young and moved away. The other people stayed at a small store and had RC Cola and Moon Pies.

 We had a catered meal for dinner, fried chicken, fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, and chocolate, coconut, or apple pies, really good food. After dinner, we had two people in our group sing and play, and then had music played from computer with dancing, all had fun. It is now raining and they are calling for rain tomorrow.

Day 12,   May 9


 Went to Frankfort this morning, took a tour of the Governor's Mansion. We met in the ballroom, and then took tour, looked into sitting rooms, dining rooms, saw an old Kentucky Derby trophy in one of the rooms. They have two dining rooms, one for the family to use and one formal one for important dinners.

Inside New Capitol

We then walked over to the new Capitol Building, had a tour guide, which talked about the statues in the rotunda, and also told use that they replaced the lights in the rotunda with led bulbs and how they change colors. We had walked into the senate and house chambers and walked up and down the marble staircases.

We were then on our own for lunch, we had gone to Gibby's downtown. Gibby's is a restaurant that a lot of local people come into to eat lunch, it had a line to order, put doesn't take long to get your food, which is very good.



Spiral Staircase in Old Capitol



 After lunch, we all met at the Old Capitol, which is just down the street from Gibby's, we had a tour guide that talked about the building and the spiral staircase. The stairs are free standing and are in a spiral shape, very interesting. We had also toured the library, senate and house chambers. The tour guide had also told us about a shooting outside the building, the shot came from the building next door and no one was ever convicted in the murder.

We then went onto Rebecca Ruth's candies, which was just a few blocks from the Old Capitol. This is the place where they make bourbon balls, and is just a small company. We had bought some seconds called boo boos and mystery boo boos downtown, two doors from Gibby's. After returning to the campground we had another GAM.

Day 13,   May 10

Went to Vietnam Memorial, this memorial was opened on Nov. 1988. It honors the 125,000 Kentuckians who served this nation during the Vietnam War. Each name is precisely located so that the shadow of the gnomon touches his name on the anniversary of his death. Thus, each individual is honored with a personal tribute.

 Onto Daniel Boone's gravesite, the graveyard sits on a hill overlooking Frankfort and the Capitol. Boone's wife is also buried next to him, the headstone is in honor of both of them.

We then went downtown to Kentucky Museum of History, we were on our own to tour on our leisure, which was pretty interesting. Afterwards, we had walked back to Gibby's for lunch, Ken had a hot brown, he said it was the best that he had, out of the three that we ate.

 Off to Buffalo Trace Distillery, tour guide showed us a movie about the company and then took us into one of the ricks to see all the bourbon barrels. The ricks here are mostly brick, where the other place was wood. Told us how the barrels are burnt, how they are stacked and stamped and recorded to keep track of them. We were then taken to the bottling area and the shipping area and then off to the tasting area and store. After returning we had a drivers meeting for the next two days.

Day 10,   May 7

We had carpooled to Danville, got donuts and baked goods at Burke's bakery and took a tour of McDowell House & Apothecary. McDowell was known for the first ovarian tumor surgery, he had successfully remove a 22 1/2 pound tumor, the women, 46 year old, Jane Todd Crawford, fully recovered, went home, and lived into her 90's.

We had walked around Constitution Square State Historic Site, this was the site of important events in Kentucky's history, the 10 constitutions conventions that led to Kentucky's statehood.



Shaker Village

  Onto Shaker Village, had lunch in the dining rooms, and then had a tour of one of the houses where they would spin wool, comb the wool and then make different items. We then went to the barn and watched a man shear a sheep, he sheared the sheep and the wool all came off in one piece. Walked a little around the grounds and then had to go down to the river for a boat ride. The boat ride lasted about 1 1/2 hours.

Day 11, May 8

 Carpooled to Win Star Farms, which is a stallion breeding farm. Walked out to see the different stallions in the paddocks, which are pastures. Some of the stallions are worth a lot of money for stud service, $5,000 - $100,000 and when the economy was better they could charge up to $500,000.



Win Star Farms



 Left the farm and drove to Equus Run Winery, where we had wine tasting and a boxed lunch, which we had ordered earlier on the caravan. We had taken a tour of the winery and walked a shirt distance in the vineyard. Got back to campground and had another GAM.

Day 8,   May 5,   Derby Day

The ladies this morning had a hat parade in the campground. We were all told to have a hat, which we only got an e-mail the day before we left. I had used my Tilley hat, put some greens from the trailer on it and some beads that I also have in the trailer, I had asked Ken to go out and cut me a tulip popular flower off the tree, he came back with two stems with flowers and leaves, this I also put both of them on my hat. They had asked the oldest single person, John Thompson, to judge the hats, I had won first place, he liked my hat for originality and the greens. We also had second and third prizes, I won a Kentucky Derby coin.

 We had then carpooled to Keeneland Race Track to watch the Kentucky Derby. We were in Lexington Room, where there was three buffet counters, betting counters, and a wet bar for all to use. This room held about 300 or more people with tables for four people to set with six tables in each section with four tv monitors to watch the races. We had watched ten races before the actual derby started.

We had walked around downstairs where there was betting counters. Outside there was people like a tailgate party, with food, drinks, a band playing and tv monitors everywhere. This was a fun day of watching people and the races. We had returned back to camp around 8 pm.

 Day 9,   May 6

We have a free day, I had decided to do laundry, and we just sat around until

we had a drivers meeting at 4:30. After the meeting we went for a tour of the

Horse Park and museum. At the museum we watched "Rein of Nobility" film

at the visitors center, and then walked through the museum. After the museum we got on a golf cart and they took us for a tour around the park, they told us that they have about 300 events every year here, inside and outside in different arena's. After our tour, we had a catered dinner in the restaurant, hot brown casserole, which was very good and some great bread pudding. I usually don't eat bread pudding, but this was really good.

After dinner, we had a group come in and clog for us, they dances for 90 minutes for us, they even called on Shirley Williams to join them. They we very entertaining, we all really enjoyed watching them clog.

Day 7,   May 4

 We moved this morning, about 90 minutes, to Kentucky Horse Park Campground in Lexington. After arriving we had only a short time before

going to Old Friends Retired Thoroughbred Farm, this is where some retired horses live out their life. Some horses here were blind and deaf, and one horse, you asked to see his ID and he would lift up his lip and show his ID. Horses have tattooed markings on the inside of their top lip.

We had dinner at The Meeting House B & B in Frankfort, this is the first time that we had hot brown, which is toast bread, ham and turkey lunch meat, tomato, covered with a white sauce made up of cheese and bacon slices on top. The Meeting House had two dining areas, up inside the house, an eating area downstairs at the counter and kitchen area, and seating outside on the patio.

Day 6,   May 3, 2012

Visited Abraham Lincoln Birthplace, this is his birthplace but he only lived

here for 2 years. He then moved 10 miles away when his family moved, they had moved again 5 years later, 1811-1816. They have a replica, one room, log home build inside the monument. On the property, they also have a cool water, large limestone spring.

We then proceeded to My Old Kentucky Home State Park, took a tour through the Georgian-style mansion. This home was the inspiration for Stephen Foster's famous ballad, "My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night". We had walked through the grounds, which are very beautiful, with flowers and magnolia trees.

Drove a little way down the road to Kurtz Restaurant, where we had lunch. They had great homemade soup, sandwiches, 4 different, salad, and great pies, coconut, chocolate, or lemon meringue.

 Toured the Bourbon Heritage Center, watched a movie about the distillery, strolled inside their world famous Taste of Heaven Barrel Room, where we had a bourbon tasting experience. Our tour guide explained how to taste bourbon; smell, swirl, add a few drops of water, swirl some more and then just a few drops onto your tongue, before swallowing. We then walked out to a big warehouse (rig), where they store 25-28 thousand barrels of bourbon per rig and they had about 20 riga. They sell varying years of bourbon, but we tasted the 10 and 12 year, which you could taste the difference.

Day 5,   May 2, 2012

 We carpooled to take a tour of the Derby Museum. After arriving we went into a room where they showed a movie around the room in an oval shape, on the wall, which was really neat. After the movie, our tour guide took us out to see the track and explained how the race works. We did get to watch some races, we had watched 7 out of the 10 races, great excitement and some neat hats to see? We then sat lunch at the café and had a gam, so we didn't have to come back early to have it before our Mint Julep Party. Mint Julep is a drink make with sugar water, ice, bourbon and mint leaves, not too bad of a drink. After our party, some of the musicians in the group started playing and singing, which was a nice way to finish the day.

Day 4,   May 1, 2012

 Went to Farnsley-Moreman House, this house was established in 1828, but was never finished until 1837. This property is along the Ohio River with Indiana on the other side. You have a great view of the river from the front of the house. We also had a guide that was a archaeologist, he had talked about the excavation on the grounds, finding other buildings, vegetables, herbs that we're grown in the 1800's. We then went into Louisville for a lunch cruise on Spirits of Jefferson, up the Ohio River. Lunch was great and the cruise was nice also.

 While downtown we had gone to the Slugger Museum. Watched a movie about the making of bats and who uses them, walked through the plant and watched them make bats. We didn't realize all the ball players have their own specification and color and finishes. They were painting the bats pink for Mother's day, the players get to give the bats to their mother. After the tour we each got our own small bat, as a souvenir.

Day 3,  April 30, 2012,   Shepherdsville, Kentucky

We moved early this morning, stopping at the Corvette plant for a tour. We watched another video before taking the tour, we were split into two groups, 25 people per group. Here they make 4 different models, and they make 8 cars per hour, or 80 a day. They run them through a water test at the end of being built and every car is test driven when done, before being shipped. After leaving the plant, we had driven 88 miles to the next campground. This evening we all went to Bungalow Joe's for dinner, where they make the best hamburger in the area, they were really good. While their the owner came out and explained how to bet at the horse track.

Day 2,   April 29, 2012

We carpooled to the corvette museum, watched a video on the history of the corvette, and then walked through the museum. Their newly expanded superstructure features changing collection of more than 70 dream Corvettes consisting of some of the rarest, fastest, and most historic examples of this ironic car. We had also ate lunch in their café, before leaving for the Lost River Cave. This cave was used by the Confederate forces as a temporary shelter in 1861, and Jesse James gang also used the cave as a hideout. We had rode a boat through this cave with some low places where you had to really duck your head. This cave wasn't really that interesting, ours at home are better, I guess it's just the history behind it. After the cave tour, we then stopped at Chaney's Dairy Barn. We got ice cream and then a hay ride down to the farm, Ken said the tour was really interesting, I didn't go along, was afraid it would be too rough a ride.

SPRINGTIME IN KENTUCKY

 Day 1, April 28, 2012 Franklin, Kentucky

 We all met for social hour and then had a catered dinner, gam ( get aquatinted meeting), and then a drivers meeting, just to go over the next days driver directions. We then had live entertainment, a couple came in and played the guitar and bass. The campground owner also sang, and a couple on the caravan also sang and played.