Last update from Lexington, Saturday June 2, 2007

Friday was, as promised, a shopping trip for the ladies and a visit to the Toyota factory by Ray and Dennis. They would not allow photos in the plant.

The Toyota tour was fast paced, fact filled, and very interesting. This is the first and largest Toyota plant in the US. Only 1% of the workers are Japanese. The plant has under roof the equivalent of 156 football fields! They produce Camry’s, Solara’s, and Camry Hybrid’s, all at the same time, in random sequence. They make the cars based upon demand orders. They produce 2,000 cars a day using just in time supply. For example, 80 minutes before bumpers are needed the order is placed for bumpers for the various car models and various colors to be delivered in the correct sequence for installation on the line There is very little inventory including the cars themselves. As soon as a car is driven off the line it is driven to the loading area to be put on truck transports or rail cars.
They have their own stamping presses for the steel, their own injection machines for the plastic bumpers etc. and many, many innovative production processes. It is well worth the tour if you are ever in the area.

We hurried back to get the ladies who, we thought, had been stranded for 2 to 2 ½ hours shopping. Well, we were wrong again, they had not finished!

Checked out the city of Georgetown. We were told it would not take long to see the town and they were correct. Kathy’s sister, Linda, attended Georgetown College so we made it a must see on our tour.

Friday evening we had dinner with our Lexington friends, Bill and Paige Rea. They are such gracious and great hosts.

They are also big UK fans and in respect for them and our recent news on Billy Donovan Ray and I had placed black tape over our Gator logos. The mourning is now over and the tape has been removed, life goes on. Watch out Columbus, here we come!!!

Thoroughly enjoyed our evening and dinner.

Paige had just completed in the past year a complete renovation of her kitchen and Linda and Kathy, I am afraid, now have some new ideas about kitchens.

As can be seen in the above photo no self-respecting home in Lex would be without a TV tuned to live horseracing, even one in the kitchen.

Today is a day of regrouping and rest. We leave tomorrow for Columbus and a visit to the Big Horseshoe, Ohio State football field. The trip tomorrow will be one of our longer days traveling, 202 miles! Not sure when we will have internet access again, so the updates may be in hibernation for awhile. From Columbus we travel to Rich Bryer’s place on Guilford Lake then Kathy and I split from Ray and Linda Blush. Kathy and I will then go on to Niagara Falls, Quakertown, PA and Washington, DC.