Howdy Y'all

Well, it is almost time for me to leave Georgia. I am leaving on Tuesday morning, and I am ready to go. I love it here, and wish I could have stayed longer, but it is time for me to head back home. I miss family and friends and my own bed! And I miss the beach! I have been having a great time out here, and know that I will be back again some day. But I am looking forward to seeing Spencer soon! And my Grandfather and my Mom! Our little trip to Austin is going to be so much fun. I cant wait.

So lately around here I have just been riding horses, playing with dogs and doing some work around the ranch. It is so hot during the afternoon that we cant work outside, so we have to work in the morning and evening. But in the evening you get eaten alive by bugs, so it makes it difficult. I have been working a lot with one Tennessee Walker named Georgia Belle, and she is doing really well now. She had no manners and was completely untrained when I first got on her, but now she walks great and listens really well too. I love riding horses around here. I ride around to the lake and through the woods and it is so nice. I wish I had room at my house for a horse.

I tried homemade peach ice cream, and it was the best thing I have ever tasted! I dont even like ice cream, but that stuff was amazing! Along with sweet tea and red velvet cake (the real stuff) I am pretty much in heaven here.

But not much new is happening. I am leaving here and picking up Spencer in Little Rock on Tuesday evening, so I will be driving all day on Tuesday. It is about a 10 hour drive from here to Little Rock. Then on Friday we are driving from Arkansas to Austin, Texas to pick up my mom. So a lot more driving is ahead of me, but it means I am closer to getting home so I am excited.


I will talk to you all soon! See you in Arkansas!

This is a 2 day old foal. She can barely stand because she doesn't have any balance 

This is Hamlet, our little pot bellied pig. 

A grave marker at Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, Georgia

Rose Hill Cemetery

Sea Nettle Jellyfish at the Georgia Aquarium

Whale Shark in a 2 million gallon tank. He weighs about 40,000 pounds and is over 15 feet long. He is still a baby

Large Manta Rays

-Sam

Riding Lawnmowers

Hello,

Today was a really fun day! We all went to the lake, and there is a little cove there that is similar to a beach. We took all the dogs and a small paddle boat and paddled around the cove with the dogs in the back. The dogs loved the water and swam the whole time! It was really hot out, and the water was even warm so it wasn't very cooling, but still very fun. The lake is close to the house so it was a nice little trip out there. Then we all came back to the house, ate lunch and everyone went to take naps. I had to study because I have a test tomorrow. Then I worked on the small courtyard outside. I have to move really heavy granite blocks from a pile, and lay them out to make a checkered floor out of the blocks. I have been working on it a little at a time because it is so hot outside. After that, we had to saddle a horse that has been acting really crappy for the past few days. She bucks her saddle off and runs back to her 'herd' when we try to ride her, so we are breaking her in again. She saddled fine today, so I rode her around the front yard for a long time. The front yard is very big, so I just rode her around through the grass and trees and waved at all the cars that drove by. I have to get her conditioned to cars driving past because I am taking her on a ride around the block on Friday, and we ride on the street when we ride around town.

I rode around the neighborhood on horseback today and it was so much fun! Everyone talks to you and is really nice when you are riding by them on a  horse. It was really funny because I was riding down the street on horseback and a kid driving down the street on a riding lawnmower rode past me. This was when I truly realized that I am definitely in the South. Everyone rides lawnmowers around the neighborhood, and others ride horses. Everyone loved that I was riding a horse down the street and it was really fun.

Tomorrow I am taking a test, and working on the courtyard and cleaning out stalls. Then Friday I am taking a long ride around the neighborhood with a few friends and Korinn. This weekend Korinn is taking me to Smiley's, which is a very large outdoor flea market. It is basically like our swap meet, but 10 times bigger and people sell junk along with good stuff. I am going to try boiled peanuts, which every native Southerner loves, but Korinn hates. I am skeptical of them but I will let you know how it goes. Next week I am planning my trip to Atlanta to go to the aquarium and I am very excited about it.

Going to study now, but have a great rest of the week! Miss you all, and I will be home very soon!


-Sam

Howdy!

Hey Guys,

Things have been very hot around here lately! It has rained a few times, and there is often lightening at night, but it is really cool to be able to watch the lightening storms outside when it is dry. You can sit in a lawn chair late at night and watch lightening break all around you. It is really warm at night still, so it is better to ride horses and work outside after dinner most nights. I usually spend my evenings riding and training horses. It is too hot during the day. Last week we went and picked up 4 horses that a guy had to get rid of because he couldnt afford to feed them anymore, and they were all Tennessee Walkers. That is my favorite horse to ride now, because they have a faster gate than other horses, and when they are walking properly, like they are trained to do, they walk really fast and smooth. You can cruise along really fast on them. It is so much fun! My days have been spent waking up early, when it is still cool, and feeding the horses their grain, putting on fly masks and fly blankets, and turning the horses out into their pastures so they can graze and exercise for the day. Then I usually take care of the birds, the pig and the dogs. Some days we have a dog here named Bohdee. We pet sit for his owner while he is at work. Bohdee is a German Short-haired Pointer, and he was found as a stray. Someone dumped him on the side of the road, but he is a show quality dog. He is in perfect condition and sweet as pie. He loves coming over here to play with the other dogs and get in some socialization time. Korinn and I usually have errands to run in town, either to the grocery store or feed store or hardware store, and then we take a break in the afternoon when it is the hottest. Then, when Orval gets home from work at night, we ride horses in the arena or I train horses that need it. Then we feed out all the horses, and that takes a long time. This week, I am going to the river to hang out on a paddle boat and swim around and play in the water. Then on Friday I am going to do a long ride down the street with another girl I met through the local animal rescue group and an older man that boards his horse at our stables. I am excited to ride Georgia Belle (a Tennessee Walker) around the streets!

Last night I tried to saddle one of the other new Walkers that we got, but she was in a pissy mood and refused to saddle up. She bucked her saddle off and sat back on her hind legs so she snapped her lead rope off and walked off. I had to go catch her, but I just put her back because she was in no mood to ride, and I was in no mood to get bucked in another rodeo. I have to saddle her again tonight though, because she will learn that if she misbehaves, she will get her way if I don't saddle her again.

I am planning a trip back up to Atlanta soon so I can visit the aquarium. I tried to go when I got here, but I got to town too late and they were closed already. I wanted to go to St. Augustine in Florida because I thought it was only 3 hours away, but it is actually 5 hours away, so I will just pass. I will take another trip and go to Florida sometime.

Days are very relaxed around here. It is too hot to move during the day, so we work in the morning and at night. There is a lot to do, and I have to find time to do it all. I leave here in exactly 2 weeks from today, so I dont have much time left. If I had have known I would love Georgia this much, I would have planned to stay longer. But I am ready to get home and get to the beach!!!! I miss all my family and friends and cant wait to see everyone again!

Not much else is new around here, but I will let you know how the river trip goes and if anything new happens. Love and miss you all, and cant wait to get home and see you!


I want to have a bonfire and a nice get together with everyone when I get back!

-Sam

I survived!

Howdy Y'all


Wow it has been a long two days so far! I have been having a blast out here. Yesterday was my first full day of work, and it was wonderful. I was outside by about 8am to feed the horses, put their fly masks on, and turn them out into a pasture for the day. Horses cannot produce their own vitamin D, so they need sunlight to aid in the production. So we turn them out during the day to do that. Then I played with the dogs here and started working on socializing a gorgeous dog named Mishka. She is part Husky and part Wolf (as in actual Wolf). She is about 3 but was very neglected and abused, so she is a bit scared of certain things. She is possessive about toys still, so I am working on that. And she doesn't know how to play with other dogs, so I am teaching her that. I gave her a bath, and she did really well. She used to get very upset and aggressive and scared when she was bathed, so we think her previous owner used water as a punishment, much like he used anything else as a punishment. She has improved wonderfully, and she is a fantastic dog. Yukon, a black lab is here because he was tied to a tree and left to starve to death. At full grown, he weighed less than 50 pounds. Now he has more than made up for that, and weighs over 130 easily. He is a fat and happy old man now, and is extremely spoiled by all of us. After playing with awsome dogs, I relax in the air conditioning and eat lunch. Then when it cools off after dinner, I am able to ride horses. Last night, I rode a horse named Glock. He is young, and doesn't know anything as far as commands are concerned. He let me saddle him and mount him, and he walked fine. I started teaching him his turns and leg cues, but I wanted him to trot so I lightly kicked him in his sides (which is the trot leg cue) and he started bucking me off! I held on and put on a little rodeo show for everyone, and he didn't buck me off like he wanted. After that was over, he straightened up and started listening, but we need to start a bit slower with his leg cues from now on. I figured that one out the hard way. I had a great time and was glad I didn't get bucked off, and now that I got it out of his system he will probably be fine. I rode till after 10pm last night, then fed out the horses and then went to bed.


Today my morning routine was the same. I fed the horses, turned them out, and worked on a horse named Rosie. She is very green and unbroken, so I am working on teaching her to trot, run in a round pen and turn left and right. I am teaching her to back up, stop and go and she is doing very well with that. She is getting frustrated with trotting and running, but I just have to keep working with her. She stepped on my foot the other day and completely pancaked it. I am pretty sure my pinky toe is broken, and it is completely black and blue. However, there is nothing any doctor can do for a broken toe, so it will just heal on its own. It hurts really bad though, but it will be fine. It definitely wont stop me from riding.

This evening, I went with Orval to pick up 2 horses that a guy is getting rid of because he cant afford to feed them anymore. They are Tennessee Walking horses and they are beautiful. I rode the older mare, who is about 11 years old. Tennessee Walkers are known for having a faster gate (walk) than other horses, but this girl could move! She looked like she was power walking around the arena. I had a complete blast on her! She was so quick and smooth. It was like driving a race car. And she was neck reigned, which means she knows to turn in a certain direction based on how the reigns lay across her neck. It makes riding extremely easy and smooth. I love riding her and cant wait to ride her again tomorrow. After riding, Orval and I fed out the horses for the evening. Then a big lightening storm started and clouds started moving in. Then a severe tornado and thunder storm watch went into effect. It was still warm outside, but all of a sudden really strong winds blew in and it started to rain a lot. The wind was so strong, it blew a rooster off of his perch! I saw him go tumbling across the air in his cage!

So I am in for the night, and we are waiting for the storm to pass. Tomorrow I will ride again and go pick up 2 more horses from the owner who got rid of his Walkers today. Then I will go to the local pound and help out with their dogs in need. I am going to a few adoption events this weekend to help get dogs adopted out and meet with local rescue groups to compare ideas for fundraisers and network.

I found a country bar around here called Whiskey River that I am going to on Friday night, so I hope they do line dancing there!

Miss you all, and I will post pictures tomorrow when I get them!

Love,

Sam

Macon, Georgia

Howdy Y'all!

I am finally in Macon and I have settled in to my new place. I got here last night and immediately felt comfortable with Korinn. The house is beautiful and my room is very nice. They have 3 rescue dogs here and all of them are so sweet and kind. They were all rescued from a sad situation, but they are doing wonderful now. There is also an enormous pot bellied pig named Hamlet. He is my favorite, but he seems quite a bit overweight. He sleeps a lot, and loves cookies. Hamlet and I have those things in common.... He is a big fat boy but will play with you when he wants to. All the horses here are very sweet and kind. I started training and working one this morning, then came in for the afternoon to cool off. Later, Korinn and I took her daughter over to a friend's house, then went to the grocery store. She showed me around downtown Macon, and there is a large country bar there that I want to check out this weekend. There are also a few restaurants that I might go to. I wasn't able to go to the aquarium in Atlanta yesterday because they closed before I got there, so I will take a day trip up there soon. I am also trying to take a day and go to the beach, which I think is in Savannah. I would love to see the beach on the east coast! And the water around here is very warm. I really love Georgia and the universities here are very good. They also have a vet school in Georgia, so it is a prospect I am considering.

This last weekend in Tennessee was very fun though. Friday night, the French girls and I went out to dinner, then to a billiards bar. The bar was very creepy and I found the most normal looking people in there and asked them where a good country bar was in town, so they sent us to a place called Kicks. It was so much fun! It was a local spot, but they had amazing country bands play, line dancing and very polite guys. We obviously stuck out so all the guys wanted to know where we were from and everything. They all asked us to dance and were very nice. Then we went mudding in the middle of the night in a popular mud hole in a truck. It was so much fun to hang out under the stars and enjoy a true southern summer night. Then, Saturday night we went to a backyard rodeo and watched my friends ride broncos and bulls. That was a fun time, but we stayed out very late both nights, so getting up at 6am to leave for Georgia was hard! But I made it to Atlanta, ate wonderful Thai food, said goodbye to my French friend, and headed down to Macon. I really do love it here, and I am excited to see what else this amazing place has to offer.

I am going to start training for barrel racing soon. That is where you ride a horse really fast around 3 barrels in an arena for the best time. If I get good enough, I will enter into a competition at the local rodeo. I am so excited! I may never come home! You guys will all have to come out here to visit me instead!


Im going to eat dinner now, then finish some training with a horse later.


Miss you all!,


Sam

Mustangs

Hi All,


This past week has been good. It is very hot here and getting hotter! It is usually in the mid-90's and the humidity is unbearable. I have been working a lot, usually all day. I have been building fences, running electrical wire and doing a bunch of things that don't relate to horses. Most times I don't get to ride at all, and have only started training one horse once. I am not happy with the fact that I was promised that I would learn a lot, and I am used as a free worker instead. So I have decided to leave this ranch, and head down to Macon, Georgia to work on a ranch there. I originally wanted to go there over Tennessee, but this placed seemed promising so I tried it. But the place in Georgia still wants to have me, so I gladly told them I would come help out. They train and rehabilitate rescued horses and they work closely with a dog rescue as well. I know I will learn a lot from them and have a great time with the horses and dogs. There is one review of their ranch, and it was completely positive so I am excited. I will be leaving here on Sunday, stop at the Jack Daniels Distillery first, then arrive in Atlanta to see the aquarium, then I will arrive in Macon that evening. I am excited about the trip and about learning a lot. The days here are long, hot and overloaded with work. The ranch hands are very nice, but I rarely see Jim and never see Nancy.

I went to Nashville Saturday night with the French girls, and was disappointed in the lack of line dancing, but impressed with the country music talent. It is a great place to listen to music, but dancing is pretty much out of the question. This Friday night I am going into Columbia, which is the next closest town, to have dinner with the French girls and go out to a bar. Then Saturday night I am going to a rodeo down the road to watch our ranch hands and other guys compete in bronco and bull riding events. There is a big BBQ afterwards so it should be a very fun night.

Other than that, I have gotten very comfortable riding horses on trails, even ones that are newly broken. We have been working on breaking them in and getting them used to walking on trails through the forest. It is fun riding them on trails, and we are supposed to take a 4 hour trail ride tomorrow if we are lucky. I really hope we get to go because there are waterfalls and things on this ride that I really want to see.

Sunday I got a day off and went down to the river with the ranch hand Joey and David and we jumped off a bridge and swung off a rope into the river and just relaxed. The river wasn't flowing fast at all and the water was actually warm so it was so much fun to just hang out and cool off. Then we went and got pizza in town. It was a really fun day.

I have to get back to work now, but I do miss everyone and wish you were all here experiencing this heat with me!

Love ya,

Sam

Shoveling Shi.....Manure

Hi Guys,


Today was a very long day for me! I was awoken very early by the stupid rooster. He crows all day long, and he starts at about 5 or 6am so I usually can't sleep once I hear him. So I got up, made breakfast with my roommates, and then we were outside by 7:30 or 8am. We started our day by catching a few horses that needed to be re-shod. That took a very long time because they didn't want to be caught. But we were able to catch them, and they got new shoes put on. Then we had to shovel a ton of horse poo out of the stalls. They hadn't been touched in weeks, so we had to clean all of them out. That took a very, very long time and it was extremely hot. Then I had to go with Bo, the ranch hand, out to the far pasture to drop off salt and mineral blocks for a few of the horses, and we had to take care of one of the donkeys. He was fly-bitten very badly all over his legs, so we had to spray him with a solution and spread vaseline on his legs to stop the fly's from biting. He felt better after we took care of him. Then Bo let us have a break, so we went down to the creek and stayed in the cold water for a bit to cool off. It felt amazing! Then we had to get back into our sweaty, hot jeans and boots and continue to clean out the horse stalls. After that, we groomed horses. Then I had to fill 16  buckets full of old horse manure and take them up to the house so that Jim could plant his vegetable plants in them. Then I had to take a few buckets full of manure down the road to his mother's house, so I could replant her vegetables. After that, Bo let us ride the horses in the arena. I chose to ride a beautiful Friesian draft horse. She was a very slow walker, but very smooth to ride. I worked her through the obstacle course a couple of times and she did very well. We practiced our turns a lot, and she got a lot better. I really like the draft horses because they are so big and captivating. It is amazing to me to see such a large animal that can move so calmly and gracefully. After that, we groomed the horses, put away our saddles (which weigh 70 pounds each!!!) and got to have the rest of the night off. So I put in an 11 hour day today, and it is supposed to get much hotter this week! But the French girls, myself and Joey are going to go to Nashville on Saturday night to go dancing, so I am very excited about that! I really hope we  can find a good line dancing  place with great music and a good atmosphere. I am just excited about seeing the Nashville nightlife! So far it has been very hot, very humid, but very fun. I am learning a lot about how to handle the horses and train them. The girls I live with are both very experienced riders, so they teach me a lot! We have a great time together, and Bo and Joey are very nice. I feel comfortable around them, and I am eager to learn a lot.

I am going to shower now, and I am dead tired. Goodnight all!!


Love and miss you,

Samantha

I made it!

Howdy!


So I made it to Tennessee just fine, but I haven't been able to get my internet working until just now. Plus, it only works in a certain spot on a bench that is far away from my trailer, so I wont be able to write as much as I had planned. But I did make it here to Tennessee just fine, and I have been riding horses ever since! We have very long days here, usually 12 hours. We are up at 7 and sometimes outside by 7, and we get done around 7pm sometimes. But it is really fun, and never feels like work. I have been learning a ton about horses and how to handle them and train them. Joey is a ranch hand here, and he knows a lot about horses and their care. He is very nice and friendly and always answers my questions when I ask. Bo is the main ranch hand, and he knows everything there is to know about horses. He also does all the vet care for the animals here. We have horses, mules, donkeys, German Shepherds, peacocks, quails, guinea fowl and chickens. There is a lot to do here, and we always stay busy. I have been riding horses a lot, especially on trails. We ride over rocks and up and down hills a lot. We also ride the horses in an arena so they get used to obstacles that they would encounter on trails.

We usually have campfires every night and all of us wwoofers and ranch hands hang out and talk. It is really fun and I am having a great time here.

I wont be able to post every day because we are so busy and I dont have a stable internet connection, but I will post some pictures as soon as I can!


Miss you all!

-Sam

Tennessee, Here I Come!

So my time has come to an end here in Kentucky. I am sad to see it go because the scenery is so beautiful here and it is so peaceful out in the country, but I am very excited to start working with horses and learning so much about them. Tomorrow I am going to leave here around 7am, drive to Atlanta, Georgia to see the famous aquarium there, then head back up to Nashville for a bit, then head over to my ranch in Hohenwald. They are an hour behind, so I will have that working for me as well. I am really excited to see the Georgia aquarium because it is one of the biggest in the world! And I am definitely looking forward to Nashville! I just hope it doesn't disappoint me, but I doubt it will. I am also looking forward to meeting my new hosts. They seem so nice on the phone, so I can't wait to meet them and see the ranch.


Yesterday I spent the day in Louisville and Lexington. It was a 2.5 hour drive to Louisville, but the weather was nice for a change so it was my only chance to go. I went to all of the huge malls there, saw Churchill Downs, Old Historic Louisville, Thoroughbred Retirement Centers, the Louisville Slugger Factory, Fourth Street Live, and Franklin Avenue. Franklin Avenue is a great place where all the locals hang out. There are tons of different types of restaurants and really cool dive bars. Fourth Street Live is a tourist trap. There is the quintessential Hard Rock Cafe, TGI Friday's, and other typical restaurants that attract tourist crowds. Churchill Downs was beautiful, but there was a race that afternoon, so I couldn't go inside or anything. Plus it was very crowded so I didn't want to mess with the crowds. Historic Louisville is beautiful, and all the houses are so old and traditional. There is a lot of gothic architecture, but it fit the scene well and all the houses were very nice. However, downtown is very ghetto and I was not impressed at all. I left early because I just wanted to get out of that town after that point. I then headed down to Lexington, where I had planned on checking out other parks and malls, and then I planned on going line dancing at a country bar I found online. So I checked out all the cool sights and parks, ate dinner at a restaurant in the University of Kentucky village, explored UK and then went over to the bar. It was after 10pm by this time, so I figured it would be nicely crowded by then.......I was very mistaken. It was essentially a ghost town, but the bar was very nice. There was a nice dance floor, nice tables and the decor looked new. There were a few guys, all in boots and cowboy hats, and a few girls with them, all in boots as well. But that was it. So I talked to the bartenders for a bit to see what the situation was. Apparently they do not line dance there, but they play a few country songs. They play mostly 'top 40' music and no one dances when they play country. So basically they just dress up country and sit around waiting for Britney Spears to play; at least that is what I got from the description. I was extremely bummed out. I asked the bartenders if there were other bars around where I could line dance, and they said that there aren't any in that city at all. And none in Louisville either. What a let down!! I guess it was strange of me to think that by coming to the country, I would be able to find places to country dance. How erroneous of me....


So besides the failure of not dancing like I was so excited about, the day was really fun. I loved Lexington, but would not go back to Louisville. Lexington was like any other major city, but with a Southern accent on everything. I decided that the best part of Kentucky is the country. If you do want to come here, come for the country and not the city.

So today was my last day working on the farm, and it was a very relaxed day. I weeded some garlic, covered strawberry and blueberry beds with nets and picked some asparagus. We had a nice dinner, and now I am trying to get to bed early so I can get up early.

I will see you all in Tennessee!!!!!

-Samantha

University of Kentucky, in Lexington

UK is on the left and right. The center is a walkway to get to the buildings

UK Pharmacy School, and other classrooms behind in the other building

Churchill Downs from the street

Churchill Downs

Front View

The back, when you are driving up towards it. It appears out of nowhere

Whole Foods Louisville. Huntington is better ;)

Rain, Rain Go Away

Hello All,

So it has been raining almost everyday here lately, but it has still been really hot. Usually in the 80's, but with a huge storm that blows in every day. It is very strange weather out here, and I am definitely not used to it. We usually just have enough time to go out and do some yard work, then a storm will come in and we cant go out and work for the rest of the day. It is supposed to rain for the rest of my time here, but I guess that will be okay, because it is so hot outside anyway. I am still planning on going into Louisville and Lexington this Friday, and if it rains a little bit that will still be okay. I am going line dancing in Lexington Friday night, so I am really excited about that.

Yesterday, Bobbett and I visited the Maker's Mark distillery in Loretto. It was about 2 hours away. When we got there, we parked and walked up for the tour. The tour is free, and there were a lot of people in our group. We started in the founder of the distillery, Mr. Samuels, home. It was a very nice home, and there were so many actual documents that were used during the original days of the distillery. Maker's Mark is different than all other bourbons because it is made with soft winter wheat instead of rye grain, so it is much softer to drink. (I guess, I wouldn't know because I don't drink, but thats what everyone says....) After we toured the home, we walked to the room where the wheat and grain is delivered, inspected and ground up. Then it is added to yeast in humongous vats, where it would sit for a few days. The yeast vats were enormous, and the room they were in was extremely hot and humid, and smelled really bad. It smelled like rotten beer or bread; like it had that yeast-like rotten smell. Everyone was allowed to dip their finger in the vat and taste the yeast mixture, but I didnt want to because it smelled so bad. And judging by everyone else's facial expressions, I assume it didn't taste good at all. After we left that room, we went to the barrel room where we got to see all the barrels of Maker's Mark that were in different stages of aging. The barrels sit in that room for 6 years before they are bottled and sold. The room we saw held about 600 barrels, while the other warehouse held over 1000 barrels of bourbon. That room was really cool, and we got to walk through the aisles of barrels. Some of the barrels had names on them, and that is because Maker's Mark has a program where the public can sign up to be an ambassador. If you sign up, you can have your name put in a registry, you will be assigned a batch of bourbon, and after 6 years, when it is ready, you can come back and purchase 2 bottles of that special blend of bourbon, and your name will be on the bottle. And you can dip the bottles yourself. It seems really cool if you like Maker's Mark and want to come back every 6 years to get it. After the barrel room, we got to go into the lounge in the gift shop where we were each handed a glass with a small sip of Maker's Mark, and Maker's 46 in it. I didnt want to taste them, so I just sat there. But everyone else got to taste the bourbon, and we all got truffles with the bourbon in them. I didnt want the truffle either, because it smelled like alcohol. But I did purchase a bottle of the grain that is used to make Maker's Mark, and I got to dip my own bottle in the red wax. It was so cool, and I would never drink the alcohol, so it was nice that they had an alternative to purchasing the alcohol. It was really fun dipping my bottle, and now I have an awsome souvenir from my trip. After the Maker's Mark tour, we drove over to the Shaker Village. We got to take tours of the original buildings that the Shaker's lived in and worked in. I also got to see the barn, tapestry room, worship halls, kitchen, and bedrooms. There were goats, horses, cows, and sheep too. The tour was really interesting, and I enjoyed the day very much.

After the Shaker Village, we drove over to the major city to eat dinner and get a few things from the store. Bobbett took me to Cracker Barrel and it was really good! I have never been to one before, and it was very crowded. I, of course, got a big breakfast plate of french toast with cherries on top, and a ton of sides. And I had sweet peach tea! It was really good, and everyone was really nice and friendly. Cracker Barrel is definitely a good place to eat in the South.

So that is about all that has happened so far. I have my next part of my trip planned. I am going to leave here next week, either Monday or Tuesday. Then I am going to drive to Georgia to go to an aquarium. It is the world's biggest in some aspect, so I am extremely excited to see it. Then I am going to drive back up to Nashville, where hopefully I can take a tour of Vanderbilt, and check out downtown Nashville. Then I am going to my new ranch. I might be interested in transferring to Vanderbilt if I end up liking Nashville, so I wanted to meet with someone and take a tour. It seems like a nice location and it is a great college. I am so excited to get to my new ranch and play with horses and ride them and take care of them! And I am so excited to learn all I can about them as well.

I will let you all (or y'all) know what my plans are, and update with pictures too! Miss you guys.


Love,
Sam

2 kids riding horses down the road...only in Kentucky

Maker's Mark Distillery buildings

Where the grains and yeast are mixed with water to ferment

Where the grains are stored after they are delivered

The giant vats of yeast and grain that will be made into the bourbon

I didn't try it, but others did. 

Personalized barrels of bourbon

The barrel room. All those barrels are filled with bourbon at different stages of aging. 

The taster glasses

Dipping my bottle!

It was so much fun! The safety glasses made it extra special....

Shaker Village interpreter

The dining room for the elder Shakers, who were in charge of the community

The bath house, where the rain water was held in this large tub. 

Carpenter

Miscellaneous craft and tools room. They made their own brooms, and the brooms were actually for sale. 

Rainy Day

Hi!!!

Today, as well as this whole week, are going to be very rainy so we can't do any work outdoors. Bobbett is taking me to a movie in town, because we have nothing else to do. We are going to see Thor, and I am really excited about that! Tomorrow we are going to the Mammoth Caves to go spelunking and see all the cool underground caverns and water pools. It is far away, but I am really excited to go. We are going to an afternoon movie today, but we have to go outside right now while it isn't raining and pick garlic scapes. You guys should look up a recipe for garlic scapes and try to find some to eat. They are really good, and not as intense as garlic. Sort of like a mix between an onion and a garlic clove. We used some in our bruchetta last night, and they were  very good!

Okay, gotta go pick scapes now! I will post again later. I have very exciting news to share!!!


Love you all,

Sam

Derby Days

Hi Guys,

Really quick, I wanted to share a few pictures I have taken over the weekend. We had been very busy picking asparagus and such, and today it started pouring while we were on our way to town to do our shopping for the rest of the month. It is supposed to rain for the rest of the week, so I think we are stuck indoors for a while. Enjoy the pictures! I will be sure to take more when I can.

this is a normal sized asparagus

this is our sized asparagus!!!

look! it's my kentucky derby horse...

It's Raining

Hi All,

So I woke up and got all ready for a day of heat, humidity and weeding in the sunshine. Right before I walked outside, I started to hear loud, LOUD thunder. I figured that it was probably storming in a neighboring county, because it was still sunny here and usually storms can pass right over the house and not hit us even though it is dark and stormy all around us. But, as soon as I walked outside, it started pouring, with more lightening and thunder, so I got to come back inside and figure out what I am going to do until the storm passes. Bobbett and I decided to make homemade tortillas, bread and biscuits for the day. Right now it is still raining, but it is lightening up. It will probably rain for the rest of the day, so we are stuck inside.

Yesterday I got to make homemade strawberry jam. I mixed the strawberries and canned them in a water bath. The jam is very good, and I am excited to use it!

After we made jam, I realized I was out of sunscreen so we had to make a trip into town to go get some for me. A trip to town consists of driving 25 minutes to the town, which is the nearest form of civilization. Outside of town there are no stores anywhere so going to town is the only way to get things you need. We went to town to get me sunscreen, then we went to a few other stores to look at things. Bobbett took me to a few dollar stores, and they were really interesting places. They are different than our 0.99 cent stores, and they have cool things sometimes. I ended up buying a ton of candy (of course!). Then we had to drive all the way home and make dinner. We had fresh asparagus from the garden and pasta with olive oil. I also got to go swimming yesterday. We worked for a long time in the sun and got really hot, then we jumped into the pool with our clothes on so we could cool off as we dried. The pool was cold, but it felt so refreshing after we had just sweat our butts off weeding all day. We swam for a while, then got out and did some chores around the house. Then we went to town.

Today we will be inside for most of the day, and tomorrow it is supposed to rain all day again. We are thinking of going to some antique stores or maybe doing our grocery shopping for the week. Tomorrow night I am taking Bobbett to a country bar that I found out in the backwoods. There was a big red barn somewhere in the middle of nowhere on a back road, and a sign that said 'Country Music' so I looked it up and they play live country music Friday and Saturday nights and line dance too. I am excited to go and check it out, but I dont expect it to be great. I am sure it is just a bunch of locals who have nothing better to do on a Saturday night. Casey County is a dry county, so there is no alcohol served anywhere, so at least I dont have to worry about any strange drunks or anything. Bobbett isnt going to dance, but she will sit there and enjoy the music with me. I will dance if I know the dances, but I highly doubt that they do the same line dances that we do in California. At least it will be an adventure!


I will update later when I figure out what we are going to do tomorrow.

Miss you all!

-Sam

It is SO hot here!

Hi Guys,

It was in the high 80's today, but still no rain. It is very hot and humid, but I think I must be adjusting well because it really doesn't bother me too much. I am drenched in sweat after 5 minutes outside, but I don't feel like I am overheating or anything. The forecast says high 80's, then rain this weekend. I think tomorrow I might jump in the pool no matter how hot or cold I feel. I think it will be fun and a nice way to cool off. The pool is not heated, so it is still very cold from the winter. It will probably warm up by the end of summer, but I won't be here so I have to jump in a lot while I am here.

Today Bobbett and I weeded a few more raspberry rows, redid some wire to keep the bushes up because they have long arms that fall down on the ground if they aren't secured, and weeded a few more rows of her garlic crop. If the berry bushes fall on the ground, the animals will come and eat all the berries before we can pick them, so we have to keep all the bushes tied up high on the wires that support them. The animals don't go after strawberries, and we have those under a mesh net anyway, so we are just waiting for them to ripen up. They should be ready to pick by next week or the week after. Today we went over to the Martin's, who are a very large Mennonite family with a ton of land, and bought some fresh strawberries. One of the older daughters was there while her younger siblings were at the schoolhouse. She sold us the berries, and they had a few extra baskets full, so we bought them too because I LOVE strawberries. I already ate a few and they were so delicious! It is so nice to be able to eat fresh, organic fruit that was picked from your neighbor's backyard that morning. I think it was fairly priced as well; $12 for a gallon of berries. But when ours are ripe, we can eat all we want!

Usually we work for about an hour around 12pm, then we take a break, then work for just a little longer. Then we come in during the hottest part of the afternoon or lounge by the pool, or I sit under shade trees and read. Then we wait until about 4 or 5 and go back out to finish working when it has cooled off a bit. Then we come inside and make dinner. I usually eat a big salad every night because there is so much organic lettuce growing that I can eat all I want and still have more left, and all the salad that I make is all organic and natural from the garden. It is really good. Sometimes I sautee spinach from the garden with fresh garlic from the garden, or I make asparagus that we picked that day. I have all the garlic I want as well. And there is an entire freezer full of frozen fruit from Bobbett's crops last year, so I eat raspberries, blackberries, elderberries, and all kinds of fruit.

I really am enjoying myself here and there is always something fun to do. It is very hot, but it feels good to be outside working in the sun. I feel like I have accomplished something at the end of the day.

This weekend when it rains, Bobbett and I are going into town to do more grocery shopping, antique shopping and I think we are going to see a movie. Movies here are only $4, and those are the new ones! It is so different living in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Everything is much slower paced, everyone is nicer, and things are more peaceful. I hear birds, crickets and frogs every night outside my windows, and I have beautiful views of the forest and fields from my upstairs window. Plus, I can go in the jacuzzi after dark and look up and see billions of stars in the sky. There are no lights around from cars or the city or other houses, so there is no light pollution. Plus there are completely clear skies here, so stars are visible. We also have bats at night, and frogs and birds that come out to eat the bugs. Birds are great pest control for crops, so almost everyone around town here has bird houses made out of gourds to encourage birds to live in their fields and eat the bugs.

Tomorrow I will do some more weeding, and we have nothing else planned after that. The days pass by slow, but it is all moving so fast at the same time. I will be leaving here in a couple weeks, but I feel like I just got here. It is kind of nice not knowing what day it is or what time it is. I get to just focus on the scenery and nature. I still need to go exploring some more and find rivers and ponds to walk through. I will do that another day, but I have to wear pants because poison ivy is everywhere here! I haven't touched it yet, and I am determined to stay away from it!

Gotta go now, Bobbett is making homemade lemon ice- like sorbetto- and we are going to make tortillas from scratch later.


Love you all, stay cool for me!

-Sam

Rain is a good thing

Not much new is happening around here. I have been weeding a ton of different plants, but mostly garlic and raspberries and blackberries. And strawberries. The strawberries are coming up in the hundreds but they are still green, so we have about another week before we start picking them. The raspberries and blackberries are producing tiny berries already, but they are still very green. They wont be ripe while I am here, but they look delicious! The garlic is doing really well, it is growing so fast. The beans are growing the fastest; it seems like everyday they gain at least a few inches. And the lettuces are the fastest growing! We cant eat enough of it to catch up with the plants. We eat salad or sauteed spinach or greens almost every night and we still cant eat enough. There is so much of it. Also, radishes are coming up all over the place. And asparagus is growing like crazy. Asparagus thrives in the heat, so we can almost cut it twice a day and it will still give us plenty of stalk. The stalks can grow about 8 inches per day on the hottest days. Right now it is in the high 80's and sunny! We are holding out and hoping for rain, because if not we have to connect about 8 different hoses from the house to the field so we can water corn. If we dont water the corn, it wont come up so we are just waiting a little bit longer to see if it will rain. Weather has been saying it is going to rain any day now, and it feels like it, but it hasnt come yet. There is a country song that talks about how rain is a good thing and farmer's are the ones that appreciate rain, and after living out here I can definitely see why they say that. Rain is the best out here because it is so dang hot and we really need it for the crops to grow. Plus, when it rains we get to stay inside and make delicious breads, tortillas and jams from scratch. Tomorrow we are going into a town to get antibiotics for Bobbett's cat, and hit up a few stores for some more farming supplies, like posts and wire and things like that. Next week we are going into the biggest town around the house to go to the main grocery stores, the mall and maybe the movies since we dont get out much and work very hard all day. I am excited to see the town, and I am going to try to go to a few antique stores to see what they have.

We opened the pool up yesterday and have been cleaning it every day since in hopes that we can jump in this week if it stays hot. It is supposed to stay into the upper 80's all week, and if it doesnt rain I am jumping in the pool for sure! It isnt heated so it is cold, but after bending over and weeding all day in direct sunlight, it will feel refreshing. I am usually drenched with sweat after an hour and we come inside often to cool off and rehydrate, but being outside feels wonderful, no matter how hot it is. I definitely like California's dry heat the most, but I love that the humidity here brings out so many beautiful colors in the flowers and trees.

We went to a Mennonite-run greenhouse today and they sell tomato plant starters for $1 for a pack of 6! That is so inexpensive! They have hundreds of different types of fruit and veggie plants and they sell seeds of any type of fruit and veggie you can imagine. All the Mennonite women were really excited to meet someone from California, and one loved telling me about her trip to San Diego one time. They are such nice and polite people and they are really interesting to talk to. I have been inside a few Mennonite homes, and they are always busy doing something. They milk their cows, can foods, homeschool their kids, plant crops, fix tools, cut wood and build all kinds of things. No wonder they need so many kids; just for the help alone! And it is always fun to see them riding alongside the road on their buggy pulled by their horses. Almost any store we pull up to has a buggy and horse parked outside, so that still takes time for me to get used to seeing. But they are very nice people, and if the civilized world ended tomorrow, they would know how to survive just fine. So we should start paying attention to them!

So those are the only plans we have for the rest of this week. Just waiting for rain and weeding all our fruit patches. I will update later when we do something different. I am still really loving it here, and working with Bobbett is so much fun! She is so funny and laid back. I really enjoy her company. We get along really well.

Ill post again when we make more bread and tortillas and jam.

Love you guys, be home soon!

-Sam

Mulching and Mexican Food

Hi All,

Today was a nice day outside. We got to work outside today because it stopped raining, but it was still really cold. We only had a few chores to do, which included mulching one of the crop beds that had potatoes and garlic, as well as attaching new wire to fence posts to use as guides for the blackberry and raspberry bushes. We used old, moldy hay from Bobbett's neighbor as mulch and placed it very thick on top of the weeds so it would suffocate them and let the potatoes and garlic continue to grow. We also attached new wire to a few posts, and that was our day. It did take a while to gather all the old hay and spread it as mulch, but it was crisp out so we didnt get too hot. Then we came in and rested for a while before we made dinner. Tonight we had Mexican themed food that included guacamole, beans, rice, salsa, and toppings for our burritos and tacos. Then I went on a nice little walk around the fields and through a small bit of the forest and found a nice little stream and beautiful scenery!

The Kentucky Derby is this Saturday and I really want to go, but tickets are around $300, about $25 if you want standing room only where you cant even see the track and you are almost standing outside the park. I feel like it is more of a socially elite gathering rather than a sporting event, so I wont go. I dont even have a big floppy hat to wear, so I will pass. It would have been really cool to go though. Plus it is 3 hours away, so I dont want to drive that far. But I did look up a line dancing bar in Lexington called Austin City Saloon, so I will try to get up there to check it out next Friday or Saturday night. This Friday night, weather permitting, I am going to a 'truck pull.' It is some hillbilly event where trucks pull each other or tractors or something, but its down the road and it sounds like something cowboys and farmers do so I think it will be really fun to go see. Hopefully I see something interesting and a ton of cowboys and farmers.

Yesterday it rained a lot so Bobbett and I made a ton of cherry jam and a cherry pie. We also made homemade bread from scratch and just spent the day cooking. It was really fun and educational.The jams and pie and fresh vegetables are delicious. I am also really excited to come home and start my own garden. I have a ton of different ideas for what types of veggies I want to plant, and I also know what can and cannot grow in our climate. We, Costa Mesa, have one of the hottest climates so it can be difficult to grow some veggies, but also more favorable to grow fruits and veggies that no one else can grow. We cannot grow cherries or apples because they like frost, but we will get a ton of asparagus because they really like heat. We can also grow avocados, tropical fruits, pomegranates and other things that almost all other regions cannot grow. So we are lucky but unlucky in some ways.

Bobbett and I tried to go to a truck pull tonight, but it turns out it was scheduled for tomorrow night instead. I saw a small sign advertising a truck pull last Friday as I was driving up here, but I didnt remember the town name or where it was, so I just told Bobbett that we would just drive back down the way I came up until we found it. So we found it, but it said it was scheduled for tomorrow night instead. So we went to Wal-Mart since we were already so far from home and so close to town, then we decided we would go back tomorrow night. As we drove back by the sign, we were able to get a name, so we googled it. We found a website and they said that due to the probability of rain, it would mess up the field so they are rescheduling it for another night. I just hope they can redo it for sometime in May so I can go! If not, I am sure I will find a truck pull somewhere in Tennessee. It seems like the kind of event that is popular in Southern states with the country folk, so I am bound to find another one. I had a true glimpse of the Kentucky folk here at the Wal-Mart. They had mullets, no teeth, shirts that were too small so their bellies hung out of the bottom, and the shirt usually had some random, strange patriotic message or something redneck to it, and they all just stood around and stared at me as I walked in. It was awkward, yet amazing at the same time. My jaw dropped because I was so dumbfounded at how country and strange these people were. Bobbett, however, did not even notice them. I told her if I was bored on a Saturday night I was going back to that Wal-Mart so I can 'people watch.' It was the highlight of my week, by far.

Besides all that action, nothing new has been going on here. We had good weather today, so we were able to hoe a field, plant corn, beans and artichoke, and weed one of the garlic beds. That took up most of our afternoon, and then we went inside to relax before we headed out to town. That is usually how our days go around here. We wake up and try to get out the door by noon, then weed for a bit, plant some crops, walk around the fields, maybe mow something or replant something, then we go inside and relax, cook dinner and I go in the jacuzzi. Then we relax some more after that with iced sweet tea, and then go to bed. Its pretty rough around here, but I think I can get used to it.

Bobbett's father, Walter, has a riding lawn mower that he uses frequently. Yesterday, I noticed that he had been gone a long time, and I commented on it to Bobbett. She told me a funny story about how he ran out of gas at the bottom of their very long driveway once, and had to wait until she noticed he was missing. He sat out there for hours, then got tired of waiting so he walked up the driveway. Its all uphill and took him about an hour to get up to the house. We laughed, then went back to weeding. Not even 2 minutes later, a lady drove up the driveway and came up to me. She informed me that "Mr. Walter was ran out of gas and was sitting on his riding lawn mower at the bottom of the hill. He would like someone to bring him more gas." I guess Mr. Walter did not want to walk up the hill again, so he waited down there by the side of the road for us to notice the lack of sounds of the lawn mower. I guess a lady was driving by and stopped to see if he needed help, so he asked her to drive up and find us so we could bring him more gas. Bobbett rode her riding lawn mower down the hill to give him gas, and then they both rode their lawn mowers back up the hill. It was quite entertaining. Who knows how long Walter actually sat at the bottom of the driveway. But I guess he is used to doing that by now.

I have pictures and a few videos, but it still doesn't compare to seeing this place for yourself. Rent is cheap if anyone is interested......


Love and miss ya'll!!

Sam