June 26, 2010 
Florence, KY, was our next stop (near Louisville), where we stayed in a beautiful state park. We went down to check in, and misunderstood the directions for where the tent sites were. Where we set up was actually a parking area for the fishing hole on the lakeside. We were completely set up, and sitting down having a beer when the ranger showed up and told us we had to move. No reasoning with this guy either, but I do understand he was just doing his job. Still, we had to break down everything and carry it around the corner about 1/8 mile to the tent sites and set it all up again. On the other hand, this area did have fire pits, and we had a magnificent fire that night. So I guess the local Gendarme actually did us a favor in the long run. I called our good friend Jeff (AKA: Raul Duke), who’s one of the other “fingers on the friend hand” that I spoke of earlier, just to let him know we were thinking of him, and that we were having fun. He said it sure sounded like it (hey, it was our last night as “free range men”, and we were going to make the most of it before returning to reality).  I commented to Mike that it was remarkable that we’d gone through all of this and we still actually LIKED each other. If you really want to find out who your friends are, or maybe you want to “thin the herd”, take a trip like this with them. You’ll either add cement to your friendship, or someone’s dropping off of your Christmas card list next year!

We had our last “tribute cigars” there too, so most everyone that really mattered to me (that wasn’t family or pets) was “with us” that night. At least in spirit.

June 27, 2010 
Through Bowling Green, KY, and past the National Corvette Museum; it was a Saturday, and while the museum was open, the Corvette assembly plant doesn’t work weekends, to enjoy their available plant tour. The only way to do it, in my estimation, is to do both. I’ll save that for a long weekend (do the plant on a Friday or Monday). Instead, we stopped at the Jim Beam Distillery. Mike always orders one of those when he orders anything that comes in a small glass like that. It’s a fascinating tour to take (even if you’re a teetotaler), as you’ll learn quite a lot. Maker’s Mark is just down the road if that’s more your poison.

From here we just high tailed it home through OH and PA, pulling in around 8 PM. 14 days, and 6,303 miles after we’d left.

Epilogue
I guess you could call this a trip of a lifetime for a lot of people, but I sure hope that’s not the case with either of us. But you never really do know for sure, isn’t that true? You know what they say about the plans of mice and men. Why wait for fate, or for the “time to be just right.” It’ll never happen if you don’t make it happen. Don’t put it off. Make it a priority. Set a date and then stick to it. Egan was absolutely right.