Home Is Where We Park It:  Whispering Hills RV Park, Georgetown, KY

June 25, 2019

Temperature 84 degrees

Toyota Factory Tour

Time for our first sightseeing tour.  Today would be the Toyota Factory Tour which is just ten minutes from our home.

I’ll be sharing both pictures that I took and some stock pictures from off the internet.  They don’t want you taking any pictures in the factory.  When asked why they simply say Out of respect for the privacy of our team members.  OK.

The tour was at 9:30 am so we were up and at it rather early by our standards.  A left, another left, another left turn, then a right turn and we were there.

Some quick facts about this facility:

• it is the largest vehicle assembly plant in Toyota’s global production network.  It is the size of 169 foot ball fields
• the plant began production in May 1988 building the 4-cylinder Toyota Camry. 
• This is the first Camry that came off the production line
• this is a time line of what has occurred at this plant.
• it takes on average 20 to 22 hours to produce each car.  Each car has also been ordered before they begin to build it.
• on average a car rolls off the assembly line every minute or less
• the plant is a city onto itself, they have doctors on call 7/24, a business center, a physical fitness center, several cafeterias, athletic fields, hiking trails and so much more I can’t remember it all
• starting hourly wage is $18 per hour.  But less one thinks they can simply walk in, apply, be hired and begin to work on the line, think again. 
• there is one team leader per every five team members.  The team leader will step in for a team member whenever necessary, for instance if someone calls in sick, someone needs to go to the bathroom, or whatever
• each team member rotates tasks every two hours, meaning they do four completely different tasks on the line each day
• all of the waste produced on-site is either recycled or reused and nothing is sent to landfills.
• The grounds also sports a very large vegetable garden. In 2005, the produce produced at this facility helped a nearby charitable organization, God’s Pantry, distribute 2.5 million pounds of produce
• the garden also produces a full crop of pumpkins used at the Toyota Child Development Center for carving at Halloween, and corn which enhances the compost pile
• the Toyota Camry, the Avalon Sedan as well as the Lexus ES are produced at this plant
• next year this plant has been chosen to produce the Hybrid RAV 4

Come on, let’s take a tour.  This is horse country of course and this is what you see as you approach the Visitor Center Entrance.

The Visitor Center entrance.

The Registration Desk.

There is a small display in the lobby about Toyota Racing.

Now, for the plant itself.  The nice thing about this tour is you are on a tram for the full hour plus of the tour.  Of course the following pictures are stock pictures from the internet but they will give you some idea of what we saw.

This is how each car begins.  Raw rolls of steel delivered daily by train.  Some of these rolls weight upwards of twenty tons.  The raw material is then taken to a stamping station and robots stamp out the necessary parts for the cars.

 

This is a team member on what is called the floating chair which allows them to float inside the car to complete the task assigned to them.  In addition, at every station the height needed to complete the task has been carefully calculated and the height of the car on the line is adjusted so that no one ever needs to squat or stretch to do what has been assigned to them.

A GPS guided robot that moves parts around the plant.

The engine being married to the car.  In essence the engine is part of a sub assembly that is lifted as a whole into the car and then two workers bolt it into place.  The whole process takes less than a minute to complete.

The line itself.

Quality control check at the end of the line.

That is but a very small part of what we saw.  It was fascinating to watch the various robots stamp, weld, move parts around the plant.  It was equally fascinating to watch various team members efficiently complete the task assigned to them.  It was also amazing at how friendly everyone was.  Everywhere we went individuals took the time to smile and wave at us.  If you are ever in this area I encourage you to take the time to take the tour.  You will not regret it.

By now it was lunch time but where to go.  Guess what we discovered?  A place we first went to with our friends Steve and Patti from Wisconsin.

What a menu.

Lunch is served.  Barbara had a Reuben and I had the Fish.  We also tried the Cheese Curds and discovered we really like them.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  The weather was great, sunny, partly cloudy, temperature in the mid 80’s but oh is the humidity coming back.  Once again we were able to cross another item off our bucket list.  Once again we did it our way traveling down the road, hand in hand, singing our song.  More to come in the next few days before we leave.  Stay tuned and we’ll begin our travels to you.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

 

Home Is Where We Park It:  Whispering Hills RV Park, Georgetown, KY

June 24, 2019

Temperature 79 degrees

Crossed Wires

Not much doing today.  We began making plans for some sightseeing.  Did some general clean up.  Found out what the pieces from the front slide belonged to – weather stripping only.  Finished setting up, only to have to break it all down again.  More about that later.

Once we got our act together we went grocery shopping.  Hey, Barbara is never going to pass up a chance to shop at an Aldi!  I also purchased a new battery for Little Graybeard.  The one that was in there was the original which means it was five years old.  Knowing that they don’t last forever I decided to be proactive and replace it now before we were left stranded somewhere.

Once we returned home we started putting groceries away when a truck pulling a travel trailer stopped in front of our site.  Then we heard angry words to the effect I don’t care whose fault it is, this is my site now get them out of there.  Long story short wires got crossed and the site we were in was assigned to both of us.

Barbara went to the office to straighten things out.  She later reported that they offered the very irate customer another pull through site.  They offered him the use of a golf cart since he loudly let everyone know that he was handicap and needed to be close to the bathrooms.  What?  No bathroom in your trailer?  He wasn’t budging.  He just kept saying get them out of my site.

They asked us if we would be willing to move.  No problem but it would take us a bit to gather things together, put groceries away and move out.  So move we did and in return for our cooperation we were given a free nights stay.   We’re still in a pull through with all the amenities we had before.  We’re level.  Better yet come tomorrow we were told if we really didn’t like the site they would move us to an even better one.  We’re good.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  We’ve met so many, many wonderful people in our two years of travel.  The rude and obnoxious are definitely in the minority but they are there and occasionally we do bump into them.  That’s life.  We’re not going to let it get to us nor ruin our view of people in general.   Life is still good and so are the majority of people.

Thanks for joining us again today.  It’s always great having you along.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road!

 

Home Is Where We Park It:  Whispering Hills RV Park, Georgetown, KY

June 23, 2019

Temperature 81 degrees

Travel Day – One Day Earlier Than Expected

To go or to stay, that was the question of the day.  When we awoke this morning the weather report for the coming night and tomorrow was not too good.

First we called the office at Baily’s Point to ask Could we stay an extra day?  Sorry, but someone is coming into that site Monday night.

Next we called Whispering Hills to ask Could we come in a day earlier?  No problem we have room for you.

Still we hemmed and hawed.  We kept checking the weather and if anything it was getting even worse.  They were now talking about damaging hail, strong gusting winds, and driving rain.  Both for Sunday night and Monday morning.

Time to go.  This, though, was the latest we had ever gotten on the road.  It was now 12:30 pm and we were going to gain an hour because we were going back into the Eastern Time Zone.

We quickly packed up, we have this down to a science by now.  Slides in, jacks up, disconnect from the mother ship and we were ready to roll.

Thankfully it was an easy four hour trip, add another hour since we were back in Eastern Standard Time.  All the way up we kept hearing severe weather alerts on the radio for the area we had just left.  We were so glad we had made the decision to go.

By 6 pm we saw the sign we were looking for.

The registration office.

Not too long after we were set up in our new home.  Our site is a pull-through, hard packed gravel, level, FHU with 50 amp.  There is absolutely no shade much to Gertrude’s delight.  Site separation is OK, room enough for awnings all the way around.

We consider ourselves fortunate to have a site.  This park is packed and even after we got here they just kept rolling in.

We’re home now for the next seven days.  We have some sightseeing to do in the area which we are looking forward to.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  As we were rolling north we both started laughing at almost the same time.  We couldn’t remember the last time we were, shall we say, so impulsive.  It felt good and it turned out we both believe to be the right call.  Right now, though, it’s time to get some sleep.  The extra hour is taking its toll.

Thanks again for traveling with us.  We always enjoy your company.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road!

Home Is Where We Park It:  Bailey’s Point COE, Glasgow, Kentucky

June 22, 2019

Temperature 82 degrees

National Corvette Museum

What a night we had last night.  I had the patio awning out and as they say the best time to bring it in is when you think you should.  Glad I brought it in when I did because we got slammed last night.  For a good two hours even with the jacks down we were rocking.   We were anxiously watching the trees around bend and sway.  Thankfully, only a lot of small branches came down but no trees.  We learned later that a tornado touched down just 30 miles southeast of us.  If you ask me that was too close for comfort.  Once the storm moved through things calmed down and we were able to get some sleep.

When we awoke this morning it was raining again but there was just minimal wind.  We wanted to go out but decided to just relax until things cleared which in time they did.  That was our cue, time for sight-seeing.  As I stated earlier our goal for coming here was to tour the National Corvette Museum.

Before we get to that, thought, here is a picture of our new home.  We’ll be here through tomorrow then moving north on Monday to Lexington, KY.

Now for the Museum.  It was just a thirty minute ride and we were there.

The museum opened on Labor Day Weekend, 1994 and before it’s opening there was a Corvette Caravan across the country leading to it on opening day.

The entrance lobby.  The cars you see belong to customers who will pick them up shortly.  More about that later.

Even a trip to the bathroom reminds you of where you are!

Perhaps the biggest news regarding the Museum occurred on

The roof of a large cave had collapsed causing a huge sinkhole.  The cave was thousands of years old and made it’s presence known in the form of a 60 foot by 45 foot by 30 foot void.

How could something like this happen?  When the Museum and the Skydome were built soil tests were taken down to a depth of 15 feet.  All tests showed that the soil was suitable for building upon.  No one at that time was aware of the cave that was 30 foot down.  Heavy rains in the days preceding the collapse and the weakening of the roof of the cave because of the structure above eventually caused its collapse.

A bit of humor amid the tragedy.

A total of eight cars fell into the sinkhole.  Some were immediately visible, others took days of probing to find.  Five could never be restored.

This is the display that shows where everything was that day.

This is the Skydome today.  Yup, that’s Barbara checking the cars out.

Here is a look into the sinkhole itself.  This is a man hole cover that allows for periodic inspection of the repair work that was done to prevent anything like this happening in the future.

An extensive repair process took place to ensure nothing like this could ever occur again.

Here are the cars that could never be restored.  All of the cars are in the same position today as they were on the day of the collapse.

2001 Mallet Hammer Conversion. This was one of two cars that could not be immediately found.   It took days of probing to discover it.

Its recovery.

This is the 1.5 million 2019 Corvette, the other car that they had to probe for in order to  discover where it was.

This 1984 Corvette was on display the day the museum opened its doors.  It was chopped in half by a large piece of concrete that fell into the hole.  It was a one of kind purpose built car and in order to restore it all of its parts would have to be replaced thus it would no longer be an original.  So the decision was made to leave it as is.

This is a ZR-1 Spyder which was the first concept car ever assembled on a production line.

This is the boulder that was discovered in the cabin of the car.

 

 

This one called Rubby was a 1993 40th Anniversary edition Corvette. It was on a lift like this that day.  It was found on the top of the pile but because it was on the lift it fell the furthest.  The car’s damage far exceeded its value so the decision was made not to restore it.

This is the recovery of one of the cars.

Here are the cars that were restored.

Let’s move on because there is more to see and to do here.  Such as

The closest I’ll ever come to actually driving a Corvette!

How did the Corvette come to be?  It all began with this man.  This is a cut-away of the one of the first Corvettes.  We were told that, yes, this one actually runs.  In fact they had it out just a few days ago.

 

 

Would you believe it was once known as an Opel?  Then a Cougar.  Finally, a Corvette.

This is the first Corvette to roll off the assembly line on June 30, 1953.  All of the first cars were built completely by hand.  Only 300 were built that first year.  All were Polo White with a Red interior.  All had 6 cylinder engines coupled with a Powerglide  automatic transmission.

The Corvette almost met its end before it ever really got started.  The car was to be cut from production at the end of  1954.  Sales were slumping.  What saved it?  The 1955 Ford T Bird.  In response to the T-Bird the green light was given to continue producing the car but with a V-8 engine.  The 1955 Corvette shown below has undergone a frame off restoration and has won numerous awards.

1957 was a milestone year for Corvette.  That year it was offered with fuel injection and an optional 4 speed manual transmission.

There was a section devoted to design and development.

Technical milestones.

Two concept cars featuring a mid-engine, one from 1973 and the other from 1986.

The 1973 concept car was built in steel with two Wankel Rotary engines.

The next concept car was from 1986. This car was also mid-engine and had 4 wheel drive and 4 wheel steering.  This is a fully functional car that can be driven at any time today.

 Look close, you can see the mid engine in this 1986 concept car.  The big news in the Corvette world is that, finally, beginning next year a mid engine car will be offered.

There was a section devoted to Corvette racing.

This is John Greenwood’s Star Spangled Corvette.  It was given the number 76 to honor America’s Bicentennial.

This is the first of only 12 wide bodied Corvettes made.  It was once owned and raced by actor Paul Newman.

This is the preservation garage.

Remember those cars lined up in the lobby?  The museum also acts as a dealership.  Buyers can order a new Corvette at any dealership and have it delivered to the Museum where they pick up their car among all kinds of fanfare.

Looking at what is waiting to be delivered both in the lobby and here in the garage sales don’t appear to be lacking.

Speaking of sales, 1983 was probably a year that Chevy would like to forget.  They pushed through a number of technical firsts with the Corvette but quality control problems plagued them from the beginning.  Hence, production of all Corvettes was stopped until the following year.  Of the 43 cars that were produced this is the only 1983 Corvette yet in existence, the rest were destroyed.

That, in brief, is a snapshot of the National Corvette Museum.  If you haven’t been here yet and you love cars put it on your bucket list.  You will not regret the time taken for a tour.

Our day on The Road of Retirement has come to a close.  It was a great day all around.  Once again we got to cross off another item from our bucket list.  As always we did it the best way, together.

Hope you enjoyed your time with us.  We’ll catch you again tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road!