20-21 May - Rain and Museums

20 May – not much to report

Rain, rain, go away!  It won’t stop raining.  They will be measuring this in inches and the campgrounds water fowl are having a blast!  We had planned to visit a couple museums today but that will involve some walking outside and we would get drenched in this weather, so will postpone.  So away we go to find some Wi-Fi and pick up a few things.  McDonalds has pretty reliable Wi-Fi, so I finished up the blog from 18-19 May while Doreen shopped.  The rest of the day was spent around the RV cleaning up and watching a bit of TV.

In the evening the rain let up a bit so we ventured out to a local barbeque place for some delicious brisket. 

21 May – Museum Day

Raining again today, but tolerable.  We first visited the Frazier History Museum located back downtown Louisville, across the street from the Louisville Slugger factory.  

Three stories of history including the Prohibition period, the Lewis and Clark journey, a fantastic firearms and knife display.  This is a really nice museum obviously used for wedding receptions and other events.

Prohibition Poster

Me and my buddy Al!  I just want his Thompson!

Happy days are here again

Nana in her teepee

Nice 1925 Model T Truck

Gunsmith workshop

Beavis and Butthead fodder?  Actually a barrel cooper display 

Blade weapons

Then we visited the Thomas A. Edison Museum.  It is located in a house he once lived.  The gentleman at the desk was a Vietnam-era Air Force Veteran who loved to talk!  He was a wealth of information about Edison and did not hesitate to demonstrate many of his inventions such as a couple phonographs and a telegraph display. 

Light bulb display

Edison was supposedly the first to add an electric motor to a sewing machine.

Phonograph using flat discs

Phonographs using rolls

Sending a few lines of code

Our host, explaining the phonograph in the famous RCA "His Master's Voice" picture was actually an Edison phonograph with the name obliterated.  OBTW, the dog's name was "Nipper"!  I knew that one!

The primary cell

Next to Edison’s Museum was another Glass Blowing company and we could not pass it up with this sign displayed!

It is a small operation with one artist, but we happened to visit when there was another couple there who had paid to make their own glass creation.  So he went through a complete demonstration of the process and we were right there, within a couple feet from him!  He explained the tools and the process and demonstrated everything so we could see it.

He gathers clear glass on the end of the rod

He chooses colored glass beads to decorate the creation

He rolls the clear glass in colored beads

Using a steel table to roll out the glass

Forming the flower petals

Creating the stem

After creating it, the flower is very brittle.  He "bakes" it in an oven overnight to temper it, then it will be slowly cooled in a programmed method.

How he demonstrates glass blowing.  A new clear glass "glob" from the furnace.  Then he puffs slightly into the tube.

A glass bubble forms

Later the rain quit, the sun came out and we ventured back into Fort Knox for one last time, fueled the truck and then returned to the campgrounds.  Great night to barbecue some pork chops and watch the Chicago Cubs game.

Tomorrow (Sunday) we will do the laundry and pack up in preparation for bugging-out to our next destination Monday morning, which is Camp Atterbury Indiana.  Our next update will likely be Tuesday from there.