Day 98 ~ Feltus Holler Farm

Arriving at the Front Door for Breakfast (l-r) Gregory, Mike and Brian. This is Beth and Garry's new home. Isn't the limestone surround on the front door beautiful?

Brian and Garry chatting while Garry cooks up some fabulous french toast made with homemade bread.

Saying Goodbye to Brian out in front of the Cottage

Hiking on Feltus Holler Farm (l-r) Mike, Beth, Gregory and Robin

Mike and Beth help Gregory avoid wet tennis shoes.

Patterns of Nature

Gregory on a Nature Hunt

Beth let me borrow her boots for the hike. Isn't this a beautiful mossy rock?

Beth and Gregory

Beth and Rusty

Robin is covered with burrs after our hike about the property.

I get the fun job of cleaning out the pumpkin.

Gregory the Master Carver

The Final Work Of Art

Date: October 25, 2009

From: Caneyville, Kentucky

To: Caneyville, Kentucky

Route:

Miles Today: 0 miles

TOTAL MILES: 2, 684 miles

Top Speed on this trip: 54.1 mph

Weather: 60s with clear blue skies

License Plates Collected: 5 Montana, 8 Wyoming (2 motorcycle) and 1 Idaho (found in WY), 2 Colorado, 1 Kansas (Gifted from David of Baldwin City), 1 Missouri (To be sent to Grammy’s by our new buddy, Kansas City firefighter Shawn), 1 Illinois, 2 Kentucky (Gifted from of Beth and Garry Feltus)

Flats: 8

Broken Spokes: 3

Cracked Rim: 1

We lolly gagged around all morning, getting up at 8:00 A.M. and joining Beth, Garry and Jeannie for breakfast well after the hour. We had a leisurely breakfast feasting on quiche, bacon and french toast along with endless cups of delicious coffee. We took plenty of time to visit and I finally had an opportunity to see Beth's scrapbook that she kept while preparing to build their home. What a lot of wonderful ideas they were able to incorporate. I especially like the use of old doors (with original hardware) that have been refinished. They had a goal to make the home very energy efficient and they paid a lot of attention to detail. The home was constructed with the NUDRA double foam insulated concrete core. See Nudura.com for more information.

We broke out the Kentucky map and talked more about the alternate Mammoth Caves route. When Beth came up with an alternate route of her own (about 45 miles from the house) that made more sense, Brian opted to take a day and check it out. We were still on the fence because now it was nearing the noon time hour. In addition, we hadn't carved the pumpkin and Gregory was eager to visit with the horses and hike around the property to see the caves Beth and Garry mentioned the previous day. When Beth welcomed us to stay another night we quickly agreed that it made more sense for us. In addition it would give my seat a day of rest. Our hosts even provided some Udder Cream (also used on cow teats) and I got busy using that right away. I actually think between that and Tucks I'm doing much better.

We said our goodbyes to Brian who has a goal of finishing the TransAm by his 33rd birthday on November 7th. He is very nice fellow and we were happy that we pushed on to Sebree to stay with him last night and that he slowed down and agreed to spend yesterday and last night with us. I wish him the best on the rest of his journey and with life back in Portland upon his return.

Beth took us on a long hike across the property (they have 70 acres) and down to the creek and caves. The weather was fine and we wore shorts and short sleeves much to our delight. We did have to do some bushwhacking along the way and got a couple of minor scratches and the blurs grabbed onto our socks and clothing. We soaked in the beauty of the land and the peacefulness of hiking through this unspoiled area. I can see why they chose to make the move from their large 4,000 square foot home in New Jersey to the beauty of the countryside with not a neighbor in sight. Beth can continue to run her business from home and Garry is fortunate to be enjoying retirement. I keep meeting and hearing about more and more people working from home...

Gregory and I spent the afternoon (2+ hours) carving our pumpkin. Of course Gregory chose one of the more complicated designs from the booklet! It was fun though and it turned out exceptionally good I must say! After writing in his journal, Gregory spent some more time playing Frisbee with the dogs. All this time Mike was going through everything we are carrying with a discriminating eye and is making up a box to see to North Carolina. He doesn't want to carry all this weight through the rest of Kentucky and over the Appalachians!

Today we connected with Mike's cousin in Louisville and plan to meet up with her in Bardstown on Thursday night or Friday morning. It looks like we will be in Louisville for Halloween on Friday and Gregory can go trick-or-treating with his cousins. Mike's cousins Kim and Julie both have kids Gregory's age and we are eager for him to meet them and to see the girls, their families and Auntie Barb and Uncle Dave as well. Tomorrow we plan to ride to Mammoth Cave National Park and then take Tuesday to explore these amazing caves. I'm really pleased with how things have worked out and I'm looking forward to our next week here in Kentucky. Coming up are visits to Abraham Lincoln's Birthplace National Historic Site and Lincoln's Boyhood Home.