Lexington, Kentucky – Day 2

The motorhome is still parked at the Keeneland Horse Race Track at Lexington, Kentucky.

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…

The X marks our parking site at the track in the below Google Earth image. You can read about Keeneland by clicking their official website link…
http://www.keeneland.com/

Even though it is not racing season, there are still horses here which we got to see yesterday morning. I took so many photos that I’ve decided to show the photos taken in the stable area today. Race track photos can be seen tomorrow.

The day started with a delightful sunrise…

Then to the track kitchen for breakfast. Since it was a Sunday morning traffic was light…

The people walking the horses to cool down after an exercise run are called Hotwalkers. The people taking care of the horses are called Grooms. As a teenager back in New England I did both jobs over a three-year period part-time at Suffolk Downs in Massachusetts, Rockingham Park in New Hampshire and Lincoln Downs in Rhode Island. Wandering around the stable area brought back lots of long-ago memories…

I just cannot resist photographing patterns…

Returning from an exercise run…

Many thanks to Greg Burchell of Crossroads Stables for allowing us a close-up opportunity…

Tomorrow you get to see the horses get their morning exercise and some of the Keeneland grounds.

Enjoying beautiful thoroughbred horses is another joy of the full-timing lifestyle!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Kentucky. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

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 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

A Trip Down Memory Lane With Old friends In Revere, Massachusetts

Jim says:

Yesterday Mary and I met up with some old friends of mine and wandered through neighborhoods where I lived from ages 10-18. During those years, Revere (named for Paul Revere) had a major beach (the first public beach in the United States), a major dog track and a major horse track.

Here’s a Google Earth view of this area…

The beach is still there, though vastly different from when I was a youngster. Back then it was a wonderful assortments of rides, amusements and arcades. Today it’s all condominiums. The Wonderland Park dog track ran its last race in September, 2009 after voters banned dog racing in the state. The Suffolk Downs horse track is still operational and celebrated its 75th anniversary a couple of weeks ago. The Liberty Elementary Grade School, Garfield Junior High School and the old Revere High School I attended were demolished years ago. Jobs I remember having back in those days were a paper route, walking horses before school in the morning at Suffolk Downs and in the receiving department of Raymond’s Department Store in Boston. All prior to my joining the Navy in 1958.

These three photos are from the below Wikipedia Revere Beach informational link…

Here’s a link to a four-minute video about the history of Revere Beach…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2eIxv30SYI&feature=player_embedded

As long as we’re going down memory lane, here are two photos, 1951 and 1961…

As far as yesterday is concerned, Bill and Loretta Gallagher met us at our motorhome in the VFW parking lot. We went in their vehicle to see some of the old neighborhoods…

Bill and Loretta Gallagher were married here at St. Anthony’s Church 48 years and one day ago.

I lived in Lee’s Trailer Park from age 10 to 13. It’s amazing but it still looks much like it did 55 years ago.

I lived at 70 Hichborn Street (lower right apartment) from age 14 to 18. It looked old even when I lived there 50+ years ago.

Revere Beach today.

Then to Dolly Giordano’s home where we watched Elvis Presley’s debut TV performance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956. Loretta, Bill, myself, Arthur (Dolly’s partner of 37 years) & Dolly.

Then to the pizza place right next door to Dolly’s home. Mary said she had never tasted pizza this good in all of her life.

Here’s a Wikipedia informational link about Revere…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revere,_Massachusetts

Here’s a Wikipedia informational link about Revere Beach…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revere_Beach

We spent five very enjoyable hours re-living the good old days. A most enjoyable day indeed!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

THE RAMBLIN’ LIFESTYLE

We moved to Revere, MA yesterday, where my partner, Jim lived from age 10 to 18. As a kid he exercised horses at Suffolk Downs, shoveled manure, delivered newspapers, did odd jobs for neighbors, and in general, helped out at home like most kids did in our generation.  He and his brother lived in a single parent family. He has two lifelong friends from grammar school, Al Penta, I met last year in Monroe, WA, and we will meet two more today.

I’m always impressed by his diverse and  lasting friendships. As a full time RV-er, he has scads of RV friends about the country many from the WINS. WIN stands for Wandering Individuals Network. They share holidays, excursions, all types of gatherings. Many belong to more than one group, such as LOWs, Loners On Wheels, ESCAPEEs, self explanatory. It amazes me how many people love the RV lifestyle. Since it is a new lifestyle for me, I am often asked about it. We constantly meet people who claim that RV-ing  is what they want to do…but somehow, they never do it. So, if you are single, try one of the clubs listed above. If you are a couple, there are also travel clubs. Its a good way to get started.

One particular friend, Randy Vining, an intelligent fellow, poet, philosopher and road warrior, a guy with a sense of fun, always gives me food for thought. We have similar philosophies and I like keeping up with him on-line. I’m beginning to see that on-line friendships are not necessarily fleeting. (Of course, we do meet in the flesh now and again.)

If you’d like to meet Randy, his blog is: http://mobilecodgers.blogspot.com

Being a newbie, I can only relate that so far, its been an exciting adventure to live on the road, passing through places, hooking up with people and events, and charting the differences in the way each state runs its systems; I like tasting different regional specialties.  Right now we are parked in the Little Italy part of Revere and I’m looking forward to some great Italian Food.
Stay tuned.