On the Road Again...

We spent last week in Greenville, South Carolina. Cori was working at one of the Michelin plants for the week and David was busy trying to finish his presentation for his dissertation proposal. It was a busy week for us, but a nice getaway too.

On, June 2nd we celebrated David's 27th birthday at a place called Quaker Steak and Lube for All You Can Eat Wing Night - David's favorite. They specialize in buffalo wings of every flavor you can imagine. They are also famous for their Atomic Wings which boast a Scoville Heat Unit of 150,000. The Scoville unit was developed in 1912 by Wilbur Scoville to measurement for the heat level of chile peppers. A number was assigned to each chile pepper based on how much liquid was needed before you would no longer taste (feel) the heat!

According to the menu:
0-999 = Mild
1,000-2,999 = Medium
3,000-30,000 = Hot
30,001+ = Insane

So in essence David = Extremely Insane for eating 4 Atomic Wings + the addition of countless other wing flavors throughout the night. Needless to say we had to find an ice cream shop later that night for birthday dessert and to stop him from sweating.

On Friday we experienced a Scottish Festival going on in downtown Greenville. It was complete with a parade of kilt wearing, bag-pipe playing, proud Scots. It was fun to see them all dressed up. We took Saturday and drove a different way back to Louisville. We drove through Atlanta, Ga and saw the Coca-Cola Headquarters and the Olympic Park. We would love to go back another time when we can really experience the city. We also stopped at a few National Parks - Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Tenn and Stone River National Battlefield, Tenn - which were battlefields during the Civil War. We enjoyed learning about the history of this area. It is amazing to be somewhere that was so important to the history of our great nation. We enjoyed seeing the new territory. As usual Murphy and Oakley wasted no time getting their rest.

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Tenn

Sooooo Sleepy...

On Sunday, we went to the mall to support Metro Animal Services who was holding a shelter supply drive in return for a photo of you and your pets. With some treat coaxing we were able to get a great shot of the Burnett family and also help out our four-legged friends at the animal shelter.

Memorial Day Weekend at Red River Gorge

It has been over a month since we updated our blog about Derby. It seems like the summers always fly by and this one seems to be no different. We spent Memorial Day weekend camping at Red River Gorge in Eastern Kentucky with some friends from Cori's work. This is the first time we have been to the Gorge during the Spring. We have been there a few times in the Fall. It is really well known for its beautiful Autumn colors (this is where we took our Christmas picture last year). We hiked a little ways off the trail and set up our campsite at a very nice, secluded spot. It was a perfect spot - very flat, had a spot for a campfire, nice tree coverage, and a nice view of the stars at night. We did a bunch of hiking including an 8.5 mile hike that really wore us all out. Murphy and Oakley were troopers - they even carried their own water and food in their doggie backpacks. They were rewarded for the long hike with a cool down swim in the river. Murphy was so tired that once he got to the car he just laid down on the gravel and refused to get up!! The dogs were tired out for a few days after. We enjoyed spending time with our friends. One of the couples provided all the meals for the trip. We were spoiled by the awesome campfire cooking - campfire pizzas, apple pie, chicken and cous-cous, turkey salsa burgers just to name a few of the menu items. We provided s'mores, but they seemed pretty weak given the quality of the rest of the meals. Before heading home on Monday (Memorial Day) we stopped at a little diner called Bruen's. It was highly recommended and for good reason. We ate so much home cookin' (biscuits and gravy, country ham - you get the picture) and it was so cheap. We will definitely remember this place on our next trip to Eastern Ky. We decided to take a detour on our way back to Louisville. We drove another hour into "Wild, Wonderful, West Virginia" so we could mark another state off our list. It was very beautiful and we hope to make another detour into a trip there soon.

Murphy relaxing with his backpack before we even started hiking.

The Burnett Fam - mid-way of 8.5 mile hike.

Note: Murphy was still walking at this point, but he started slowing down soon after.

He went from pulling to being pulled.

"If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads" - Anatole France

Red River Gorge at its greenest.