Church and The Kentucky Horse Park

Well, you do not need to be in the third world to have computer problems. I had a fully published blog posted and then it just went "zap" and it was all gone.
So, here we go again.

In case you think I am exaggerating about the whole "y'all" thing...

This is the Florence KY water tower!

 Our new word for today is "Are you ready for your "ticket?" meaning Are you ready for your check? (said by the server in a restaurant)
And speaking of restaurants...

From Anna-Lee
I laughed so hard today. You know when you go to a restaurant and you have to put your name in to get a table? Well, we went to the IHOP (International House of Pancakes) for lunch and Dad went to put in his name, but instead they gave him a name!!!! Guess what it was? 

!!!

ROCKY!!!

From Linda
First on our agenda today was church. Just down the road is the Crossroads Community Church. A mega church with 3,000 attendees, parking attendants, coffee kiosks, soft drink kiosks, drop off spots for hundreds of kids, armed guards. Yep, armed guards in church.

Notice armed guards in background

The foyer is bright, relaxed, and well labelled for us newbies to figure out where to go!

Line up for the free coffee

And then it was in to the "auditorium."
First impressions. Very high tech. Theatre lighting. Concert style. Cup holders in every seat. Dark in audience, bright stage. Screens everywhere.

What we saw when we walked in before service started

Humorous instructions flashing on one of the screens

It was a full house at this 9:30 a.m. service.
I was very impressed with the sermon, replayed from a sermon last night on a full stage width and height screen!
God had prepared us for this very relevant message..
Check in on Anna-Lee's blog to see how.
http://letseatkentuckyfriedchicken.blogspot.com/

Second impressions. This is a very relevant, justice driven, action oriented community and globally minded church.

Onward to the afternoon...
Kentucky of course is known for horses. Today, we went to the Kentucky Horse Park.
We arrived in time to see the show and tell of famous retired race horses. This was one thing Anna-Lee had been eager to see.

Retired race horse "Da Hoss"

Da Hoss's story is worth telling. It is a story of love. Da Hoss won a race. And then he got injured. And then he got an infection. And then he got ill. The trainer had to start over three times with Da Hoss giving him the ultimate gift that is not usually given to race horses - time. Da Hoss had to take 2 years off racing. Coming back in his first race after this 2 year hiatis, he won again! This gave Da Hoss the nickname of "Da Come Back King."

We also got to see a bit of the hunter and jumper event.

There are two museums at the park as well. Both interactive, informative and fun.

OK, now this may look easy, but the base of the horse is not only rocking, but also on a slider that goes back and forth and sideways!!! It was interesting getting on and off!

An old stagecoach

From Monica
It was great getting back around horses again. It makes me want to research getting back into horseback riding!

I enjoyed the museums too. They had an amazing photo of a pioneer farmer using a combine being pulled by 16 horses! I have seen a buggy being pulled by 12 horses at our Carp Fair and that is something, but 16 horses to do your daily job. Wow.

I also loved seeing the connection the trainers had with the retired race horses. So beautiful. Reminds me of Cyrus...