Stanley Celebrations in Rochelle

Happy New Year, KORE Academy! I have had a busy holiday season. I visited Sarah, Zion, and Caitlin's families. Here is the first of my adventures.

Here I am in Rochelle, Illinois!  Rochelle is located 80 miles West of Chicago, Illinois, right in the center of the Northern part of Illinois.  It has been cold and snowy here for a couple of weeks.  Looks like I will be needing to get a coat, gloves and a scarf for my visit!  Rochelle is a city of about 10,000 people.  While I am in Rochelle I will be staying with Sarah’s Uncle Eric, Aunt Joanna and my cousin’s Will, Aaron and Ali.  Will is married to Ashley and they have a son named Evan.  They have their own house in a smaller town called Creston about 5 miles away.

Yeeha!  While in Rochelle I had a chance to visit with Santa!  He asked me what I wanted for Christmas so I told him:  “I want a new bike, some warmer clothes, a PS4 and a cool tablet like Sarah has”!

Merry Christmas!  While I am staying in Rochelle I will get a chance to catch up with Sarah at the Patrick’s Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Patrick’s house when she comes to visit!  I sure had fun climbing around in the Christmas tree and opening presents!  It sure is colder here than when I was in Texas and Arizona.  Brrrrrr.

YES!  The Chicago Bears are beating the Green Bay Packers!  On the last Sunday of the NFL season Uncle Eric and Aunt Joanna had some family over to watch the game.  All the Bears have to do is beat the Packers and they are in the playoffs!  Alas, they ended up losing the game and the party crowd got real quiet and everyone left.  The Bears defense has more holes in it than swiss cheese.  Bummer.

Now this is the life!  I have noticed that a lot of people up here have a fireplace in their house.  I can understand why, man it is cold outside.  It has snowed several times while I have been here and the temperature keeps going down.  I wonder why they don’t just move south to a warmer climate?  Brrrr.  I had to be very careful around the fire since I am made of paper.

Happy New Year!  Sarah and her family left a couple of days ago to go home to Kentucky but I stayed in Rochelle!  Eric and Joanna were invited to a New Year’s Eve wedding on Joanna’s side of the family so they took me too!  Here I am with the newlyweds, Eryn and Jason!  When they found out that I was at the wedding too they asked if they could get a picture with me!  It snowed again today, and is still snowing, the weatherman says we may get up to 8 inches of snow.  I still wonder why all these people live here.  Brrrrrr.  The wedding and reception were really fun, we stayed up until midnight and when they dropped the balloons we all blew our party horns!  This was for sure the most fun New Year’s Eve I have ever had.

Here I am just after midnight!  Here is to a great 2014!  Everyone at the wedding was very nice.  When we got up in the morning there was a lot of snow on the ground and the drive home from Rockford took a long time.  Well, visiting Rochelle was a lot of fun but I have to leave to see Kelley down in Florida now.  I wonder what the weather is like there?  Eric told me right before I left that in a couple of days it is going to get really cold in Rochelle.  He said the high temperature on Monday is going to be 10 degrees BELOW zero.  Ugh.  He also said the wind chill is going to be almost 45 degrees BELOW zero.  I am thinking that Florida is sounding like a great idea!  I wonder if Kelley has a fireplace?

Stanley's Holiday in Louisville

WELCOME TO KENTUCKY!

Zion, Hi! Well, it is nearing that time of the year for celebrating, giving thanks, and eating, so I am going to the local meat market. Flat Stanley joined me, and I ran into one of my former high school students! He was very nice and helpful in giving advice for some delicious meat and cheese snacks.

I had a good time getting out and about in Louisville, KY. I learned a few facts about the city, and saw quite a few interesting sites. I have also met several people who gave ‘SHOUT OUTS’ when they saw me posing in pictures. What interesting stories they shared while traveling across the country!!

Louisville, Kentucky is the state’s largest city. The population of 1,400,000 people is increasing in diversity, which is seen and reflected in the arts, food stores, schools, churches, and communities. The city is located approximately 45 minutes from the state capital in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Throughout the year, there are four separate seasons --- winter, spring, summer, and fall --- each lasting about three months in the year.  The temperatures range between 70ºC – 90ºC (spring, fall, and summer) and  30ºC -50ºC in the winter.

Kentucky is known for many things, one is the Kentucky colonel of the Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurants, and Louisville is home to the corporate business offices of KFC.  Second, Kentucky is known as “Horse Capital of the World.”  Louisville shares in building this reputation with its famous Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby is run every first weekend in May.  

Check me out as I look at the city skyline (skyscraper buildings in downtown Louisville.  Stay tuned for more details . . .

Flat Stanley and I decided to look at Christmas decorations in downtown Louisville, KY! We met some very friendly people who were working, but volunteered to take our pictures. So thanks to the Galt House Hotel greeters/bell men, valet employee, and a visitor from Ohio!

The Galt House is a popular, downtown hotel known for its restaurant with a rotating floor. It is REALLY COOL to sit and eat, while looking outside at the beautiful Ohio River.

Fourth Street Live is a downtown attraction site with plenty of restaurants and entertainment places. If you go, you will enjoy live music, bowling, dancing, eating a variety of foods, sitting and reading in bookstores, watching movies, and shopping.

Check out the Christmas lights, decorating downtown, brightening streets, and continuing the joyful spirit of fun at this time of year.

I am out and about in the Ohio River that runs west of Louisville, Kentucky. In the pictures you will see two of Louisville’s boats --- The Belle of Louisville and The Spirit of Jefferson --- which offer tours up and down the Ohio River.

Another interesting place to go is Joe’s Crab Shack restaurant on the river. The menu has a variety of seafood to eat and unique entertainment from the restaurant crew.

Wow! What a big boat!

Auntie and Flat Stanley viewing the Spirit of Jefferson.

A friendly employee who volunteered to snap a picture, while working on the Spirit of Jefferson.

Joe’s Crab Shack Restaurant along the Ohio River.

Flat Stanley Visits the Cumberland Gap

Hello, class! This is Caitlin's Flat Stanley. I visited Bailey and Brady, Caitlin's cousins, in Middlesboro, KY for Christmas this year. Middlesboro, with a population of approximately 15,000, is the only U.S. city built inside a meteorite crater. The city is located on the Kentucky side of the Cumberland Gap, which was the great gateway to the west for Native Americans and early pioneers. Today it is home to the Cumberland Gap National Historic Park which celebrates the history and offers the ability to explore early settlements and to hike the Daniel Boone Trail.

It was very cold and snowy while Flat Stanley was with us, so we only took him outside for a few pictures during a visit to the Pinnacle at Cumberland Gap Park. The Pinnacle is an overlook at the top of a four mile long drive up the mountain. It offers spectacular views of Kentucky (specifically Middlesboro), Virginia, and Tennessee. The others are pictures that we took during a hike to Tri-State point in late October. This is the point where Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia meet giving visitors the ability to stand in three states at once.