Helena, AL to Dothan, AL

After leaving Cherokee Campground this morning, we stopped at a Texaco in Prattville to get gas & paid $2.759 a gallon.

We were getting hungry & I checked the Next Exit book & found that there was a McAllister's Deli at the next exit. We had this sudden craving for their Broccoli & Cheese soup. So we pulled off of I-65 at the exit for our Broccoli & Cheese soup fix.

Since we're going to be parked for a while at The Willows in Dothan, we stopped at Sam's Club to fill up the RV. There we paid $2.709 a gallon for gas. We noticed that the further south we drove that the gas prices were getting lower.

We're here in Dothan to have our regular medical & dental checkups. Tinker also needs to see the vet & get vaccinated for Lyme Disease. We also ran out of his heartworm medicine last month & he'll need to be tested so we can start it up again.

We don't know how long we'll be staying here in Dothan (it could be all winter), so we won't be traveling for a while.

Collinsville, AL to Helena, AL

We said goodbye to Symphony & Al this morning. We then drove 110 miles south to Cherokee Campground in Helena, AL.

Our friends, Dale & his wife Steffie, came over from Birmingham tonight for a visit. We had a great time catching up on each other's news.

We're only staying here at Cherokee Campground just the one night.

Nessa's restaurant

Here is a photo of Mike & Symphony just before she left for work at Nessa's restaurant.

From Collinsville, AL

Tonight Mike, Al & I went into Collinsville to eat dinner at Nessa's.

From Collinsville, AL

Nessa started out with a catering business & this year has opened a restaurant in downtown Collinsville. Symphony was already at Nessa's - she works there as a waitress (she also works in Nessa's catering business). We had a wonderful dinner - the food was excellent. Mike had the Greek Spaghetti, I had the Chicken Picata & Al had Lasagna. We all had Baklava for dessert.

From Collinsville, AL

So if you are ever near Collinsville, AL, stop by Nessa's for lunch or dinner - we can't recommend it highly enough. Also, her desserts are terrific.

Collinsville, AL

We're having a nice visit with Symphony & Al - and Tinker & Chrissie are having a great visit, too.

From Collinsville, AL

Here is Al walking Chrissie -

From Collinsville, AL

Dayton, TN to Collinsville, AL

We left Dayton, TN this morning about our usual departure time of 10:30. We stayed on US-27 until we picked up I-24 west of Chattanooga, TN & then onto I-59. The first thing we noticed when we crossed into Alabama were the wildflowers that were in the median - how pretty.

From Collinsville, AL

We stopped at the rest area on I-59 just inside the Alabama state line for lunch.

We arrived at our friends', Symphony & Al, in the early afternoon. We'll be staying here until Saturday.

From Collinsville, AL

Lexington, KY to Dayton, TN

We got up earlier than our usual time this morning. After getting the RV ready to leave this morning, I drove the Saturn into Lexington to the post office to pick up our mail. While I was doing that, Mike was dumping our holding tanks at the dump station. Mike then drove over to the Fayette Mall on the south side of Lexington where we met. After hitching up the Saturn we headed south on US-27. We stopped for gas at an Exxon in Wartburg, TN where we paid $2.93 a gallon.

We stayed on US-27 until we reached the Wal-Mart Supercenter south of Dayton, TN where we are spending the night.

Kentucky Horse Park

The office here at the campground sells tickets for the The Kentucky Horse Park. The ticket for the American Saddlebred Museum is included in with the price for the Kentucky Horse Park.

The American Saddlebred Museum is located inside the Kentucky Horse Park (they share the same parking lot). At the American Saddlebred Museum we learned about this special breed of horse. They were ridden by the frontiersmen & farmers in the cavalry in the American Revolution. They accompanied the pioneers west into Kentucky & into the Western Frontier. They served in all the wars & battles up to the Civil War. General Robert E. Lee's Traveller, General Grant's Cincinnati, General Sherman's Lexington, & General Stonewall Jackson's Little Sorrell, were all American Saddle horses. The American Saddle Horse also served on the Confederate side in the commands of Generals John Hunt Morgan and Nathan Bedford Forrest.

From Lexington, KY

After entering through the Main Gate of the Kentucky Horse Park complex, you pass by the statue of Secretariat.

From Lexington, KY

A pathway to our left lead to the Man O' War Memorial. Along the pathway we came upon a blue post marked "Start" & farther on down 3 more posts. These posts show the various length of strides of past racing champions. The left orange pole shows Secretariats 24 ft. stride. The center orange pole shows John Henry's 25½ ft. stride. The orange pole on the right shows Man O' War's 28 ft. stride.

From Lexington, KY

In the International Museum of the Horse we learned about the evolution of the horse through the ages. There were displays of various saddles, bridles, wagons, transportation vehicles through history.

We attended the Parade of Breeds show that highlights some of the different breeds at the Kentucky Horse Park. Among the breeds we saw during the show, were the Nokota (descended from North Dakota wild horses), Marwari (India), Spanish Mustang, Arabian, & the Friesian (Friesland in northern Finland).

From Lexington, KY

From Lexington, KY

We then visited the draft horses in their barn, viewed horse farm equipment & various horse-drawn carriages. We really enjoyed our visit to the museums - the horses were beautiful & the displays were great.

I have more photos from both museums in our Lexington, KY album.

Thoroughbred Park, Lexington, KY

This afternoon we drove into Lexington to locate the downtown post office & visit the Thoroughbred Park. When we were returning to our cousins' house after visiting the Lexington Cemetery yesterday, our route took us by the Thoroughbred Park. Since we're staying another day, we decided to visit the Thoroughbred Park today & go to the Kentucky Horse Park tomorrow.

The Thoroughbred Park covers 2.5 acres and is dedicated to the Thoroughbred industry. The first thing you see are 7 life-size bronze racehorses racing for the finish line. "Grazing" nearby are bronze sculptures of mares, foals & and the stallion, Lexington.

From Lexington, KY

From Lexington, KY

There is a walkway that winds through the park with bronze plaques at various places on the path. There is a plaque for Queen Elizabeth and one for Bing Crosby & many others for people who were influential in the history of the thoroughbred horse & Lexington.

Visit with Nancy & Ben

We spent this afternoon & evening visiting with Mike's cousin Nancy and her husband Ben.

Nancy & Ben took us to the Lexington Cemetery to see the grave marker of Mike's great granduncle, Richard J. Foley. He was a Sergeant in the Union Army in Company A, 6th KY Cavalry. He was captured & sent to Andersonville & Cahaba prisons. Toward the end of the Civil War the prisoners were sent to Vicksburg in preparation to being returned home. In April 1865 Richard & 1800-2000 prisoners boarded the steamship Sultana & headed north up the Mississippi River. On April 27 south of Memphis the boilers ruptured & the Sultana sank. Richard was among the dead & his body was never found. The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War were instrumental in having the grave marker done & held a memorial service with military honors in September. Nancy was the coordinator with them & read copies of letters Richard had written home while waiting in Vicksburg. We had hoped to attend, but weren't able. For more information on the Sultana disaster, go to The Sultana: Death on the Dark River.

We then returned to Nancy & Ben's house to visit & catch up on each other's news. We enjoyed meeting their three cats which they didn't have the last time we saw Nancy & Ben. We had had three cats before we started full-timing; they are now living with our son in Big Pine Key, FL. We swapped cat stories all the way through dinner & dessert.

Kentucky Horse Park Campground

We left Lakewood Village RV Resort in Wapakoneta, Ohio this morning at our usual departure time of 10:30. We had planned on stopping at a rest area on I-75 near Monroe, Ohio for lunch, but the rest area was closed because of highway construction. We found a Wal-Mart Supercenter just down the road at West Chester where we parked & made lunch. Then we're back on the road to Lexington, KY.


We got into the campground at the Kentucky Horse Park a little after 3 p.m. (185 miles from Wapakoneta). We had made reservations some time ago, so check-in was quick. This is our first visit to the Kentucky Horse Park. We had driven through the campground several years ago when we had been in Lexington on vacation, so we were somewhat familiar with it.

From Lexington, KY

We went to the post office closest to the campground to pick up our mail from General Delivery. Well, they don't take General Delivery at that post office - it goes to the one downtown & it is closed on Saturday. We had tried calling the post office before we had the mail sent, but you could only listen to a recording. We are scheduled to leave Lexington on Monday & it is a holiday. When we got back to the campground, Mike went to the office & extended our stay another day.