10 State Week!

 A few weeks ago, I wrote about our 6-state week which is pretty easy in the upper northeast where the states are small and bundled together. The fact that 5 of those 6 were new states to us was a bonus! This week we hit 10 states! 2 of which were new to us. But these states were big ones which meant a lot more windshield time.

Over the past four months we have traveled a total of 10,014 miles through 18 states and 5 provinces seeing some really beautiful country. Several of them we could have seen ourselves living in another life. When we started our RVing adventures in 2014 our goal was to see new sights, enjoy life and find a place we would like to live out the rest of our lives. Before we chose the Black Hills of South Dakota there were several areas on our short list. The Northwoods of Wisconsin, the Sequim area of Washington, the Zion area of Utah and the mountain areas of Montana and Idaho. One by one we eliminated areas for one reason or another (too many mosquitoes, too humid, too cold, too remote....) until we only had one remaining. Even now, when we visit new places, we cannot help but wonder; Could we see ourselves living here? Nova Scotia and Newfoundland would an interesting place to live but not with the winters they have. The mountains of Vermont are incredible, and one could live a quiet and peaceful life out there. So many beautiful places. 

Another one of those beautiful places are the hills of Kentucky, another new state for us. Our main reason for coming was to meet up with our good friends, Jim and Brenda who after 18 or so years of fulltiming have bought a house in the Hillsboro area of Kentucky! I don't remember off the top of my head where we met Jim and Brenda, probably down in Quartzsite. But this will make the 4th state we have met up with them in over the years. You may recall that they were our neighbors here in South Dakota when they bought the 40 acres next to us when they visited us in 2017. 

They now have some acreage and a house waaaaaay out in the country. You can look at their blog here to see some of the improvements they have been making and see the incredible views from their deck. 

 Of course, as is our tradition with them we started off our visit with them with a beer tasting. Barb had picked up several dark beers on our travels with this tasting specifically in mind. I am not a dark beer person, so I was more of an observer. 

A few of the beers they sampled

The next day they took us on a tour of the area which included Hartfield & Company Distillery. This area of Kentucky is right in the middle of the Bourbon Trail. Over a dozen distilleries within an hour or so of their house.  We had a very informative tour, and a tasting. Neither Barb or I are connoisseurs of bourbon, but it is very interesting to learn the process and try different types of bourbon. 

The other thing that is remarkable about this area are the horse farms. I am talking multimillion dollar horse farms that are absolutely beautiful! After the distillery tour, we went to Lexington for a quick stop at.....

We have not been to a Total Wine and More for several years. We need one of these in Rapid City!

We spent the rest of the afternoon catching up and watching the dozens of hummingbirds flitting around their feeders. And I am not exaggerating with I say dozens. There were hummingbirds everywhere! They have 7 feeders that they have to fill a couple times a day!

Look at that incredible view as well!

All too soon, it was time for bed and our time with them was done. 

The next day we hit the road and headed west to our next destination in Missouri. On the way we drove to Bardstown which has over a 1/2 dozen distilleries right in town. We only had time for one so we chose Lux Row Distillers. In addition to the Lux Row line, they make the Rebel bourbon line, Ezra Brooks, Daviess County, Blood Oath and David Nicholson. 

We had a great tour guide that walked us through each stage of distilling in their plant. 

They have 3 rickhouses that hold 20,000 barrels each!

From there we continued west with the plan to stop by a friends place in Missouri for the night before making our two-day trek home, but a family emergency came up and we were not able to meet up. This change of plans put us a day ahead, so we had to decide what to do. Do we find another adventure to take up that day or do we continue west and get home? 

Well, we must have really missed home because over the next two days we drove and we drove, and we drove. 567 miles the first day, and 830 miles the second day finally making it home at 9:00pm on Friday night. It was so good to sleep in our own bed!

When we got home, it looked like someone had missed us as we found this on our kitchen island when we entered the house.

We did not tell anyone we were coming home early so when Kevin called the next morning and asked where we were, I told him that we were still in Missouri. After we hung up Barb and I jumped in the jeep and drove over to their house. Cheryl heard us pull up and came out. The look of surprise on her face was priceless! Then Kevin came out, smiled, ran right past me and into Barb's arms. I guess I know where I stand! I think I even saw a tear roll down his face!

The other thing that missed us was our driveway and patio area. I think next time we need to hire a landscaper to keep the weeds at bay!

It is so good to be back home after that long, and that many miles. I will try to put together a recap of our Maritimes adventure in an upcoming post. But for now, it is time to unpack, relax (after weeding), catch up with friends and soak up what is remaining of the South Dakota summer!