Our Kentucky Derby caravan was scheduled for April 27 through May 3, 2008. We arrived at the camping area, the Kentucky Exposition Center (I.e. fairgrounds) and learned that our “campsite” was actually in a parking lot. But there were electric and water hookups so we settled in for the week.
There were many planned activities during the week including bus tours of Louisville and Lexington, a visit to the Thoroughbred Training Center and the Vietnam Memorial, the Louisville Slugger factory, and reserved seats at the Pegasus Parade. We had dinner at Claudia Sanders’ Dinner House, Colonel Sanders’ widow’s restaurant and several other meals with the caravan group. On Thursday, the group had “Dawn at the Downs”, giving us an opportunity to check out Churchill Downs before the crowds hit.
On Friday, we went to The Oaks, the races that are held each year on the day before the Derby. It poured down rain that day and everyone crowded into the buildings. We figured out quickly that there were way too many people for us AND that our reserved seats were not in a good location. It was great fun to watch all the people at The Derby but what we discovered was that most of the attendees were more interested in partying than in watching the races. We were very disappointed with our seats. We were in grandstands that were not elevated so we did not see one race. And while Churchill Downs is a beautiful facility, the ease of betting and getting food and drinks cannot hold a candle to Oaklawn. We’re glad that we went but as the old saying goes, been there done that. We did make some nice friends, though, and we have seen them again since the Derby. That’s the nicest part of caravanning. In fact, several of us made a stop in Bowling Green to tour the National Corvette Museum and Assembly Plant.
From Bowling Green, we headed northeast to the beautiful state of West Virginia. I don’t believe any other state has such crooked roads! We particularly wanted to see the beautiful old Greenbrier Hotel and its underground bunker. We were able to tour the bunker and learned much. It seems that in the late 1950s, the U.S. government approached The Greenbrier for assistance in creating a secret emergency relocation center to house Congress in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust. The classified, underground facility, dubbed "Project Greek Island", was built at the same time as the West Virginia Wing (an above-ground addition to the hotel), from 1959 to 1962.
For thirty years, The Greenbrier owners maintained an agreement with the federal government that, in the event of an international crisis, the entire resort property would be conveyed to government use, specifically as the emergency location for the legislative branch. The underground facility contained a dormitory, kitchen, hospital, and a broadcast center for members of Congress. The latter had changeable seasonal backdrops to appear as if members of Congress were broadcasting from Washington, D.C. A 100-foot radio tower was installed 4.5 miles away for these broadcasts. The convention center, used by The Greenbrier guests for business meetings, was actually a disguised workstation area for members of Congress complete with hidden, 30-ton blast doors. The walls of the bunker were made of reinforced concrete designed to withstand a nuclear blast in Washington, D.C. The center was maintained by government workers posing as hotel audiovisual employees, and operated under a dummy company named Forsythe Associates. Many of these same workers are now employed by the hotel and, for a time, gave guided tours. The complex is still maintained by The Greenbrier, and the facility remains much as it was in 1992, when the secret was revealed by a reporter in the national press. While almost all of the furnishings were removed following the decommissioning of the bunker, the facility now has similar period furnishings to approximate what the bunker looked like while it was still in operation. Two of the original bunks in the dormitories remain. Although the bunker was kept stocked with supplies for 30 years, it was never actually used as an emergency location, even during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The bunker's existence was not acknowledged until The Washington Post revealed it in a 1992 story; immediately after the Post story, the government decommissioned the bunker.
Our next destination was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. It was really fun to relive memories of our younger years through music. The museum is very well done. Our next destination was Indiana. We wanted to see the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, the Notre Dame campus, the RV Hall of Fame and we wanted to visit some of the Amish communities and tour some RV manufacturing plants. We were able to accomplish all our goals and found Indiana to be a lovely state.
The Studebaker brothers got their start in the Gold Rush days. One brother manufactured wheel barrows that he sold to miners. With his earnings, he bought out one of his brother’s blacksmith shop and began manufacturing carriages in South Bend. From there, it’s all history. In 1913, they were the 4th largest automobile manufacturer in the country but in 1966, the last Studebaker rolled off the assembly line in Canada.
We toured the Newmar RV factory in Nappanee where most of the male workers were Amish. We found it interesting that the Amish don’t use power tools in their personal life but do use them to do their jobs in the factory. Neither do they have telephones yet we saw them talking on phones during our tour. Strange. Newmar produces high quality motorhomes, 5th wheels, and luxury motorhomes. Unlike other manufacturers, they only manufacture pre-sold RVs. At their peak, they made about 5,000 RVs a year.
Working our way back home, we stopped off in Springfield, Illinois to visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. It was really neat – one of the better Presidential Library/Museums we’ve seen. It is quite different from others in that they did not collect documents and artifacts during his term so most of the items in the museum are reproductions, although there are some items that belonged to the Lincolns.
Upon our return to Arkansas, we met our dear friends, Bill and Diane, at Mt. Magazine in late May for a long weekend. Then Jerry and I settled into Southgate RV Park in Fayetteville to begin planning the construction of our dream home on the lot we bought in 1998. We worked with a local architect to design exactly what we wanted and picked our builder. The house site was cleared and the driveway cut in when the stock market crashed. We took a break and took Bubba to Sweeden Island, near Russellville for a couple of weeks. We took several hikes and tried to regain our composure following the shock of the market situation. We made the decision to put the house on hold for a year or so and continue our travels to allow the market to rebound. When you have a motorhome, you can do that!
We went to our cabin in mid-November and settled in for the winter. We had a lovely Thanksgiving with Jerry’s Uncle Dan and we enjoyed Christmas in the woods. We also celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary on New Year’s Day. In early January, we learned that Jerry’s brother, Jim, who lived in Sonoma, CA had had a recurrence of lymphoma from 8 years earlier. He was in the hospital in San Francisco and his wife, Sally, who is unable to drive, had no way of getting there to see him. Jim and Sally both called to ask if we could come out and help them, as they (like us) have no children. So, on January 17, we took Bubba out of storage, loaded him up and the following morning, we headed west. More about that later.
Until next time, happy trails to you . . . til we meet again!