It seemed like a long time we, and our Diesel Duck, spent at the work yard this year. Not that we rushed doing our chores while crossing off little jobs from the to-do list that were completed one by one. The last task of applying two coats of antifouling bottom paint I completed two days before Diesel Duck was moved into the storage area of the boat yard. Promptly at 8 A.M. the crew, Proctor and James, arrived with the travel lift to relocate Diesel Duck to her new spot and shortly after, Neil with his assistant of the "Mobile Shrink Wrap Service" came to shrink wrap our duck. That was no easy undertaking in 91F temperatures for the guys who did a fantastic and neat job.

The majority of stored boats in the yard are left uncovered but we wanted to preserve the beauty of the Duck, her clean decks, protect her from bugs, bird droppings, dust and grime of the air pollution and from the rains during the summer time in Florida. Basically, once the shrink wrap is taken off, she should be ready to be launched.











In the evening, after Diesel Duck looked like a gigantic white parcel, we headed for a hotel to spend the night before heading for the I-75 highway for the drive home to Canada. Our van was jam-packed with stuff (thank goodness for tinted windows) because if anybody looked in they must have thought we were fugitives or gypsies.

The trip home can be done nonstop (approx. 2300 km). However, we took 3-1/2 days stopping along the way at interesting sites. One of them is the birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Corbin, Kentucky. I trust that all of our readers have at one time or another eaten chicken from the KFC chain. There is a marker honoring Kentucky's most famous citizen and following is the inscription if you are interested in its history.





Colonel Harland Sanders began the part of his life that brought him fame in a small gasoline service station on the opposite side of this highway. Born on September 9, 1890, near Henryville, Indiana he left school at twelve to support his family. He held a wide variety of jobs as farmhand, soldier, railroader, secretary, insurance salesman and ferryboat operator until 1930 when he came to Corbin, moved his family in quarters behind the station and started pumping gasoline. This was then a main route to the south, the Dixie Highway from Detroit to Florida. Traffic slowed during the Great Depression so Sanders, who enjoyed cooking, augmented his meager income by selling meals to tourists. His food was liked. His reputation grew and his career as a restaurateur began.

In 1932 Colonel Harland Sanders bought the small restaurant near this site. Here he combined good cooking, hard work, and showmanship to build regional fame for his fine food. His restaurant and motel, now gone, flourished. To serve his patrons better, Sanders constantly experimented with new recipes and cooking methods. Here he created, developed, and perfected his world famous Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe. In 1956 plans were announced for a Federal highway to bypass Corbin, the new Interstate 75. Threatened with the traffic loss, then 66 and undaunted, sold the restaurant and started traveling America and selling seasoning, and his recipe for fried chicken to other restaurants. His success in this effort began the world's largest commercial food service system and made Kentucky a household word around the world.

We are home now freezing our butts off. Ottawa just had another snowfall but here, at Lake Erie in the southern part of Ontario, it rained all day long. If anything exciting happens, I'll post it.