Lexington, KY Aug 10-15

Nice stop in Lexington, KY to visit Jeff and Peg Meece, dear friends that we haven't seen in many years. Below we are all happy at the Woodford Distillery (Woodford Reserve Bourbon). Woodford is the "Kentucky Derby bourbon", famous for its copper pot distillation and small premium batches. Very nice. Took an intersting tour of the Toyota, Georgetown, KY plant (no pics), 7.5 million sq. ft., 7,000 employees (none union), just in time manufacturing, car rolls off the assembly line every 55 seconds, annual capacity 500,000 cars. Won many JD Power plant awards. The plant and the other 20,000+ jobs they produced in support roles significantly helped the economy here. 80+% of the parts for production are produced domestically. Business is picking up.

Lexington is also the home of U Kentucky, basketball powerhouse and known for its world famous horse farms. Next month, this area will host the World Equestrian Games, held every four years; first time in the US. This area has been gearing up for them for the past four years; everything is in great shape. Centerpiece for the games is the Kentucky Horse Park, home of the International Museum of Horse, retirement home for John Henry and many other famous horses. Took a tour of the museum, very extensive.

Tribute to Secretariat, triple crown winner, at the Horse Park; buried near here in Keenland.

Lastly, interesting place below; Martin Castle, now Post Castle, a B&B here with 8 guest rooms. Martin couple started the building, got divorced; the Posts eventually purchased it, spent beaucoup bucks renovating/restoring it. Looked nicer up close.

Cleveland Aug 1-9

How can you go to Cleveland and not see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? If you love that kind of music, it's a must see. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation (started in 1983) was considering a small museum in NYC when Cleveland showed up with big financial plans for a formal museum. They won the bid and in 1995 the 150,000 sq. ft. building below (architect I.M. Pei) opened. It is filled with great memorabilia, great videos and, of course, great music. If you get to Cleveland, check it out.

Primary purpose of stopping in Cleveland was to celebrate wedding of my nephew, James and his lovely (now) wife, Alex. Picture of the beautiful bride below.

Wonderful to see so much family and so many friends. Beautiful venues for the events, including the church below. Wonderful detail work on the ceiling and over the altar. Picture doesn't do it justice.

Below, the back deck of the bride's parents' home; kind of reminds you of HH doesn't it? Her mom, Mikee lower right of the picture.

Had a great live band at the reception; they could do Etta James, Chicago, Louis Armstrong, old and new rock. Two videos of some dancing. Enjoy.

Heading East The Mayo Jul 21-31

We went to Coburg, OR to get our mirror fixed (found one in surplus place vs. waiting 4 weeks for a new one); took a while to get it done. Once again enjoyed Eugene and its Saturday market. Started East on/about Jul 21st. Some beautiful driving vistas (no pics from the RV) through Idaho and Montana. After South Dakota the land became pretty flat, as we rolled into Rochester, MN for our first, and eye opening, visit to the famous Mayo Clinic.



Doubt if I can do justice to our experience there. Mayo is famous for its health care, the Rochester, MN campus being about 6 times bigger than the smaller campuses in Jacksonville, FL and Phoenix, AZ.



By way of background, I have had strange itching problems w/o any skin irritation for the past couple of years. What used to be a simple annoyance became more extreme on this trip. Beyond simple allergic reactions there were some serious causes (cancer, auto-immune, thyroid, liver, kidney, etc) that I was concerned about and I wanted the best to look at me, do a complete work up, etc., if at all possible. No one at HH had any idea what was causing this. Getting an appointment here can be tricky; a referral helps; my GP/Internist at HH was helpful; I got an appointment for Sept 27th, but I could try to "walk in" and take my luck (I was told this could take a week before they could see me). GOD was smiling; I showed up Monday morning, 8:00am and was called in at 8:05am. The internist spent a good 45 minutes with me, ordered a raft of blood work, x-ray, electrocardiogram, allergy tests, urinalysis, and a visit w/allergist. All the diagnostic work was done that day, visited the allergist the next day, re-took blood work for three suspicious issues and wrapped up w/ my internist on day three. Verdict: we ruled out major concerns, recommended treatment for more sensitive allergy issues and discussed future concerns. All in all, a great experience.



Both Marlene and I were very impressed w/Mayo. I don't know if it is the nature of the people in this part of the country or the superb and disciplined execution of a mission statement, but Mayo delivers on its verbal promises. Since 1907 they have put the patient first and, in spite of the difficult reimbursement cutting enviroment that exists today, they continue to deliver extraordinary customer service. I don't know about you, but our family has had its share of trying experiences with hospitals, clinics and doctors. Hospital infection rates kill many (HH needs to improve this) (in a hospital bed I am supposed to insure that the doctor/nurse/med tech washes their hands before they treat me?); lab tests get mixed up; communication errors are rampant; doctors don't have time to spend with you; specialists don't talk to each other; emergency services take you to the wrong hospital but are defensive about investigating their mis-steps. It's a concern that many of us share.



At Mayo, they strive hard to be clean, accurate, quick and thorough. Our doctor said he loves it there, is allowed to spend an hour w/patient if necessary. My blood pressure was taken six times, first/last discarded, other four averaged. Allergist tech (not a doc) talked with me about my testing, decided to speak w/doc about specific tests, had the tests changed; how often does that happen? Each time a nurse, tech took my record they asked me my name/birth date as a check that they had right px. Nurse spent good amount of time getting history right so history was relevant for the doc. Hand sanitizers everywhere, including at all the retail stores that line the maze of underground stores in the complex that adjoins the clinic. Lab results done on site, turn around 24 hours or less; pros/cons of treatment discussed at length. Everything very organized, med people very serious about their work.



Patient and their supporters comfort a big deal here; many restful, comfortable sitting areas; many, many, many greeters/helpers everywhere (near the elevators, in the halls); three information booths to help you; pianos for anyone to play (some great players).



Some facts: 1st px 1907 (I am px 7 million plus), Mayo brothers (Charlie and Will) built the clinic with emphasis on "Patient Care, Research, Education". 1916 started the teamwork approach that Mayo is so famous for (why is this so hard for other medical centers to do?) Two affiliated hospitals (St. Marys, Methodist) under their umbrella. A simple concept, executed extraordinarily well over a long time. Now, 32,000 people work in Rochester campus alone; over 2000 docs here, all specialties covered; a full wing to alternative medicine; a full floor for sleep disorders. Over 500,000 px seen last year in all three campuses. At Rochester 1,000 blood draws each morning (they took 14 tubes out of me on the first day). 20 % of their px are from other countries, many don't speak English so what does Mayo do?; they provide 80 interpreters to make it work. And the philanthropy just keeps on coming. 5 year drive just completed (they raised $1.4 Billion). Over 70 buildings in Rochester area affiliated w/the clinic.



Obviously they have found a way to make money; you can't provide this level of service unless you are making money, but they are so far above the level of service we were used to in the medical business that we were very impressed. Let's hope that they can continue to keep their standards high; it is a shining example of what medical care should be.



Sorry to be long winded; couldn't help it.



Below the new front of the new Gonda building, completed 2001.

Bronze statues of Dr. Will and Dr. Charlie, the founders.

Gonda building, 20 stories tall, 10 more to come in the future.

Gonda connects to Mayo, and they all connect to several other buildings, including a subterranean maze to hotels, shops, restaurants. Below is the below street level (subway level) of the connection between Gonda and Mayo building.

Admissions area. When I went in at 7am, Monday, the place was packed, 20-30 admission stations.

Marlene at one of the information booths. Who says service is dead?

If you look close, you can see a man (visiting businessman) playing one of the pianos provided.

Barnes and Noble converted a beautiful old theatre into a store; thought it was a great pic.

Below two musical interludes for your entertainment, all volunteers, px, doctors etc.

Seattle Jul 6-16

Into each life some rain must fall. No, we're not talking Seattle rain; we're talking breakdown. We were parked at a campground that was packed, and we were in a tight space. Friday night before we were going to leave, an arriving RVer hit my driver's mirror, broke it and spun it around. After duct taping it as best I could, it was driveable, but only the top third of the mirror was useable. We limped over to a local RV dealer Saturday morning; service wouldn't be open till Monday. Monday we discover that no one has any inventory of this mirror (the economy uncertainty is keeping everyone cautious), so the mirror must be made in Wisconsin (3 1/2 weeks). Below the damage. We found an RV surplus place in Oregon that could put together a surplus mirror; decided to have them ship one up to us. After they sent the first one to New Mexico, they were too understaffed to handle their increasing business (afraid to hire new people due to economy uncertainty) and kept missing their date for sending it up. We finally decided to drive the 250 miles down there and have our favorite guy install it. To be continued.

Seattle was great; famous for it's Pike Market among other things. Pike's market is a great fresh seafood (and everything else) market where they throw the fish for the entertainment of the tourists (that's us). Below, a seafood kiosk that pans to the camera with fish throwing on a regular basis; the crowd loved it.

While there we had a nice lunch at the recommended Maximilien's Restaurant. Below the view from their patio overlooking Puget Sound on a beautiful day.

Seattle and Tacoma are known for their artistic glass; below a nice shot of a retail shop in Seattle selling some pretty glass creations.

Great trip to visit the Boeing factory; toured the largest useable cubic foot building in the world (472 million cubic feet), watched 747s being put together (no pictures), which take 6-8 weeks and the assembly of the new 787s (lots of sub contractors), assembly here 3 days (new innovation from Boeing). Is it any wonder the rollout has been delayed numerous times, now into 2011? They are very excited about the 787; thoroughly enjoyed the tour. Below the big building.

Below the visitor's center, tracing the life of Boeing with simulators and mock-ups of airplanes. Had a great time there.

Visited Tacoma, which has a tribute to favorite son Dale Chihuly, an artistic glass blower that has become famous. The Museum of Glass there is filled with his creations; they also have actual glass blowing going on with practicing artists, Chihuly being the most famous. Below one of his creations at the Tacoma train station.

Chihuly created a "wall of glass" on a bridge crossing over I-705 separting the waterfront from downtown; below "Crystals of Glass" 40 ft high, that illuminate at night. Interesting.

Spent an afternoon at Weyerhauser's gardens; they have a great bonsai garden. Below, two of their more spectacular samples. First is a two toned Chinese Juniper (explanation follows, double click to read it).

Below the piece de resistance, a Korean Yew, trunk dates to ca 1600; magnificent; description follows.

Finally, couldn't resist this; me at one of our favorite breakfast places during the entire trip; Babblin Babs in Tacoma. Wow, what a menu, what a place. Enjoyed every morsel.

Olympic Peninsula Jul 1-5

Spent a few days on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, west and across Puget Sound from Seattle. Home to the Olympic mountains (Mt. Olympus 8,000ft high point) and the Hoh rain forest, it might as well be one big national park. These mountains are different than the Cascades, not volcanic, but part of the oceanic crust forced upward over millions of years, then carved by glaciers from the ice ages. The mountains trap the moisture to the west, producing the wettest area in the US and one of its only rain forests. However, where we stayed, at the northern edge, rainfall was only 15-20 inches/year.



We stayed in a little town called Sequim (pronounced Skwim), small coastal town frequented by John Wayne. He built a marina, left it to the town; we had a wonderful fresh seafood meal there one evening. Below a view across the water at the marina.



On the western side of the peninsula lies the Hoh rain forest, 140-165 inches of rain/year; has some interesting vegetation and animals not found elsewhere. Also huge spruce, hemlock and other trees, some as high as 300 feet. Oh, a ton of moss everywhere; notice the moss covered phone booth below (photo op).

Me, in front of a biggie.

Took a ride to historic Port Townsend, northeastern edge of the peninsula, pretty town, economy nicely balanced by industry (wood/paper), tourism and retirement influx. Only get 20" rain a year and very temperate; nice mix of restaurants, galleries and shops. I can see the attraction. Below a picture of one of the shop windows; think we're on the west coast?

Sequim, where we stayed, has the Dungeness River running through it. A now closed railroad was recently transformed into a walking/cycling bridge/walkway by the local audobon society, producing a woodland canopy overlooking the rushing river. Below Marlene doing her thing.

Sequim is the lavender capital of North America; they even have a festival for it. Below a picture of one of the lavender fields.

Took a run up Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, beautiful vistas on the way up, pretty foggy, nice shot of a black tailed deer below, saw many of them right next to the road.

Portland Jun 21-30

Well, just so you guys don't think we never have any problems with our RV; we left Eugene after having our hydraulic filter changed at Cummins Engine (among other things). As we were tooling up I-5 someone motioned us to pull over. We had hydraulic fluid pouring out of our back end, covering our car (being towed) and the rear of our RV. The filter had not been seated correctly (the hydraulic fluid expands significantly when it warms to operating temp). We called for some help, re-seated the filter and had to wash the car and back end of the RV a couple of times. Oh yes, I had to add 9 gallons of hydraulic fluid (actually transmission fluid). Fortunately, time was not a problem for us and Cummins (red faced) apologized and reimbursed us for our costs. But it was exciting for a while.



Portland and the Columbia River Gorge. More magnificent scenery, more wonderful waterfalls. Portland is very pedestrian and bike friendly; bike paths everywhere; lots of organic everything; excellent produce most of the year; very green.



Below is a shot at the Portland Japanese Garden (very peaceful) in Washington Park; also home to an elaborate International Test Rose Garden, with lots of different types of roses being experimented.

Part of the test rose garden.

So many roses they use them for windscreens on the tennis courts.

Spent time going to McMinnville, home of Evergreen Aviation museum and the famous Spruce Goose (largest wingspan flyable airplane ever built). "The Goose" was built by Howard Hughes during WWII, body made of wood, designed to take off/land on water, finished ahead of schedule and tested successfully in 1947. Not needed by the US, Hughes stored it for 33 years just in case at a yearly storage cost of $1 million/year. It has since been a tourist attraction in Long Beach, for Disney and now at Evergreen. Couldn't get a good picture (its too big). This museum is the "vision quest" for Capt. Michael King Smith, ex fighter pilot (now deceased, died in a car accident in '95) and his dad, Delford Smith, entrepreneur and founder of Evergreen Aviation . Museum has an aviation section and a space section and an IMAX theatre. Some great planes and a good tour. Below is the famous SR-71 "Blackbird", mach 3+ spy plane.

Picture of the main building.

The place is in good shape, but I think they are having financial difficulties. Below their next building, with a 747 atop it; it will house a .....................water park. Whatever will bring in the bucks.

The Columbia River Gorge, one of the scenic wonders of the world, is a 4,000 ft deep canyon that runs for approx 80 miles eastward from Portland area. Beautiful drives, great trees, reportedly over 90 waterfalls. There are three videos at the end of this entry for three different waterfalls. A must see if you ever get out this way. Below a view from the elevated visitor center and the beginning of our drive.

Lots of huge trees; below another (ho hum) 200+ ft. beauty (you can imagine the size comparing the size of this couple).

One of the first falls we stopped at; Latourell Falls; video at end of this section; wow.

Bridal Veil Falls below; don't know the guys in the photo.

Multnomah Falls, one of the highest vertical drops in the US (over 600 ft); tough to take picture with the sun; even the video doesn't do justice to it. Two sections, there is a bridge, filled with tourists, overlooking the bottom section. Double click to enlarge this and see the bridge.

Another shot of Multnomah; wow, I guess I am hooked on waterfalls.

Drove up Mt. Hood, pictured below; one of the volatile Cascade Mountains; still plenty of snow up there, as you can see.

Had a chance to play some tennis w/Mike Manglitz, used to live in Hilton Head not so long ago. Marlene and I had a great dinner at Mike and Janet's (the reason he left Hilton Head) home. Oh, a bonus, Janet's brother is a noted Napa Valley winemaker; his wines are served at The White House; we got to try several of them, wonderful.

Videos of Portland State's Saturday farmer's market and three of the Columbia River's waterfalls; addictive!