My trip to Kentucky

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Welcome all sky fans!!! I might not have time to respond to you, but I will try my best to visit!!!

Our hosts: Klaus Sandy Ivar Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Thanks, also,to Dot and Tom, who were instrumental in the success of this blogging event. You should definitely come fly with us! I call this one "Progress??"
Hi everyone!!! I am FINALLY home from Louisville(pronounced by locals Lou uh vull- vull pronounced like bull, and you have to cram in all together. Louuhvull, to where it almost sounds like one syllable), Kentucky. I'm so relieved to FINALLY be home. It wasn't a long trip necessarily, but the flying day from heck really did me in yesterday. Before I left for Louisville, my wonderful groom took me to the magical garden not far from my house, where the owner/caterer hosts parties. I had no idea it existed there, and when he stumbled upon it, he asked the owner if he could take me there to shoot pictures... so thoughtful.There was so much to shoot, I am sure we will enjoy lots of relaxing afternoons there exploring.

We left Sunday on the why-are-my-eyes-open-this-early flight out of Valdosta. Mental note... always make certain that I have an eastward facing seat on a why-are-my-eyes-open-this-early flight, otherwise, you end up with shots like this one to the left when you are forced to ask someone else to capture an amazing sunrise that you aren't able to capture by yourself. We had a 3 hour layover in Atlanta, which was way more than we wanted or needed, but it did afford me an opportunity to shoot some of the remaining sunrise,... and then we took our timely flight to Louisville, Kentucky (after only one unannounced gate change -- ATL is AWFUL!) After flying over Indiana (first time in Indiana folks), we turned around to arrive in Kentucky, I scoped out the tornado shelters...... wish we had these things... got settled, attended a training session, since I was a moderator at the event and then decided to do some exploration. After being approached by a few homeless folks, witnessing what could very well have been a drug deal and feeling completely creeped out, I decided that Louisville (the city that always sleeps) was not a place for me to explore solo. I met up with my co-worker at the only shopping area near us, the CVS/liquor store. They actually sold hard liquor in their CVS (only in Kentucky...) My wonderful groom is a fan of sipping, so I was on a quest for Pappy Van Winkle (which Mike was out of... the visitor's center called Mike -- the owner of the only downtown actual liquor store). Some things I did notice about Louisville, despite the hours of operation, the strange liquor locations and the creepy people... were the cleanliness, the beautiful parks and landscaping,... the well maintained and preserved architecture,... the apparent pride in the city... and I noticed the fact that Humana (11 buildings in Louisville, one complete with gold leafing, marble water features and beautiful columns) may single handedly explain the current healthcare crisis in America. I am not saying that Obamacare is by any means the way to go... but come on, Humana... gold leafing...? Come on... We turned in early for a fresh start the next morning. We attended sessions all day long, and since the city always sleeps, there was really nothing to do at that point except join in the walking tour that our conference had paid for. We walked for 2 1/2 hours around the downtown area, which was nice exercise. Along the way, we passed many of the Gallopaloosa horses, which were painted and placed around the downtown area.Of course, my favorite one spotlighted some Kentucky weather...
I love the way the city has integrated art, parks and water features throughout the city... even the bikeracks are works of art. We arrived back at the hotel and met up with some friends for some super yummy dessert which we all shared. My co-worker went on a late night tour of the UPS hub located there, which she said was really interesting. I wasn't feeling well, and my only packed casual shoes (flip flops) gave out on the earlier walking tour. Tuesday morning, we attended session, and as the agenda started repeating sessions and the others didn't apply to our area... we decided to take those couple of hours in the afternoon to try to catch some of the sights while they were still available to be seen. We hopped on the 50¢ trolley, after our "friend", the very drunk apparently homeless man, jumped out in front of it to stop it for us. We took the trolley to the Louisville Slugger factory and museum,... where we were given a miniature bat. Then, we hopped over to Glassworks, where I worked with glass to make a pennant. I have never worked with glass before so that was exciting. The glass working was so very interesting. I can't wait until my necklace arrives after they fire it. We arrived moments too late to participate in the tour... which ran the last one at 3:30... INSANE! We did get to watch a little glass making though. All the coffee shops were already closed. The streets were bare, except in one little area... Fourth Street Live, a collaboration of clubs, restaurants and the liquor store CVS.

Yesterday, we headed back to the airport, to catch our flight. We were early to allow for any unknown situations that might have happened along the way. So, we were there about 2 hours early (security wasn't backed up as much as it had been when we arrived.) Unfortunately, the plane we were supposed to fly out on was delayed 45 minutes out of Atlanta. When it finally landed in Louisville, and we were loaded, it was delayed another 45 minutes on the tarmac because of Atlanta weather... you see, when I want weather, it doesn't happen... when I don't want it... sigh. So an hour and a half late for our hour and a half layovered connection, made us about 3 minutes late for the flight that moved up 3 minutes on the schedule while we were in flight, and Delta claims to be all about customer service. Basic Customer Service 101, if your customer is delayed on your flight, don't let their connection leave EARLIER THAN SCHEDULED! We raced up to the gate just in time to watch our flight taxi out of the gate, with full knowledge that the next flight to Valdosta was scheduled 5 hours later!!! Good grief. So, we sat... and we sat.... and we sat. We waited less than patiently, but thankfully Ben and Jerry eased some of my suffering. When it came time to check in to our space available flight, we cleared, but shortly after, the flight was delayed... 30 minutes at first, then... an additional hour. Finally, we boarded. We sat at the gate for 50 forevers waiting for the taxi out. We arrived at the runway... fired up the engines and they died... I thought... Lord, please get us out of this place, please!!! Next thing, we were taking off. So, we were leaving the Valdosta airport at 11PM... which should have been 4:30PM. At least we are home...

Have a great day!!!
~Dewdrop