Mar 24-27, 2017 Milton, West Virginia

Arrived at the Huntington KOA early afternoon. This is a nice KOA but with a lot of freeway noise. Our site is very nice with a brick fire rink and a gas grill!
  

  

First trip to West Virginia... get to add a state to our map!!!
  

Nothing to do close by, so we spent the two full days here doing some maintenance on the coach and enjoying this park... Great to relax!!!

Mar 17-24, 2017 Elizabethtown, Kentucky

Stayed in Elizabethtown Crossroads Campground... Nice campground in Elizabethtown, just south of Louisville and west of Lexington... The campground is basic but clean. Sites are all out of level, which makes it a struggle to level the coach without busting a windshield... Just got it repaired, don't want another problem! Luckily no issues...
  

New state... doing the honors...
  


CHURCHILL DOWNS
Took a drive to Louisville and a tour of Churchill Downs where they hold the Kentucky Derby every year on the first Saturday of May since 1875!!!... This place is full of tradition....
  

Before the race, the horses are brought to these stalls where they can be examined... then they are walked through the tunnel to the track...
  

Here is the track...
  

The Finish Line and the Winning Circle!!!
  

Some winning horses are buried here... Only the head (Represents the will to win), The heart (Represents Courage) and the hooves (Represent Speed). Only three special horses are buried whole... Secretariat, Man O' War and Seattle Slew.
  

The museum is fantastic with a really great movie on what horse racing is all about... This is a must if you visit Louisville!!!
                             

LOUISVILLE
North from Elizabethtown is Louisville, the largest city in Kentucky. It is still pretty small compared to other cities, but it has a lot of old, charming buildings...
  

   

Unfortunately, there are a lot of empty store fronts... has a feeling of a depressed city in some areas...
It is home of the University of Louisville Cardinals.
  

Home of the KFC "Yum" Center... hahaha... The woman's NCAA basketball tournament was going on here...

This bridge, over the Ohio River, used to be for the railroad between Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana. It is now open only for pedestrian traffic with nice views of the river, downtown Louisville and Jeffersonville.
  

  

  

LEXINGTON
Traveling east is Lexington... much smaller town than Louisville, but with lots of charming old structures around town.

Like Louisville, Lexington seems to be mostly about horses... with big farms and racetracks...
  

Horse farms are everywhere. Love the fenced fields and beautiful horses...
  



  

                

Of course, there are always strange people with lots of money... this was a house! It's original owner started building it, but never finished... it is now a bed and breakfast... go figure!!!

MAMMOTH CAVE NATIONAL PARK
Did not realize there was a national park in Kentucky, but it turns out it was about an hour drive south of Elizabethtown... The Mammoth Caves are the longest mapped caves in the world with over 400 miles of connected caves and still discovering and mapping more every year. We took one of the tours and while it was nice, it really does not come close to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico...
  

  

  

MAKERS MARK DISTILLERY
This area is full of distilleries... Jim Beam, Woodford Reserve, Wild Turkey, Heaven Hill, Makers Mark and others... We decided to visit Makers Mark since its one of my favorites... The tour is great and includes a tasting session.
  

  

  

  

Some great advertising...
  

  

Tasting...
  

  

Highly recommend the tour!!!

Now off to West Virginia...