Luck of the Irish !! ?

MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME


Their loss was our gain????

Most of our trip has been winging it. We pull off the road for the night when going any further isn’t an option. There have always been places to stay without any problem, since most normal tourists are home this time of the year. The exception had been in the Fort Smith area, near the big motorcycle gathering, and even then, we were able to land a nice place for the RV.

What we didn’t know was that (in typical Rick and Colleen style), our timing was OFF in the area of Kentucky we needed to stay. That’s where our kids, Gary and Marcella, live in a rural suburb of Louisville. The closest RV park was in Kentucky’s capitol, Frankfort, a historic, cosmopolitan town where a university is located.

I began making phone calls looking for a place to spend the next several days and soon learned that virtually all of the hotels, campgrounds, and RV parks were booked solid. The World Equestrian Games were being held in nearby Lexington, a real coup for Kentucky, since this was the first time they had ever been held in America. The event occurs (usually in Europe) every four years, so it’s really the Olympics of horse-related competitions. Good news for Kentucky’s economy; bad news for the Fliedners and Shamu.

I finally called the Elkhorn RV park, and they had one empty place left, though it didn’t have the proper amperage and few hook-ups. Plus, because of the horse games, the price was nearly double what we had been paying elsewhere up to this point. “I’ll call you back after I talk it over with my husband,” I said, no sure what to do. But our chances of getting anything else were just about zero. I called back and the line was busy. I was sure it was someone else grabbing the last place, but continued to phone until I got through.

“You’re very lucky,” the reservation clerk said. “I just had a cancellation, and it’s everything you need.” I grabbed it!

Rick and I celebrated. What a lucky break. Someone was surely looking out for us….

The campground was lovely and had a slow-moving river skirting the property. It was quiet (hooray!), shady, and had tons of amenities. When I went into the office to check in, the clerk brought up the fact that we were lucky to find anywhere in the entire area. Then she said, “You know, the reason the folks cancelled their reservation was because the husband was killed in an auto accident yesterday.”

Elkhorn campground near Frankfort, KY

Shamu in Elkhorn

Shamu in Elkhorn



Pond / Stream next to Elkhorn



Waterfall on Stream in Elkhorn

Gulp. “You mean, the guy who booked the spot we’re renting is dead?” That was our lucky break? Oh no! How creepy is that!

“Afraid so. Good break for you, though.”

I felt so guilty. But whatcha gonna do? We stayed at the campground, surrounded by horse people, horse trailers, and bunches of families, for the next 5 days. Life can be so strange.