Sweet (South) Caroline

At the beginning of July we made a trip down to South Carolina where Cori had two job interviews. One job was at the Michelin Truck Tire plant in Spartanburg, SC and the other was at the Earthmover Tire Plant in Columbia, SC. Both interviews were for an Ergonomist position. We have been to Greenville/Spartanburg, SC quite a few times in the last few years, but we have never spent any time in Columbia (the capital of SC). We decided that since we were so close to the coast (only 1.5 hours from Charleston, SC and the Atlantic Ocean) that we had to eat some seafood. We had a great meal at the Blue Marlin where David tried Collard Greens for the first time. I think we could get used to good Southern coooking. We then spent some time in the downtown area checking out some shops and the Capital Building. The area was very beautiful. We saw a lot of unique flowers and trees - including the South Carolina State Tree, the Palmetto.

(It's a boy! David enjoyed the meal at the Blue Marlin but we needed to walk it off!)

(South Carolina Capital Building)

After good news from the interviews - we have decided to accept the promotion and Cori will become the Truck Tire Regional Ergonomist for Michelin. Her home office will be in Spartanburg, but she will also be responsible for the Ergonomic Program at other plants including a few in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. She will also get to travel internationally to a plant in Canada and Ireland. She is really looking forward to the opportunity and plans to start her new job in November. So...that means that we need to sell our house in Louisville, find a new home in the Greenville area, and move before the end of October. David will still be able to work towards his degree, but may have to do some traveling back and forth every once and awhile.


Other than that little piece of news we are excited to go to London, England and to Edinburgh, Scotland in September. David is presenting some of his research at a conference in London, so we decided to make a vacation out of it. David also will be traveling to two other conferences to present his research - Penn State University in August and San Antonio in October.

Since we will be leaving the Bluegrass State we figured we better cross-off a few things still left on our "Kentucky To Do List". We spent the day at Kentucky Horse Park (http://www.kyhorsepark.com/) in Lexington, Ky (the Horse Capital of the World). We went on a trail ride of the complex which includes over 1200 acres of land centered around anything and everything that has to do with horses. We got to see the 2003 Kentucky Derby winner - Funny Cide as well as the famous thoroughbred horse, Cigar. At the time of Cigar's retirement in 1996, he was the winningest horse of all time with almost $10 million dollars worth of winnings. We saw a lot of horse shows, exhibits, and all different types of horses. It was a very enjoyable day.

(The rolling hills at Kentucky Horse Park)

(David on Star. The girl in the photo was riding in front of David and behind me on Cowboy. Cowboy apparently got irratated with her horse and mid-trail ride decided to kick her horse - catching her a little bit in the ankle. He must have had a bad day.)

(2003 Kentucky Derby Winner - Funny Cide. He is still "running for the roses")