Tuesday, August 7th, we left the coach after lunch to do some exploring in the area. We did do one geocache located just outside the entrance to the campground. We needed to have at least one cache for the day for our days of the year challenge and that one was very convenient. After finding the cache we drove to Fort Knox to check out the base. Although the campground we are in is operated by the military and is located on the physical grounds of the base, it is not connected internally to the actual operating part of the base. The entrance to the campground is several miles from any of the regular gates onto the base and is not gated or guarded in any fashion.
Although there were several Army posts in the area during and after the Civil War, the current base was established as Camp Knox in 1918. The camp was a small, insignificant operation until 1931 when the Army posted it’s first mechanized calvary unit here for training. Eventually the base became the hub of the Army’s mechanized warfare efforts and was renamed Fort Knox. In 1940 it evolved into the primary training center for the Army’s armor forces and the headquarters for the 1st Armored Division. In the 1980's the base also became host to Marine Corps armor training units when the Marines began to use the same M1A1 Abrams tank used by the Army. In 2010 the activities at the base shrunk by two thirds when all of the armor training commands, both Army and Marine, were moved to Fort Benning in Georgia and all other operational commands reassigned to other Army installations. The base likely would have been closed as part of the Defense Realignment and Closure plan except for the fact that the base is also home to the United States Bullion Depository, operated by the Treasury Department but located within the perimeter of the base. It was decided to move the Army’s Human Resources Command, all of it’s personnel management activities, to Fort Knox to enable it to remain a viable military base.
The Bullion Depository is what comes to most people’s minds when they hear “Fort Knox.” The depository is only a thousand yards or so off of the main highway and the above ground part of the facility is easily visible from the road. The above ground portion is unremarkable and to us it actually looked more like a prison than anything else. All of the actual gold is located in a vault under the stone building at the surface. The most recent reports indicate that the depository holds about 5,046 tons of gold bullion, which is 147.2 million ounces. This is about 368,000 standard, 27.4 pound gold bars. At a recent rate of $1,618.82 an ounce the gold in Fort Knox is worth about $238.290 billion. After finding our geocache we drove onto the base to see what there was to see, which was not much. There is no public access anywhere near the Bullion Depository, you can’t get any closer to it on base than you can from the road. The central part of the base is still active, but the surrounding areas where the armor and mechanized units used to be is all vacant land now. Most of the buildings have been torn down and there is little activity outside of the “main side” part of the base. We drove around a while and then went to the base exchange and the commissary to do some shopping. By the time we got done shopping on base it was time to head back to the coaches. We got together for happy hour and then had dinner on our own before settling in for the night.
Wednesday, August 8th, my late mother’s birthday. Happy birthday Mom, love you and miss you. We left the coach about 10:30 to do some more caching and exploring. We were able to find a total of eleven new caches during our travels with no DNF’s. We drove around Ratliff, the small town right outside the gates of Fort Knox and then drove south about 20 miles to the larger city of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Elizabethtown was founded in 1797 by settlers and pioneers moving westward in the new United States. Now a city of nearly 29,000 it is the eleventh largest city in the state. Abraham Lincoln’s father, Thomas Lincoln, lived here off and on in the early 1800's, prior to Abe’s birth. We stopped at the local Cracker Barrel restaurant for lunch and then after lunch drove around town sightseeing for a while. After our tour of Elizabethtown we headed back to the campground. We had happy hour with the Babcocks but after the big lunch we didn’t do any dinner. We settled in and watched TV the rest of the evening.
Thursday, August 9th, we decided to take a day off from touring and just stayed around the coach all day. Jackie and I did a few little chores around the coach, but mostly just relaxed. We had happy hour with the Babcocks and then Suzie made dinner. She did some cheese tortellini and Jackie did some garlic bread to go with it. Had a great dinner then relaxed the rest of the night.
Friday, August 10th, we left the coach after lunch, about noon, and headed northeast to tour Louisville. Louisville is a city of about 742,000 on the south bank of the Ohio River. It is the largest city in Kentucky, although not the state capital. It is arguably best known as the home of the Kentucky Derby horse race, held at Churchill Downs racetrack every May. Our campground was about 30 miles southwest of Louisville and the trip into town seemed to show a city with significant blight outside of the downtown area. We spent about two hours driving around downtown, as well as some of the areas around downtown. As would be expected in a city founded in the 18th century, there were some very old areas of town that were rundown. What we found most interesting though were large areas of old commercial and industrial activity that were completely blighted. Some of the areas reminded me of Gary, Indiana, which we drove through about four years ago. 
We did some caching in the area, finding four new caches. We also drove around Churchill Downs, taking some pictures. We actually got chased out of one area by a security guard who didn’t want us taking photos. Seemed kind of an over reaction to us. After touring town for a while we drove to the Louisville Elks Lodge, which was Lodge #8, one of the oldest lodges in Elkdom. This Lodge was established in the early 1870's. They are now a fairly small lodge of only 350 members and have a nice lodge at the outskirts of town. The lodge has a large swimming pool, which was very busy on this warm Saturday afternoon. There were several people in the bar when we came in and they were very welcoming and friendly. The lodge bought us one drink and then we had another while we sat and chatted with some of the members. We got our lodge pins and then moved on to our next destination, the Lyndon Elks Lodge, actually located only nine miles away. Lyndon was also a very friendly lodge, although they didn’t buy a drink for us. We were also able to get a lodge pin, but the Secretary of the Lodge had to go to the office and search for one because they didn’t think they had any. They were able to find one, which the Babcocks let us have because we have the banner for pins and they haven’t started one yet. After we finished our drink at the Lyndon Lodge we headed back to the campground. We didn’t get back until nearly 8:00 after a very busy day. We didn’t even have happy hour. We just went to our respective coaches and crashed for the night.
Saturday, August 11th, we split our forces. Ray and I left, with me driving, about 9:30 to spend a day visiting a few bourbon distilleries. The girls didn’t have any interest in them, so they were going to go out shopping for the day. Ray and I headed east to an area southeast of Louisville known for what is called the “Bourbon Trail” of Kentucky. I like bourbon and drink it often, although I mix it rather than sip it as you are supposed to do with really good bourbon. Ray is not a big fan, but likes to go to interesting places, so off we went.
Bourbon is a true “American” whiskey drink and it thought to have originated in Kentucky, around the area of eastern Kentucky that is now Bourbon County in the late 1700's. Bourbon Country took it’s name from the French royal family known as the Bourbons. I have read several places that over 95 percent of the bourbon distilled in the world is distilled in Kentucky, most of it in towns along the Bourbon Trail of central Kentucky. Our first stop was near the small town of Loretto, Kentucky at the Maker’s Mark Distillery. Although the Maker’s Mark brand originated in 1954, their distillery building was built in 1889 and is one of three distillery buildings designated at National Historic Landmarks. They bought the property from Burkes Distillers which had built the original buildings.We took the tour through the distillery, which was very interesting and on which we learned a lot of facts about bourbon. There are actually a lot of legal restrictions regarding what can legally be called “Bourbon” in the United States. Bourbon must be made from a grain mixture that is at least 51 percent corn, it must be aged in new, charred-oak barrels, distilled to no more than 160 proof, entered into the barrel for aging at no more than 125 proof, and bottled at 80 proof or more. To be called “Straight Bourbon” it must be aged a minimum of two years and not have added coloring, flavoring, or other spirits. Bourbon that is labeled as straight that has been aged under four years must be labeled with the duration of its aging.
After the tour we had a brief tasting experience where we sampled the regular Maker’s Mark, which is aged between six and seven years, as well as their premium bourbon which is aged for over ten years. They also let us sample some of the 125 proof clear corn liquor that is put into the barrels for aging to become bourbon. They don’t sell the clear stuff at retail, but you can buy it at the distillery. Not sure why you would want it, until it’s aged and mellowed it’s some pretty raw stuff with no flavor, just burn. Although Maker’s Mark is now owned by the Jim Beam Corporation, it is operated as an independent subsidiary by the Samuels family, descendants of the founders. Marker’s Mark is considered by most to be an excellent, top shelf bourbon.It was interesting when we came into the town of Loretto, before arriving at the distillery, we passed a huge fenced in grass field on which stood a dozen huge, black buildings. They were at least ten stories high and the size of a large warehouse, but there were no parking lots, no vehicles around them, just these big black buildings in the middle of a field. As it turns out, these were some of the barrel houses where the barrels of bourbon are stored for aging. Each warehouse is packed full, top to bottom, with thousands of barrels of bourbon.
After visiting Loretto we drove about twenty miles northwest to the City of Bardstown, Kentucky. Bardstown is a city of only about 12,000 that calls itself the “Bourbon Capital of the U.S.” and claims that 97 percent of the bourbon distilled in the U.S. is made within 50 miles of the city. Bardstown is home to a number of distilleries, but the one we came to visit, Heaven Hill, is the largest. Before going to the brewery we stopped in town for lunch at a local Mexican Restaurant called Rincon Mexicano. The food was OK, but not authentic Sonoran cooking. I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise, being in Kentucky and all.
We had a great time, got to sample some bourbon, learned a lot about bourbon, and saw some very pretty countryside. The girls got to spend some time together and were actually still out shopping when Ray and I got back from our tour. We had cocktails with them then relaxed the rest of the night watching TV.
Sunday, August 12th, we left the coach after lunch with the Babcocks to do some final caching in the area of Fort Knox. In a couple of hours we had managed to get 14 new finds with only one DNF. We also made a visit to the General Patton Museum which is located on the base, but open to the public through a separate gate. It makes sense that there would be a Patton museum here since Patton was sort of the “Godfather” of modern tank warfare tactics and Fort Knox, until recently, was the home for U.S. armor forces. There is also a Patton Museum at Chiraco Summit, a few miles east of Indio, but that museum is dedicated to the training that Patton had his troops doing in the U.S. deserts before he sent them to North Africa during WW-II. The one here at Fort Knox is more about his life in general. One interesting, if a little macabre, is they have the actual Cadillac limo in which General Patton was mortally injured in Germany after the end of the war. The day before he was to transfer back to the U.S. he and his Chief of Staff went out pheasant hunting. Patton’s driver made to pass a large Army truck when the truck made a left turn in front of the car. The car struck the truck, but it was not a server accident. However, Patton was not wearing a seatbelt and flew forward striking the solid partition between the front and back seats. He suffered a broken neck and was paralyzed from the neck down. Although he was taken to the base hospital and treated, he died twelve days later of complications from the injury. The car, which had not been severely damaged, was repaired and put back in service. That is how it survived to end up in the museum. 
Monday, August 13th, our last day in Fort Knox and in Kentucky. We decided we needed a day at home to get some things done. I spent an hour or so in the morning taking down sun screens and putting away the outside stuff before the predicted rain started. I got everything put away just in time, the rain started about noon. After lunch we did our laundry at the laundry facility in the campground. They had a nice new facility with eight washers and dryers so we were able to get everything done at one time. After laundry we just did a few odds and ends around the coach, getting ready for tomorrow’s travels.
We did cocktail hour with the Babcocks and had the leftovers from last night’s meal for dinner. This is our last dinner with the Babcocks for about a week. Tomorrow we go to a town north of Indianapolis for the Full Timer’s Chapter rally and they go to a town southeast of Indianapolis for the combined Elks and Military Vet Chapter rallies. But not to worry, we will see them in a week in Springfield, Ohio when we all go to the Monaco International Rally there. After dinner we relaxed the rest of the night.
Tuesday, August 14th, another travel day. Our original plans had been to not go into the Full Timer’s Chapter rally until Thursday. We were going to just go to a park somewhere around Indianapolis for a couple of days. However, we learned that Peggy and Vernon Bullock had arrived early at the rally and were anxious to see us. We last saw them back in Arizona in the Spring. We had called the RV park and they said they could get us in if we came early. We decided that we would go ahead and make the 235 mile trip from Fort Knox to Montecello, Indiana, the location of the rally, in one trip. We normally don’t like to drive more than 200 miles in a day, but today is not too much over that limit.
We did leave early, right at 9:00 a.m. so we wouldn’t be on the road too late. Our trip took us through the middle of Louisville, across the Ohio River into Indiana, and then north. We were on I-65 most of the way and the road was horrible. I guess the snow and ice of the Indiana winters are tough on roads because they were full of potholes and frost heaves. Everything inside the coach was bouncing around for most of the trip. The ten or so miles through Indianapolis was interesting too in that the freeway took some twists and turns that are unusual for an Interstate highway. We finally arrived at the White Oaks Western Horizons Resort in Montecello about 2:30 in the afternoon. We got into our campsite and pretty much set up within a couple hours. The Bullocks, whom we wanted to surprise were out geocaching when we got into the park so we were able to spring a surprise on them by arriving two days early. There were already about six other couples from the Full Timers Chapter in sites around us and another three came in while we were getting set up. We know most of them and had a great time greeting folks we hadn’t seen in a while, in a couple of cases over a year. The rally wasn’t really started yet, so we had cocktails with the Bullocks and talked for a while, catching up on everything we have done for the four months since we last saw them. We had dinner on our own in our coach and just relaxed for the rest of the night.
Today marks the first day of our summer 2012 rally schedule and would seem to be a logical place to stop and publish this segment. We will be at the Full Timers Chapter rally for six days, then move to the Monaco International Chapter rally for another six days, then on to the FMCA Convention for five days and finishing up with the 3-T’s Chapter rally for four days. That’s four rallies in 21 days, more than enough to fill an episode of the blog all by itself. With that said, we will be back soon with the stories from our rally adventures soon. Bye for now.
