TWB July 14th 2018 Experience: Day 22- Kentucky

Day 22- Kentucky

Good morning, it’s the G-g-g-g-g-grumpys!! Welcome back to the third edition of our blog. I hope you are having as good of a time as we are! We started out the morning waking up to the “peaceful” sound of pots and pans at 6 am. After our ears stopped ringing, everyone brushed their teeth and the Bashfuls packed up the bus with our overflowing duffle bags (filled with presents for those back home!) We all got on the vans and bus at around 6:45 and some took a short nap before breakfast. For breakfast, “Rachael Ray”-like cooks passed out our delicious meal of muffins in a variety of flavors.

After breakfast, everyone talked and those on the vans jammed out to some classic songs and napped again. The time also changed in the morning when we entered Kentucky from Indiana, so we are now back on NC hours! We passed time by passing around journals again and just appreciating everyone’s presence for our final full day. We stopped at a few rest stops and finally arrived at Churchill Downs at around noon. Everyone took pictures outside of the entrance near the twin spires, including around 12 people who had matching “Def Leppard” t-shirts from Wally World. As we were taking a group photo, the one and only Grant Deaton surprised us with a photo bomb! We are so excited that he’ll be here for our final days!

We walked into Churchill Downs and met up with our tour guide. He showed us around the grounds and ultimately leading us to the racetrack and back. We learned a bunch of interesting facts, including the fact that 158,000 people showed up for the Kentucky Derby this year (even though they only have 60,000 seats available). The horses also run in rain or shine, so the race always goes on! We also found out that every horse must carry 126 pounds, so if the jockey weighs less than that, they have to add weights to the saddle. After the tour, we watched a super cool short film that showed us the points of views of the jockeys, owners, and employees on Derby Day. When the movie was over, we were given an hour of free time to explore the exhibits and make purchases at the gift shops. Many of us people purchased t-shirts, post cards, and stickers. We met back at the vehicles at 2:15 where we split up by our dwarf groups. We finally ate a tasty lunch with the option of turkey sandwiches or PB&J sandwiches with a side of carrots and cookies.

After lunch, every group began discussing how they were going to win the competition tonight. So on the way we began writing skits recalling all of our favorite TWB memories over the past three weeks. Everyone was coming up with good ideas (especially the Grumpys), and when we arrived at the bright blue truck wash, some helped the counselors empty and vacuum the vehicles while others in the group continued to prepare for the skit. Our next stop was at the original Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky. We all devoured the yummy fried chicken, mac and cheese, potatoes, and biscuits, served with sweet tea or lemonade. Some got KFC bucket hats and everyone looked around at the various displays from the original restaurant.

We loaded back up and rode the ten-minute ride to the campsite, and on the way everyone practiced their skits. When we arrived, we set tarps on the ground in front of the stage and admired the show. The Bashfuls began the competition with their own dramatic interpretations of the amazing trip. The Grumpys went next and had a mix of amazing lyrics and enough hilarious memories for a chance to win the competition. Then came the Dopeys with funny lines and a story beginning with the first day. After their recap, the Happys changed it up a little bit with a wonderful melody of the Trip 3 TWB story. The Sleepys went next with various scenes of our eventful days. Finally the Sneezys went last with a creative idea of confessing to funny mysteries and inside jokes that occurred throughout the trip. The winner was the……drumroll please…..the Happys! We were excited for them but a little “Grumpy” when we didn’t win. The overall winner of Teens Westward Bound Trip 3 was the Sneezys! They did a great job and we were proud of them.

After the competition, we all sang “This Land is Your Land” and “Today”, which gave us a little lump in our throats. We unpacked our duffle bags and sleeping stuff and set up our sleeping areas. Some headed to the showers and others began our last tarp talks.