DAY 41 Nashville to Lexington, KY
Last night was our last night in a campground for this trip.
This morning we headed for David’s aunt and uncle’s house, just south of Lexington. It was an uneventful drive, and probably one of the best and most peaceful 200-mile-plus hauls we have had on this trip. We pulled in their driveway in the afternoon, and because it’s a farmhouse with some land, there was plenty of space (level space!) in the driveway for us. Jo gave us a tour of their neat old farmhouse where they just moved recently. It had a lot of character and charm. Each of their three boys has his own room. It’s a nice place. Then she went to pick up the two older boys from school while David played with Tom, their youngest. When the boys got home, they took David and Nora on a go-kart ride around their property. They came back up to the house where I was talking to Tom and nursing Michael. Nora would stay up at the house while David went down with Herb and Jo to ride the horses. Nora and Tom (and Michael) and I were having a fine time, but they were all supposed to be back in 30 minutes or so, and I knew it had been more than an hour. Turns out the horse David was on, Gypsy, didn’t have her saddle on quite tight, and it slipped and David fell off the side of the horse, but luckily while they were still standing still. So things took a little longer than planned. But he wasn’t seriously hurt and got back up and went for a ride. Then it was my turn. I was starving by then for the lasagna that was already done and sitting on the stove, but I really wanted to ride. I went down and rode Gypsy. I felt OK getting on her, because I had ridden horses probably once a year during my teen years (or more) and then once every 3 to 5 years as an adult. But once I got on I realized that I had only ridden at a riding stable, where all the horses have been ridden their whole lives and just go out on the bridle path and go the same way and come back the same way. This was a whole different thing. Gypsy was new to being ridden, and we could go any way we wanted. And there was no long line of riders to follow behind, keeping us at a walk. It was really exciting and fun. Herb was riding the other horse, and Gypsy was pretty much following, but not always. Nor did she always listen to me. She did start and stop when I said to, though, so that was comforting. I had to stop riding because I was too hungry and it was getting dark. David went for one last go-round and helped unsaddle them. The rest of us had dinner. (Jo had already fed Nora and Tom while I was gone.) After dinner we got the camper plugged into their garage (after some technical difficulties) and fired up the furnace. We put Nora to bed and brought the bassinet in for Michael to sleep in while we talked and David and I showed our photos.