When the temperature reaches into the 90's and the humidity matches, it's time to stay inside with the air conditioner running. The thunderstorms didn't arrive until late afternoon, but they threatened all day. It was a day that we had planned to stay close to home anyway because of the holiday traffic. The holiday activities in town started at 5 PM, but the weather forced us to stay home until today.
The day is starting out muggy, but at least the skies look better. The downtown activities reach full throttle today with a full slate of holiday fun: Hot air balloons, church (free) breakfast, entertainment on stage all day, BBQ competitions, parade, lumberjack show, and wrapping up at the regional park with fireworks. We will try to get out sometime this morning to enjoy some these activities. The whole downtown area - about 5 square blocks - will be shut down to vehicle traffic as booths will be set up and a stage built to handle the activities. There is also a shuttle bus that will carry people back and forth from off site parking areas. It should be an interesting, fun and different 4th of July experience.
Today is also our last day before starting work at Amazon. We will complete the start-up paperwork and classes and begin actual work on Wednesday at 5 PM.
Have a great 4th everybody!!!
Monday, July 4, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Jim Beam Distillery
It has become a goal of ours to visit all 6 of the Bourbon Trail Distilleries in Kentucky while we are here. They aren't that far away, and they are all interesting, different, and fun. Yesterday's target was the Jim Beam Distillery that was about 50 miles from here, and is one of the farthest. It was a nice day, so we chose that one to complete the western swing of the Trail. Following a nice lunch at the Fiesta Mexican Restaurant which we visited, and enjoyed, last year, we headed to Clermont, KY, to the Jim Beam Distillery:
This is the home of the top selling bourbon in the world, and it was an excellent tour of their facilities, led by our very knowledgeable guide "Michelle":
As is the case at all of the distilleries, there are many large warehouse buildings where the barrels are placed to age before they are bottled. The picture below is one taken at the bottom of one these 7 story warehouses, looking up to the top, through all of the wooden support beams:
You can barely see the barrels lined up - 30,000 of them in each of the warehouses. These warehouses are not temperature controlled, and they open windows on the first 2 floors in the summer months, and close up everything in the winter months, to allow for natural aging of the bourbon. Evaporation occurs every year of the aging process and by the time a barrel has aged for 12 years, it only contains 47% of the original volume. That helps explain why the older the product, the more expensive it becomes. Most bourbons - the cheaper ones - are only aged 3-5 years, so they are the best buy. All of the barrels used for aging are charred on the interior to give it flavor, and create the amber color of the product. Each barrel is used only once, and then they ship them overseas to be used in the process at Scotch distilleries. Very interesting process.
We walked part of the grounds where the Master Distiller's home was located:
and then we ended up in the tasting room/gift shop area where our guide, Michelle, poured samples of 2 of their bourbon products:
One of the samples - Red Stag - was so good we purchased a bottle to take home. It is a standard Jim Beam bourbon infused with a black cherry flavor - excellent for drinking on the rocks as a Liquor.
So ended our Saturday. It was a fun day and brought us to the halfway point of our bourbon tours. We will most likely stay close to home the next 2 days as the traffic was noticeably heavier yesterday for the holiday weekend. Our plan is to take in the 4th of July celebration activities in Campbellsville, concluding with their fireworks display on Monday night...
This is the home of the top selling bourbon in the world, and it was an excellent tour of their facilities, led by our very knowledgeable guide "Michelle":
As is the case at all of the distilleries, there are many large warehouse buildings where the barrels are placed to age before they are bottled. The picture below is one taken at the bottom of one these 7 story warehouses, looking up to the top, through all of the wooden support beams:
You can barely see the barrels lined up - 30,000 of them in each of the warehouses. These warehouses are not temperature controlled, and they open windows on the first 2 floors in the summer months, and close up everything in the winter months, to allow for natural aging of the bourbon. Evaporation occurs every year of the aging process and by the time a barrel has aged for 12 years, it only contains 47% of the original volume. That helps explain why the older the product, the more expensive it becomes. Most bourbons - the cheaper ones - are only aged 3-5 years, so they are the best buy. All of the barrels used for aging are charred on the interior to give it flavor, and create the amber color of the product. Each barrel is used only once, and then they ship them overseas to be used in the process at Scotch distilleries. Very interesting process.
We walked part of the grounds where the Master Distiller's home was located:
and then we ended up in the tasting room/gift shop area where our guide, Michelle, poured samples of 2 of their bourbon products:
One of the samples - Red Stag - was so good we purchased a bottle to take home. It is a standard Jim Beam bourbon infused with a black cherry flavor - excellent for drinking on the rocks as a Liquor.
So ended our Saturday. It was a fun day and brought us to the halfway point of our bourbon tours. We will most likely stay close to home the next 2 days as the traffic was noticeably heavier yesterday for the holiday weekend. Our plan is to take in the 4th of July celebration activities in Campbellsville, concluding with their fireworks display on Monday night...
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Just Hangin Out
It was one of those days yesterday where it was just easy to stay home and do nothing. We had to wait for our first mail delivery at our new address which arrived around noon. Our final pay checks from Grey's Point were not there as we expected. Who knows what their excuse will be for that problem. Remember when we started there it took them 1 month to get our first check to us. For some reason, they are reluctant to ensure that their employees (and former employees) get paid in a timely manner. I'm sure the checks will eventually catch up to us.
The rest of the day was spent reading outside and just hangin' out. We received our work assignments in an email last night from Amazon. We will be working the hours we wanted - (4) ten hour days, Sunday - Wednesday. The problem is that the shift is from 5 PM to 3:30 AM. Bummer! We were hoping for the day shift this time, but we will find out on Tuesday what happened with that request when we go in for our Safety and Orientation classes. The good news is that we get a differential pay for those hours. We also will be performing the same duty - Stowing - in the same department we worked last year. I'm sure it will all work out.
We will probably try to go somewhere today as the weather forecast gets worse over the next couple days leading up to the 4th. The campground is still looking like a ghost town, and will probably continue to look like this until the regular holiday season begins in September at Amazon. That's fine with us since we get to spread out into the empty space next to us until that time. That's about it for now...
The rest of the day was spent reading outside and just hangin' out. We received our work assignments in an email last night from Amazon. We will be working the hours we wanted - (4) ten hour days, Sunday - Wednesday. The problem is that the shift is from 5 PM to 3:30 AM. Bummer! We were hoping for the day shift this time, but we will find out on Tuesday what happened with that request when we go in for our Safety and Orientation classes. The good news is that we get a differential pay for those hours. We also will be performing the same duty - Stowing - in the same department we worked last year. I'm sure it will all work out.
We will probably try to go somewhere today as the weather forecast gets worse over the next couple days leading up to the 4th. The campground is still looking like a ghost town, and will probably continue to look like this until the regular holiday season begins in September at Amazon. That's fine with us since we get to spread out into the empty space next to us until that time. That's about it for now...
Friday, July 1, 2011
Start Date Established
We intentionally stayed home yesterday to make sure we would be available to respond to any requirement at Amazon. Finally, in the late afternoon, we received an email from the HR person informing us that the drug test results were back and we are set to begin work. The date is Tuesday, July 5th, at 9:30 AM, when we will meet in the complex for our Safety class and Orientation session. Our regular schedule will be given to us at that time, so right now we don't know if we will be working days or nights. We requested days, but that is not a guarantee. It was kind of a disappointment that we weren't starting today, but knowing that if we had worked on Monday, the 4th, and it would have been at time-and-a-half, they probably elected to wait until after the holiday. That's OK, as it gives us a few more days to relax and take in some more of the areas we want to see.
There are many other places we would like to go, but some of them are a pretty fair distance away. The areas like Lexington, Louisville and Nashville will take at least 1 1/2 hours, so we need to really plan those days. There are still some local attractions that we can go to with little planning that are fairly close, and will probably be the ones we attempt this weekend. We also want to find out where there might be local fireworks. They have fireworks stands all over the area, so they must be legal.
We love driving to the different areas in Kentucky, as it is a very pretty state with the rolling hills and horse farms everywhere with white fences surrounding the properties. Also, it seems that most areas have beautiful homes sitting on large lots of at least a couple acres. As long as the weather holds out, it really doesn't matter where we go. Until tomorrow...
There are many other places we would like to go, but some of them are a pretty fair distance away. The areas like Lexington, Louisville and Nashville will take at least 1 1/2 hours, so we need to really plan those days. There are still some local attractions that we can go to with little planning that are fairly close, and will probably be the ones we attempt this weekend. We also want to find out where there might be local fireworks. They have fireworks stands all over the area, so they must be legal.
We love driving to the different areas in Kentucky, as it is a very pretty state with the rolling hills and horse farms everywhere with white fences surrounding the properties. Also, it seems that most areas have beautiful homes sitting on large lots of at least a couple acres. As long as the weather holds out, it really doesn't matter where we go. Until tomorrow...
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Another Fun Filled Day
It was a beautiful day yesterday - low humidity, sunshine, and mid 80's. It was too nice to stay home so we went to Bardstown, KY to see My Old Kentucky Home:
The home was owned by a John Rowan who was a noted defense attorney of the early 1800's and was a cousin to Stephen Foster, who visited the home often. It became the inspiration for his song "My Old Kentucky Home" which became the state song for Kentucky and is sung each year at the Kentucky Derby. There was a statue of Stephen Foster on the beautifully manicured grounds:
The tour of the home was very good, although we were not allowed to take any pictures of the inside (?). The home was part of the State Park system in Kentucky and our research showed that it had a campground and also a very nice picnic area. Since it was such a beautiful day, we packed a picnic lunch and took advantage of the picnic area:
Our research also showed that there was another Bourbon Distillery nearby - 1/2 mile away. Of course, we had to get another stamp in our Bourbon Trail Passport, so we went.
The Heaven Hill Distillery:
was much larger than the Makers Mark Distillery we visited the day before. They produce many more products for worldwide distribution.
Our tour was also very different as we never went into the production facility. It was conducted by a very knowledgeable person (Joan) who took us through one of their many warehouses (below) to explain the process:
It seems that 95 % of the world's bourbon is produced here in Kentucky. The (stated) reason for Kentucky being the top producer is the fact that Kentucky sits on a Limestone shelf that naturally filters out the iron content from spring water used in the process, and replaces it with other minerals. Anyway, following our walk through one of the many warehouses storing the products, we went to the tasting room and tasted 2 of their products:
The tasting room was adjacent to the gift shop, which was well stocked with their products and other logo items:
The most interesting item to us was a bottle of bourbon that you can buy for $500:
This bourbon was aged 27 years - as opposed to the normal 3-5 years - and is 126 proof - as opposed to the normal 90 proof. It obviously would provide a nice "kick" for anybody willing to pay that much for a bottle. We were also told that bourbon (or any whiskey) doesn't continue to age like wine does. Once it is bottled, the age is set. Shucks, that means that my 18 year old scotch I bought in 1975 isn't any better now than the day I bought it, so I may as well open it.
Today is the day we expect to hear from Amazon regarding our drug test results and orientation schedule. For that reason, we will stay close to home and do our other chores...
The home was owned by a John Rowan who was a noted defense attorney of the early 1800's and was a cousin to Stephen Foster, who visited the home often. It became the inspiration for his song "My Old Kentucky Home" which became the state song for Kentucky and is sung each year at the Kentucky Derby. There was a statue of Stephen Foster on the beautifully manicured grounds:
The tour of the home was very good, although we were not allowed to take any pictures of the inside (?). The home was part of the State Park system in Kentucky and our research showed that it had a campground and also a very nice picnic area. Since it was such a beautiful day, we packed a picnic lunch and took advantage of the picnic area:
Our research also showed that there was another Bourbon Distillery nearby - 1/2 mile away. Of course, we had to get another stamp in our Bourbon Trail Passport, so we went.
The Heaven Hill Distillery:
was much larger than the Makers Mark Distillery we visited the day before. They produce many more products for worldwide distribution.
Our tour was also very different as we never went into the production facility. It was conducted by a very knowledgeable person (Joan) who took us through one of their many warehouses (below) to explain the process:
It seems that 95 % of the world's bourbon is produced here in Kentucky. The (stated) reason for Kentucky being the top producer is the fact that Kentucky sits on a Limestone shelf that naturally filters out the iron content from spring water used in the process, and replaces it with other minerals. Anyway, following our walk through one of the many warehouses storing the products, we went to the tasting room and tasted 2 of their products:
The tasting room was adjacent to the gift shop, which was well stocked with their products and other logo items:
The most interesting item to us was a bottle of bourbon that you can buy for $500:
This bourbon was aged 27 years - as opposed to the normal 3-5 years - and is 126 proof - as opposed to the normal 90 proof. It obviously would provide a nice "kick" for anybody willing to pay that much for a bottle. We were also told that bourbon (or any whiskey) doesn't continue to age like wine does. Once it is bottled, the age is set. Shucks, that means that my 18 year old scotch I bought in 1975 isn't any better now than the day I bought it, so I may as well open it.
Today is the day we expect to hear from Amazon regarding our drug test results and orientation schedule. For that reason, we will stay close to home and do our other chores...
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Fun Filled day
Even though it was a dreary, damp day, we decided to take a trip to a place that would keep us indoors. We chose the Makers Mark Distillery, one of 6 bourbon distilleries along what is known as the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
It wasn't that far away (about 30 miles) so it made sense to give it a try. Besides, we love to drink Manhattans occasionally, and they are made with bourbon, so it had a special attraction for us.
We were immediately impressed with the well manicured grounds and the very clean looking buildings:
The tour was very interesting to us, since we have been to wineries in the past, and we were anxious to see the differences. There were several more steps - and ingredients - in whiskey making than in wine making. Without going into all the steps (they can be seen in the link above), we went through several buildings where our tour guide explained the whole process:
One of the unique characteristics of their product is the red wax that is present on each and every product produced by them. The process was being done on glasses yesterday, but all of their bottles are hand-dipped in this red wax before going to market:
Just like the wineries, we were given the opportunity at the end of the tour to "taste" the product. We were given a tiny sample (really just a taste) of their main product - Makers Mark Bourbon - and their newest product which is called Makers Mark 46, - another bourbon which is aged longer, producing a different flavor. The tasting area was also part of their gift store which is how they make their money from the tour guests:
It was a fascinating experience and ended with our getting a stamp in our Kentucky Bourbon Trail Passport that is used like the National Park Passport so you can keep track of the bourbon distilleries you've visited. Whether or not we get to the other 5 distilleries remains to be seen.
As we left the distillery and started home, we came across the sign for Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home which was in the area. Why not?
This was the home where he spent most of his early years - until age 7 - before his family moved on to Indiana, and eventually Illinois. It is amazing that a family of 4 could live in such close quarters.:
It was a 1 room home, with only 1 window. I commented to Josie that, if the kids misbehaved, they weren't told to "go to their room" as we did with our kids.
It turned out that Lincoln's family had to live here as a result of a title dispute over the home and property where he was actually born - about 10 miles south of this home. We also paid a visit to his birthplace:
which was (a replica) enclosed in a beautiful memorial that was erected on the exact location of the home:
As you can see from the pictures above, the sun eventually came out and it was a great day to visit these historical locations. The fact that we basically "stumbled" onto these Lincoln landmarks is a testimony to the fact that Kentucky is loaded with interesting, historical attractions. There will be more of these excursions and, maybe, another visit to one today...
It wasn't that far away (about 30 miles) so it made sense to give it a try. Besides, we love to drink Manhattans occasionally, and they are made with bourbon, so it had a special attraction for us.
We were immediately impressed with the well manicured grounds and the very clean looking buildings:
The tour was very interesting to us, since we have been to wineries in the past, and we were anxious to see the differences. There were several more steps - and ingredients - in whiskey making than in wine making. Without going into all the steps (they can be seen in the link above), we went through several buildings where our tour guide explained the whole process:
One of the unique characteristics of their product is the red wax that is present on each and every product produced by them. The process was being done on glasses yesterday, but all of their bottles are hand-dipped in this red wax before going to market:
Just like the wineries, we were given the opportunity at the end of the tour to "taste" the product. We were given a tiny sample (really just a taste) of their main product - Makers Mark Bourbon - and their newest product which is called Makers Mark 46, - another bourbon which is aged longer, producing a different flavor. The tasting area was also part of their gift store which is how they make their money from the tour guests:
It was a fascinating experience and ended with our getting a stamp in our Kentucky Bourbon Trail Passport that is used like the National Park Passport so you can keep track of the bourbon distilleries you've visited. Whether or not we get to the other 5 distilleries remains to be seen.
As we left the distillery and started home, we came across the sign for Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home which was in the area. Why not?
This was the home where he spent most of his early years - until age 7 - before his family moved on to Indiana, and eventually Illinois. It is amazing that a family of 4 could live in such close quarters.:
It was a 1 room home, with only 1 window. I commented to Josie that, if the kids misbehaved, they weren't told to "go to their room" as we did with our kids.
It turned out that Lincoln's family had to live here as a result of a title dispute over the home and property where he was actually born - about 10 miles south of this home. We also paid a visit to his birthplace:
which was (a replica) enclosed in a beautiful memorial that was erected on the exact location of the home:
As you can see from the pictures above, the sun eventually came out and it was a great day to visit these historical locations. The fact that we basically "stumbled" onto these Lincoln landmarks is a testimony to the fact that Kentucky is loaded with interesting, historical attractions. There will be more of these excursions and, maybe, another visit to one today...
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Taking Care of Business
The highest priority yesterday was to find out how soon we could get the drug test out of the way at Amazon. It didn't take long, as they responded to my message right away that we were here and they invited us over to the complex to take the drug test. This year, they administer the test on site, as opposed to going to a laboratory for a blood test as we did last year. The new procedure is just taking a swab sample of saliva and sending it off to the lab for testing, which takes up to 72 hours to provide results. Our target to begin working is the end of the week - July 1. We also discovered that there will only be around 30 couples working this pilot program this year, and we should be able to get our desired schedule.
Our second priority was to finalize our campground choice for the rest of the year. There were 5 other locations that are used by Amazon for workampers. One of them was the State Park we used last year which was very nice, but only had 30 amp electric hookups (vs the 50 amp we have here), and there were no sewer hookups - remember the "honey wagon" scenario? We pretty much eliminated that one right away. One of the others was a very quiet, and nice campground that was about 5 miles from Amazon and very close to the State Park. The only problem with that one was that it is also a horse stable where folks come to board their horses and ride them during their stay. We didn't know if that would create an offensive odor while there or not. Even though it had nice, large sites, it wasn't as new and clean as Heartland, where we are now. The others were eliminated for various other reasons - small spaces, too far away or too expensive. We will be glad we have the convenience of being across the street from work and also being so close to downtown where we will do all our shopping. So it is here where we will stay.
There are many day trips we can take to some nice places we missed the last time we were here. Two of them are in Louisville - the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory and the Churchill Downs race track that recently was damaged by a tornado. Both of those places are high on our list of places to go. Some of the others are; Mammoth Cave National Park, National Corvette Museum, Kentucky Horse Park, Maker's Mark Distillery and, of course, Nashville. We hope to get to as many of those as we can while here.
So far, we have had lousy weather - rain. It is still damp and dreary this morning, so we will figure out some place for us to go where it doesn't matter. Too bad there are no casinos nearby...
Our second priority was to finalize our campground choice for the rest of the year. There were 5 other locations that are used by Amazon for workampers. One of them was the State Park we used last year which was very nice, but only had 30 amp electric hookups (vs the 50 amp we have here), and there were no sewer hookups - remember the "honey wagon" scenario? We pretty much eliminated that one right away. One of the others was a very quiet, and nice campground that was about 5 miles from Amazon and very close to the State Park. The only problem with that one was that it is also a horse stable where folks come to board their horses and ride them during their stay. We didn't know if that would create an offensive odor while there or not. Even though it had nice, large sites, it wasn't as new and clean as Heartland, where we are now. The others were eliminated for various other reasons - small spaces, too far away or too expensive. We will be glad we have the convenience of being across the street from work and also being so close to downtown where we will do all our shopping. So it is here where we will stay.
There are many day trips we can take to some nice places we missed the last time we were here. Two of them are in Louisville - the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory and the Churchill Downs race track that recently was damaged by a tornado. Both of those places are high on our list of places to go. Some of the others are; Mammoth Cave National Park, National Corvette Museum, Kentucky Horse Park, Maker's Mark Distillery and, of course, Nashville. We hope to get to as many of those as we can while here.
So far, we have had lousy weather - rain. It is still damp and dreary this morning, so we will figure out some place for us to go where it doesn't matter. Too bad there are no casinos nearby...
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