PART 11 THE END OF A GREAT TRIP!!

The last place we visited was Lexington, Kentucky. This has been the place that my Mom and I have wanted to visit for years and the reason for this trip. We love horses. The Kentucky Horse Park is not just about horse racing but any thing to do with horses. From horse jumping, to events in rodeos, to cutting, to carriage driving, dressage, cross country and so on. It is a huge park with the largest horse barn in the world. Another part of the Horse park is where owners have loaned their horses to the park to educate people about the different types of breeds and there is also a Hall of Champions. The very best of the best horses in there event. There hasn't been a champion add in 12 years.

We got there when the park opened and was able to see the park "wake up". Horses were getting feed, washed, brushed, and out for morning exercise.

This baby and I became friends. May be a future champion!!

This park is also full of sculptures and statues. This was my favorite.

After touring the horse park we went on a tour of the horse farms. This was very educational. I am sure most of you have heard of the Kentucky Derby Horse Race. In order for a horse to race in the Kentucky Derby the horse has to have a parent that was bred in Kentucky. So we got to see babies and yearlings. These are all bred for horse racing and most will be sold to different farms to be trained. To future Kentucky Derby winners!!

The video below is the yearling above playing around. It isn't very long because I caught just the end but We all loved the look of this yearling.

These farms are huge and everything is split up. You have the babies that have been weaned in one pasture. Then you have the girl yearlings in one and the boys in another. There is a barn for the mothers and the stallion have there own. There is also the breeding shed plus everyone who works on the farm lives on the farm. These places are huge. So the building in the first picture that looks like a house is actually the stud barn. Pretty nice.



The building below is the breding barn. I didn't get a picture of the actually owners house but to say the least it was very nice. The weird thing is that the owners are usually only in residence for 3 months out the year for the racing season. I wouldn't mind house sitting :)
We were able to see some of the studs which a lot of people do not see except those working on the farms because the stallions are actually very fragile and since their main purpose is to bred the next round of champions if they are resting the handlers will not mess with them.

The stallion above brings in $10,000 a day and the stallion below brings in $50,000 a day.

Wish I had that kind of paycheck :)

We went to one farm that had a father to a horse that won 2 out of the 3 races for the Triple Crown and brings in 1.6 million a day.

I absolutely loved my 2 weeks in October. I had a great adventure and hopefully was able to capture it on film so everyone could come along with me. Now it is time to plan the next adventure and figure out what to blog about now :)

Part 9 Kirtland & Part 10 Port Clinton

After Niagara Falls we headed to Kirtland, Ohio. The best part of Kirtland was meeting up with cousin Jan. Jan lives in Pittsburgh and was able to meet up with us so we could visit with her. It was a blast to spend the day with her. It happen to work that we spent more time visiting with her than seeing the sites because a group was holding a conference that day and they took over all the sites. So on to the pictures:

Kirtland Temple

I know that the Lord has preserved it for a reason but still entering the doors it very much seems like more of a museum than a temple.

Picture above is the Whitney's home and picture below is the Whitney store. Wished we would have had more time to look and ponder the things that happen there but we had that group behind us. I may go back and visit just for this place.

Mom & Dad & Jan

Back to pictures of bugs and colors

After Kirtland, Ohio we headed to Port Clinton, Ohio. We headed there mainly because it was on our way to the next stop. When we got there we found this African Safari. We had a good time but there was not many African animals there, but we enjoyed the elk, buffalo, and deer.

The first couple of pictures are the "African" animals.

HELLO!!! All the animals really liked DAD :)

My buffalo pictures did not turn out well but I wanted to include at least one.

Picture and Video of the elk. Here we had to travel thousands of miles to hear an elk bugle. So sad!!!

Next stop is Lexington, Kentucky. Horses, Horses, and more Horses!!!

Part 8 Niagara Falls

PART 8 NIAGARA FALLS STATE PARK:

This was maybe my favorite stop of the entire trip. I have always heard about how beautiful the falls are but people forgot to tell me how powerful they are. We stayed on the American side and rode the Maid of the Mist and did the Cave of the Winds. The Cave of the Winds was my favorite part because of the power. The falls are so powerful that at the bottom of them they create hurricane force winds. AWESOME POWER!! We were in the off season so the water coming down is about 1/2 of what it is in the peak of the summer and yet I couldn't even stand up straight without holding on to something. I can't imagine how much more powerful it would be in the summer time.

Here are just a few of the pictures I took. ENJOY!!!

Can you even picture 675,000 gallons yet imagine that many gallons every second?

Part of the Horseshoe falls

Canada and Horseshoe Falls
Mom and Dad on the Observation Deck. Dad and I are very proud of Mom. She is not a fan of boats or heights and yet she conquered both at the Falls!

American Falls, Bridal Falls, Horseshoe Falls

View from the Observation Deck

Horseshoe Falls from the bottom. Picture taken while we were on the Maid of the Mist.

It is very hard to capture a rainbow :)

Mom and Dad in the wonderful gear for the Maid of the Mist

Beginning of the Cave of the Winds. Making our way up to the Hurricane deck!

Half way up to the Hurricane Deck. This pathway takes you right to the bottom of the Falls. Very Cool!!!!

Mom was able to get a picture of me on the Hurricane Deck. The rain and the wind was awesome :) I completely got soaked. It is a good thing they provide everyone with sandals and yellow rain coat.

Next stop Kirtland, Ohio and Port Clinton, Ohio

Part 7 Palmyra, NY

So the trip continues.....

After a long but pretty drive across New York and paying toll road after toll road, we made it to Palmyra. We ended up in Palmyra the Saturday-Monday of General Conference. We were hoping that as we drove on Saturday that we would get Conference on the radio but we never could find it. So we missed it. Thank goodness for the Ensign!!!

Probably in the top five of trip was Sunday where we were the only ones in the Sacred Grove. We walked and pondered and for the most part were silent for about 2 hours. It was a perfect day. So on to the pictures :) Have I told you how beautiful the colors were!!!

Pathway in the Sacred Grove

More of the Sacred Grove

Mom and Dad on the Smith Farm

Smith Farm

From Sacred Grove looking towards Palmyra Temple

Both above and below is from the temple looking out towards the Sacred Grove.

Beautiful stain glass windows of the temple

Hill Cumorah

Color on Hill Cumorah

Fuzzy Caterpillar
The last couple of pictures is the amazing view from our hotel room.

Next stop is Niagara Falls!!