RECORDING THE WORST.

My brother, Bill, was mediflighted to Mark Twain St. Josephs hospital for open heart surgery. Millions of them are done every year, nothing to it, right?  Omigod. Not unless it is you or someone you know who has the surgery.

He looked wretched and probably will not be happy that I posted his picture strapped to his new buddy, the machine that keeps him heavily monitored. I won’t see him again until March.

His daughter, Rena and granddaughter, Amber drove up from Southern California to be with him.

Practically the only thing not hooked to cords was his feet. Rena gave him a foot massage.

Time in the ICU is limited, so we went out for brunch after our visit. The women will return later in the day before heading back to Southern California.

And, my prankster son, Doug, brought him an All Meat Pizza, a bottle of booze, and an appointment with one of those women who hang out on Wilson St. wearing net stockings, commonly called a Ho. Bill was a bit out of it to think it was very funny, not to mention it hurts to laugh. the staff thought it was a gas. We wait until the worst moments and use humor to downplay our anxiety.  And, we are grateful to share what little time we can sneak in, even recording the worst.

 

FOUR ROSES DISTILLERY, LAWRENCEBURG, KENTUCKY

After yesterday’s horrible pouring down rain, we scrambled with a another time change and hit the Blue Grass Parkway toward Laurenceburg for a visit to Four Roses Distillery. I’ve seen plenty of beer breweries, but never a distillery. Bonds Mill Rd. is narrow, kind of rolling hills and homes, could this be the right place? A big yellow, Spanish Mission Style building suddenly loomed up before us. The gates are narrow; you can’t see if there is room for a motor home. Carefully, carefully we rolled…

We wound around a narrow driveway and ended up at the back of the place next to an ancient still on our left.

The steaming smoke stacks of a distillery at work on the right.

And the visitors center in front of us. A distinct smell of sweet corn hung in the air.

Inside the visitors center everything is roses. Much to look at and enjoy or buy while waiting for your tour.

Wouldn’t this make a good toilet seat?  It answers the question, what is the difference between bourbon and whiskey?  Same thing. I’d love to have that as a toilet seat.

Four Roses isn’t the oldest distillery in the state, but one of the oldest. It was started in 1888 by Old Joe. Everyone loved his brew and when he sold his place, he sold the recipe. It remains the same, we are told.

Several owners bought and ran the distillery after Old Joe. It was owned by Seagrams for many years. This is their top of the line product, single barrel straight bourbon, that has always been produced to the original recipe and enjoys a huge following in Europe and Japan. It is rumored the name Four Roses came from one early owner who fell for a beautiful woman. He asked for her hand in marriage. She said she’d give him her answer at an upcoming ball. If she was wearing a red rose, the answer was yes. At the ball she was wearing a corsage of four red roses. When Seagrams went bankrupt, the new owners began marketing their most successful product, the single barrel above, and selling it in America. It isn’t yet available in every state.

The yellow label is what you drink Monday through Friday. They don’t use the b—- word. It is an intermingled recipe. The books have some neat recipes.

The distillery has won an award for best distillery for 2011 and 2012. The above is not the award. Didn’t learn what sour mash was. Forgot to ask. But I did remember that by law, bourbon has to be 51% corn mash. (She said Four Roses uses more.)  The corn comes from Indiana. Rye from Denmark and barley from Ireland.  Secret recipe #1.

The distillery tour started on the ground floor and ended there for me because of the stairs.  I had to leave and waited for the tour to enter the tasting room at the end.

Our tour guide above was fun. She had a great toast for us that I can’t remember. The booze is delish if you like booze. Jim declined to taste. He only likes his Canadian Mist with ice and water. I enjoyed it because I like scotch, but it would have been better with a couple of ice cubes and a splash of water and a little cracker and cheese. (She gave me an empty bottle with the embossed roses on it for my bottle fence.)

While Jim was on the tour, I took some pictures outside. Beautiful grounds.

A second still on the grounds, a fountain in front of the building. It was a fun tour.

Littlefield, Texas – Day 2

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.

The motorhome is still parked at the Waylon Jennings RV Park. I expect to leave here this coming Monday.

Yesterday I drove the Bronco the about one-half mile from the Waylon Jennings RV Park to Waymore’s Liquor Store. Waymore was Waylon Jennings’ nickname. You can read about this place by clicking this link…
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/23815

Waylon’s younger brother James was not there, but I met Darla, James’ daughter and Waylon’s niece who was minding the store. Waymore’s is located on the corner of Hall Avenue and Waylon Jennings Boulevard. Waymore’s was once a gas station that has been converted into a drive-thru liquor store. What was once a double open-ended work bay, you can now drive-thru and buy your booze without getting out of your car. How convenient is that?

You can read all about Waylon Jennings by clicking this link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waylon_Jennings

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

In a way, I felt a tad sad looking at Waylon’s memorabilia among all the booze. But in a way it reflects on his sometimes self-abusive lifestyle and his humble beginnings to become one of the most famous people on the planet. Like the above sign says…Waylon Jennings…No Ordinary Dude.

You can read all about Littlefield, Texas by clicking this link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littlefield,_Texas

Enjoying the interesting places is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

LUNCH IN ALGODONES

This is a sign you can understand in any language and not one we see much. Algodones, Mexico, about five miles West of Yuma  is reputed to have the highest density of dentists, pharmacies, doctors and opticians in a four block area,  than any similar four block area  in the world.

Hawkers reach out and offer to guide you to a dentist, doctor, etc.  every step of the way. Not that you need guidance, every other sign is for one or the other.  For most of them you don’t need an appointment. We arrived at 9:00 a.m. to be first in the door to Denny Salinas’ office, except, he was no longer at the same address as our last visit in 2009.  A young woman named Bettina walked us several blocks away to his fancy new digs. We learned you now need an appointment. But, as a former  customer,  he took a look at a problem I was having with an implant he did and fitted me in for ex-rays and a diagnosis.

We walked around town to look around. People, many recognizable “snowbirds”, were sitting in a busy square sunning themselves and  listening to a very good musician play several types of flute. Hauntingly beautiful sounds I recognized from Peruvian culture.

His partner was selling  his very popular CD’s. I could have stayed an listened for an hour.

The spray can artists were also working the square. They can do amazing things with spray paint and a piece of paper, rubbing the paint on then quickly drying it with a hair dryer. Jim cautioned this guy waving  a cigarette near the painters  but he laughed and defied the notion that a cigarette around all of those chemicals was in danger of exploding or starting a fire.  Popular pieces are the television dishes snowbirds have on their RV’s. In fact, Algodones depends so much on Canadian and American tourists they have a closed-street block party in December welcoming snowbirds  back to Algodones.

In our motor home we don’t have room to buy “stuff” but I like to look, anyway. People buy cheap drugs and liquor here as well. I got a bottle of vodka.

We like an open restaurant, hole-in-the wall type, that starts you off with three  kinds of salsa  a red, a green, both hot and home-made. Then avocado salsa,  sour cream, limes,  and chips.  A plate with tomatoes, onion, cilantro and shredded cabbage.  They cook their meats on a charcoal grill in front of their place. I tell you that because I haven’t a clue what the name of the place is if you go.

The food is always good and cheap, $5 for a whole chicken with rice and beans. Jim took a small portion. I ordered four tacos forgetting that they fill them really full of meat. Our two meals with Tecates cost us $13.00. The Tecate is good with a squeeze of lime in it. I never have this much fun when I go to my dentist in Murphys, doncha know!

Jim likes to go early so we get back across the border before the crowds line up. We didn’t make it. I didn’t mind at all talking to other folks in line. It was about a twenty-minute wait before we went through the friendly immigration inspection.

Something new since our last visit, for $5 you can be driven over in the yellow cart  and skip the line. The drug sniffing dog sniffs the cart and all the cars, too.