Horse Racing and Baseball, August 29, 2016

Today we traveled to Louisville, Ky. to Churchill Downs Race track where we toured the Museum and also took a tour of the backside of the track where all the horses are stabled.  They have about 1,200 horses stabled there today, but near race time they could have as many as 1,400 to 1,600 horses.  They train on the track and then either race here at Churchill Downs or go to other tracks located in Kentucky or other states.  The groomers and the trainers stay on the backside of the track in dorms much like the college dorms.  The groomers stay with the horses all the time if they are traveling to other tracks to race or if they are training here.  If the horse gets upset during the night, the groomer is the first to see about him or her.  The Kentucky Derby is run the first weekend in May every year.  They say because the weather is better than any other time.  The track is one mile and a quarter and it is maintained every day.  They check the dampness of the ground and either add water or plow it until it is dry enough for the horses to train or race.  They even have a test area where they come out each morning and scrap the ground to see how wet or dry it is.

The museum has a theater that plays races from the past on a 360 degree screen.  It also shows the track getting ready for the race and the horses being led to the track by what they call ponies.  A pony can be a quarter horse or something else and they are there to lead the race horse to the starting gate and to keep them calm before the race.  In the stalls, the horse spend most of their time.  They are put on the track for about 30 minutes each day, then given a bath, a change of horseshoes if needed and put in the stall.  The stalls have toys for the horses to entertain themselves.  Some have balls on a rope and others just have a rope hanging outside the stall.  They reach out and bite it or make it bounce on the walls.  This was very interesting to watch. 

Horse racing is a family sport and you see a lot of father and sons around the track doing different jobs such as the groomer, trainer, exercise rider or the poop expert.  Speaking of poop they sell the stuff to farmers and other horse farms for fertilizer!!

After Churchill Downs we went to Louisville Slugger factory and took a tour of the factory to watch them make wooden bats for the Major League teams.  (They also make aluminum bats for college and little league teams, but not here in Louisville).  A lot of the Major League stars design their own bat or they may choose a bat another player designed.  It takes 40,000 trees a year to supply the teams with bats.  Most of the trees are grown in New York or Pennsylvania.  They are either maple or white ash trees.  They have farms in the above states that raise enough wood to supply the factory with trees.  They replant every time they harvest the trees.

This is the test dirt

Starting Gate used in Kentucky Derby

stables on backside

The two spires are a landmark for the Churchill Downs.  I forgot why but they were added years later after Churchill Downs was finished and were done during a remodeling I believe.

Inside one of the gardens of the Derby

All the winners are posted on a wall around the buildings and the Triple Crown winners are in gold letters.

Winners Circle, the horse comes here after winning the race and gets roses placed around their neck.

After the Kentucky Derby we went to the Louisville Slugger, but they would not let us take photos during the tour for obvious reasons.

It has taken three days to complete the blog and loading these photos.  The WIFI here does not load fast at all.  So I may wait until we get home tomorrow to post the Bourbon Tour photos

We traveled the Colonies yesterday looking at all the sites and of course spending too much money on things that we could have done without (like wine)!!  The trail around the
Colonies is about 17 miles long.  You travel it by car.  We ran into some locals from Iowa that said a lot of the good restaurants and shops had closed or went out of business in the last 10 years.  But we found a woolen shop that was great and also a furniture maker that was very good.  Expensive but good quality furniture.  They also have a good meat shop and we bought some breakfast meat and other goodies there.  Some of the buildings date back about 150 years according to the merchants running them now.  Some of the villages are not as big as the others and they had nothing of interest open when we went through there.  In case you did not see the other post there are seven different villages that make up the Colonies.  It looked as though each one had a post office even though they were only a couple miles from each other.  One village had a furniture shop with a broom maker inside and a huge rocker in a building that housed a museum for basket weavers.  (I do not remember any of their names)  They had some great baskets in there.  You will see the photos of me rocking Cindy to sleep.  We started to buy it but I do not think the Kayak rack would hold it to get it home.

These are some of the older homes in Middle Amana.

 Another furniture store located in Amana the biggest village or town.

 Another street in Amana with the woolen factory at the end of the street.

 Spinning yarn into a blanket.  This equipment is old.  I know because as a young lad I worked in a textile factory with one just like it.

Well of course they sell wine here!!  Cindy laid down under the barrel trying to catch a few drops of the good stuff!!

Tomorrow is a travel day and we go to our last stop on this trip.  We will be staying at Louisville KOA campground.  Hoping to get a good tour of the horse farms around there and also see the Kentucky Derby grounds or Churchill Downs as it is called.  We are there for about 6 days and will tour some of the breweries and then head home for a few days before going to see my sister in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.  Really looking forward to that trip.

Arrived at Amana Colonies, Iowa

We stayed at Lewis and Clark State Park in Onawa, Iowa,  for several days before arriving in Amana Colonies yesterday.  At Lewis and Clark State Park there was no internet, so I could not post anything.  We arrived there last Sunday and it was crowded with people and boats.  By Monday all that had cleared out and there were only a few campers left to enjoy the park.  Problem was the wind.  We had plans to do some kayaking on the water, but the wind was blowing about 35 miles an hour and the water was choppy and if you drifted down the river you could not paddle back up.  On Tuesday they were strong all around us and we got some rain but not as bad as other areas north and west of us.  You could see the dark heavy clouds and lighting from where we were but the rain did not last long.  We were able to to get out and walk in the park on Tuesday some and see the Keel Boat that is parked there.  It is a replica, of course, from the Lewis and Clark  adventures and is parked there for viewing and some parties get to float around the river on it.  But only those that are special and we are not in that group. They did fire off the cannon on Tuesday before the rains came when a group was out on the river.

We are now at the Amana Colonies, which is seven villages built close to each other and served as communal living for some Germans that moved here in 1855.  The had stated a religious church in Germany in the 1700 and were persecuted for their beliefs and moved in 1840s to Buffalo, New York.   They grew to about 1200 to 1600 folks and needed more space for growing food and building material to supply everyone with all their needs.  They found 26,000 acres here in Amana Iowa and moved.  In the 1930 they gave up the communal living and each person was on their own for food and material things but the colonies still remained here and the people still worked in the shops doing their trades.  They have a Woolen Mill, Meat Shop and Smokehouse, Furniture Shops, Winery and Brewing Shops, Clock Shops, Cooper Shops and Communal Kitchens, a Tinsmith,  and a broom and basket shop.  This is only a part of the list.  We are going exploring today to see every thing.  I will try to post it tomorrow.

 Our view of the river

Other empty campsites

Kearney, NE August 20, 2016

It rained all day yesterday so this is the only attraction that we went to and did not go to Pioneer Village or to Fort Kearney.  But hopefully we will today. 

 This is  the archway that goes across Interstate 80.  I am on the west side of the Interstate taking the photo.

 These are some type of decorations at the top of the structure that I thought were great.

This is two hitchhikers I found on the way at the front entrance.

 This is on the West Side is of the Interstate on the inside.  This just shows how they have it setup throughout the museum.