June 26

Day 29

We are home!!

We left Heber City, UT this morning and pulled into our driveway this afternoon. 

We took Hwy 189 through Provo Canyon, passed by Bridal Veil Falls, down through Orem to I-15.  Avoided all of the SLC traffic and had an uneventful trip home. 

After being away from home for a month it was nice to be back.  The garden was doing well, the yard looks great, and not very many weeds to pull.

Got the MH emptied and everything put away, now all we have to do is wash it, ugh!!  The Chevelle needs a good washing also.  These projects are for another day.

We had a great time on the Hot Rod Power Tour.  Had fun with Seth and Sophia, our friend and his daughter from Georgia that joined us on part of the Power Tour.  Saw some great country, enjoyed our tours of the Lost Sea Adverture in Sweetwater, TN, Mammoth Caves in Cave City, KY, the tour of the Barton 1792 Distillery, before one of the buildings collapsed, spending time with Mike Garner and family in LeClaire, IA.  Steve got a treat in going on a John Deere factory tour, and our Mississippi River Cruise was awesome. 

Our next adventure?????

Hope you have enjoyed reading along with us.

Renie & Steve

June 25

Day 28

Left Cheyenne, WY headed for Heber City, UT.  Wow, we will be back in Utah today.

Outside of Cheyenne at a rest stop there is a huge statue of Abraham Lincoln.  We did not stop so I don't know what the dedication says, but I did get a picture of the statue.  Very impressive.

As we were traveling along I-80 we started passing Nascar Trucks hauling cars to Chicago for this weekends race.  The trucks were coming from Sonama, CA.  Lots of graphics and great looking big rigs.  We were expecting to see a parade of Prevost Buses, but only saw a couple.  Not sure where or how the drivers were getting to Chicago, but they don't travel with their cars.  This was fun!!

Arrived in Heber City in the afternoon to a very nice RV park recommended by our friend's Rick and Jean, Mt. Valley RV Resort.

June 24

Day 27

We decided to head to Cheyenne, WY this morning instead of making our way down to Denver for our trek home.  Had some horrendous rain this afternoon while we were getting fuel.  We sat the worse of the storm out and then hit the road again. 

We passed under Kearney Archway.  The Archway is a museum of and monument to Nebraska's and the Platte River valley's role in westward expansion.  The Archway is directly over Interstate 80 three miles east of Kearney, Nebraska. 

Passed by the original Cabela's in Sidney, NE but did not stop.  We really considered stopping and buying some fishing gear since we are going to be so close to Flaming Gorge, but decided with all of the gear we have at home that would be silly. 

Made it to our RV park in Cheyenne,WY in time to watch the Nascar Race being held in Sonoma, CA today.  Relaxed while we watched the race and then went to the Restaurant at the RV park for smoked brisket for dinner. 

We are slowly making our way home after being gone for 4 weeks. 

June 23

Day 26

This morning we said our goodbyes to Mike and Family and headed down the road toward York, Nebraska.  This was very much a travel day.  You do see a few strange things as you travel, take note of the covered wagon or whatever it is, that we saw off of Interstate 80.

We arrived at the campground in York in enough time to do laundry, fix some dinner, watch a little TV, read a little of our books and call it a day.  Our TV and books are been along for the ride with very little use in the last month.  Wow, we have been busy.

So, after we visited this distillery, This happened.  I mean, we were in the same building the day before.  We think.  

Thousands of bourbon barrels come crashing down in distillery collapse

A bourbon distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky saw 9,000 barrels of still-aging drink come crashing down when a building collapsed Friday morning.

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Emily Maher

✔@WLKYEmily

BREAKING: Crews on scene at a building collapse at @Barton1792. Bardstown Fire Chief says they got the call around 11a. Bourbon barrels are stacked up in the mess.

10:39 AM - Jun 22, 2018 · Louisville, KY

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Officials said no one was harmed at Barton 1792 when the rickhouse, a storage structure for aging bourbon, suffered partial structural failure. The matter could have been worse, as the building housed roughly 20,000 barrels total. An EPA team is investigating potential spillage of the bourbon into a nearby creek. 

The structure reportedly dates back to the 1940s, and concerns of its stability have set teams to make repairs to prevent further collapse.

The distillery told WKYT it will close its visitor center and not offer tours for the rest of Friday. It plans to reopen Saturday morning.

Bardstown has been called the "bourbon capital of the world." It's located about 40 miles from Louisville, Kentucky. 

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June 21 and 22

Day 24 and 25

Well, since we were on the Mississippi I checked to see what there was to do near Le Claire, IA.  I found a 2 day Riverboat Cruise.  Steve and I have discussed several times about going on a Mississippi River Cruise, but the cost is more than we want to spend.  Sooooo, I found one that looked like it would be fun and affordable.  We left Thursday morning, left the MH and Chevelle with Mike at the farm, boarded the Riverboat for Dubuque, IA.  From Le Claire to Dubuque by car it is about 1-1/2 hour trip.  By Riverboat it was a 10 hour trip, going up river and against the current.  We went through Lock 12 and 13.  This is very interesting.  Had great meals.  We spent the night in Dubuque at the Grand Harbor hotel and wandered over to the Casino for an hour or so.  What Steve lost at Roulette, I made up for half of it on a Penny machine.  Crazy huh!!

On Friday morning the Riverboat provided us with a shuttle to go do some sight seeing.  We went to the Methodist Church to see the leaded glass windows that were created by Tiffany, himself.  These windows are absolutely beautiful.  Our next stop was at the Fourth Street Cable Car.  The person that had this built worked in town but lived up on the hill.  He wanted to go home for lunch each day, but the walk up the hill was too much so he decided to have this built.  Boy, is it steep.  Very interesting.  Our final stop was at the Mississippi Riverboat Museum and Aquarium  This is definitely a great place to take kids.  Very interactive displays and lots of fun for the little ones.

We boarded the Riverboat at 11:30 a.m. for our return to Le Claire.  The return trip only took about 6 hours because we were going down stream and the current was going with us.  We met some great people and just had a very nice time.  I would recommend this adventure to anyone.  It was relaxing, way too much to eat and very interesting history.  We saw lots of Bald Eagles along the way.  They are beautiful.

Mike picked us up from the dock and we headed back to the farm to get ready to leave for home.

Oh, did I mention that while we were in Dubuque at the hotel, Steve got a call from his previous boss at Parker wanting to know where he was and when he would be available to help them out on a problem? 

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House on stilts on the Mississippi

This is called the May fly.  Seems they live for only one or two days a year and make a mess of things while they reproduce.  We left before the major "blum" the next day. Apparently, they have to actually close the streets down due to the slim.  Yuck. 

June 20

Day 23

When Steve asked Mike if it was ok to stop by for a visit, Mike said that would be great and it is a great time for Steve to show up.  Mike and his Father own a Corn and Soy Bean farm.  It is the same farm that we shipped the Cobra to for the Rt. 66 adventure.

Mike and his Dad had a tour set up for Wednesday, the 20th, at John Deere to see and fire up their new Combine.  This was called a Turn Key tour cause they got to turn the key on their new very expensive machine.  Mike asked Steve to go along.  Of course, you know that Steve loved this.  Mike's 16 year old daughter, Katie went along also and she got to Turn the Key.  How exciting was that.

While Steve and the others were off to John Deere I went into Le Claire and wandered through the shops.  Picked up a few groceries that we were out of and just wandered the town.  Had fun in the Chocolate shop, Le Claire Olive Oil Shop and all of the touristy shops.  Went to Antique Archaeology but they were not open yet so did not wander their shop.

Mike and family fixed us Rib Eyes for dinner and we shared some fresh tuna that we had with us.  They had never had fresh tuna before and it was a hit with Mike, Lisa, Katie, Sammie and Jenny.  So glad that we could introduce them to something different and that they all scarfed it up.