Lexington – Dayton – Indianapolis
May – 2023
Are arrived at the Kentucky Horse Park on May 8th. The Horse park is a good place to visit if you like horses. We have been here before so we skipped it but we hit a few other attractions. Here is a past photo of a retired race horse stud.
The campground is nice but the sites are short and narrow. We ended up on a slight hill and had to use several leveling blocks on one side.
Here is a YouTube video of the campground: 
Video
Before we left Bowling Green we went on a “Rails to Trails” bike ride from Central City to Greenville. It is a 6-mile paved path through the country side. Very nice.
We also went on a Tuesday evening ride around the NCM Motorsports Speedway. They open it up every Tuesday during the warmer months for bikes. The track is about 3.5 miles long, we went around it twice. Would have done more but it was cold and windy.
On Wednesday the 9th we went for a ride on the Legacy Trail – Lexington KY. They say it is 12.5 miles but our GPS said more like 8.5 miles one way. It starts/ends at the campground and the other end at the YMCA in Lexington. It is a wide blacktop path through the woods with bridges, tunnels, and overpasses. It was a lot of fun.
Here is a YouTube video of the ride: Video
On Thursday we went to the Ark Encounter. A real-size Noah’s Ark full of exhibits with a small outdoor zoo. A very nice place. Exhibits are great (there are a lot) and the large restaurant is a buffet for $15 per person and the food was good.
On Monday we left for Dayton Ohio. We stayed at the campground on the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The campground is immaculate. The grass is trimmed and mowed, the shower house is clean, the trees are trimmed, with all black top sites and drives. In fact, if you park on the grass they will come and take you to the brig. The sites are close but the area is quiet, that is until the C-17 Globmasters decide to do touch and go’s.
Here is a blurb of the base:
“Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is located northeast of Dayton, Ohio, and encompasses parts of Greene and Montgomery counties. The base has a rich aviation heritage. The pioneering work of Orville and Wilbur Wright from 1899 to 1903 enabled them to achieve the first manned, powered flight. After their success at Kitty Hawk, they returned home to Dayton, Ohio, where in 1904 and 1905 they perfected their flying skills while turning the Wright Flyer into the first practical airplane capable of fully-controlled flight. They accomplished this work at the Huffman Prairie Flying Field, now a part of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. From 1910 to 1916 the brothers operated a flying school at Huffman Prairie. Among their 119 students were Henry “Hap” Arnold who commanded the Army Air Forces in World War II, and H. Roy Brown, the Canadian ace who was credited with shooting down the Red Baron in World War I.
The base is headquarters for a vast, worldwide logistics system, a world-class laboratory research function, and is the foremost acquisition and development center in the U.S. Air Force. Dozens of associate organizations representing a broad spectrum of Air Force and Department of Defense activities call Wright-Patterson home. The base is comparable to a medium sized city with services ranging from shopping facilities and child care centers to housing areas and a large medical center.”
On Tuesday we went to the National Air Force Museum. If you like planes & jets, this is the place; it is the Worlds largest with over 350 items on 20 acres of indoor space.
For Wednesday Rene’e and I went for a trike ride. the Northern part of the base is not very busy and there is a road that will take you most of the way around. Out and back it was 8 miles and very pretty. We were lucky in that as we passed the air port we got to see a C17 Globemaster land; its at the 6 min mark in the below video.
Here for a YouTube video: Video
On Friday and Saturday I attended what is called “Hamvention” with a friend of mine who drove up from Lexington. This is a yearly event where 30,000 Amateur Radio Operators and others sell and buy electronics. It was a lot of fun. Rene’e did not want to go… haha.
On Monday the 22nd we left Dayton for Camp Atterbury south of Indianapolis; an Indiana National Guard base. About 1/2 of the campground sites are full timers, it was a nice place. We visited my parents and a museum while there.
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The base was hoppen with activity while we were there. We saw a drone launched and saw a couple of Osprey’s.
Here is some info on the camp:
“Camp Atterbury (CAIN) provides full logistical and training support for up to two brigade-sized elements simultaneously on more than 34,000 acres. The federally owned facility, licensed to and operated by the Indiana National Guard, offers a variety of training ranges, live-fire venues, managed airspace with air-to-ground firing capabilities and an LVC simulation and exercise center. CAIN has secure facilities, simulations, ranges, configurable classrooms and conference spaces to provide users with experiences that are versatile and mission-specific. The facility combines a walking campus, new barracks complex and multiple life support features to units conducting large-scale training and pre-operational testing.
The Atterbury Rail Deployment Facility (ARDF) or “railhead” at CAIN has the ability to load/unload a brigade combat team in 72 hours, and can handle 120 rail cars per day. It includes a 20,000 square foot vehicle deployment processing facility, weigh-in-motion scale house, rail operations building and loading, marshalling and staging areas.”
There is also an outdoor museum on the base called the “Camp Atterbury Memorial.” It had several pieces of artillery, tanks, and other vehicles.
On Thursday the 4th we headed to Evansville to stay a night at Miles Landing Campground located in the mist of the Bluegrass Fish and Wildlife area. Lots of small lakes for fishing.
Then the next day we headed to Bowling Green KY and we will be there for the rest of the year as we are expecting our fourth Grandchild.
Take Care!
