Karen at Fifty Four

Another great ride with the FFW's. This time, a bunch of us joined a larger ride... maybe 100 people? You could go any pace you wanted and follow courses marked for 36, 50, 67, and 100. Well, I should have know after the 47 mile ride with Lori that I was a little out of shape, but I rode the 67 mile route anyway. I stuck with my normal C-paced group for the first 35, then took it down a notch. El stayed with me and the two of us took our time. We completed all 67 miles, but my thighs we burning that last 5! I didn't even look at our average moving speed. It was still a good time and a beautiful day. I few of us at the 20-mile sag stop. Me and El at the finish. Felt so good to be done!  

We had a terrific Sunday night family dinner at Mom's to celebrate Donna's birthday. It's always a good time. I'm really happy to live close enough to go over for dinner. Of course, I stayed over... it's not really closed enough to drive there and back in the same day (though I have done it, it just sucks). I found a silly game for us to play after dinner - Who (what) am I? Everyone picks a card and without looking at it, puts it in the slot of their "witch's" hat. Everyone then takes turns asking the group questions and trying to guess who they are. I love that my family is always willing to be silly with me and play games!

It's been a few weeks off the bike due to traveling and the hurricane and well, me wanting to rest and sleep in! I have to admit I'm babying my knee now that I know it is bad enough to warrant a total replacement. Something about that fact has gotten me sitting on the couch much more than I should, even though I know rest is not necessary for arthritis!  But on this day, I did venture out and do a 47 mile bike ride with Lori Z and her husband, Brian. Also with us was Anthony and Bart (I think those are the correct names, first time I rode with either of them). Lori advertised this as a D-paced ride, but she always goes much faster. I was hoping for a leisurely ride, but we were cooking. And 47 miles was rough, I was ready to be back at the car around the 40 mile marker.

Another stamp in my National Parks passport book! Mammoth caves was a fabulous park. The trails on the top were beautiful and the caves below were amazing. It was great to go hiking with Jennifer again.  The obligatory park sign selfie :) Short hike to kill time before our cave tour. Well, I say short, but I think we walked maybe two miles. It was a lot of elevation change though, so it took about an hour! The caves were huge!!! A little unsettling to think how much hollow ground is below your feet when your on the surface. There were miles and miles of passageways. The park conducts a dozen different tours in the various caves. I was thoroughly impressed!

On the way to Lexington, I stopped at a winery. Weird experience. I'm posting this to remind myself that not all adventures turn out to be awesome finds like the distillery near Fort Campbell. This place was just too far into the country and too small to have a solo person pop in for a tasting. I was the only one there. The owner did his best to host me, but it was awkward.  This was it... just an old house. The guy was very nice, and there was a cool old dog there to greet me, but it was weird being alone. After the tasting the owner let me walk around his property. Beautiful scenery. It would be neat to live in the country. Not sure how long I would last out there alone, but it was peaceful for my afternoon stroll.

On the last day on site at Fort Campbell, I had a few hours to kill before dinner time, so I did a hike at a cute little park in Clarksville. It was very little considering it was a state park. My hike was less than two miles and I went on two trails (there were only three, an the third one was just an extension of the second I believe).  There was an actual cave but it was closed. I walked into it as far as I could... the entrance was gated off so you barely got under the lip you see here before you hit the dead end. You could feel wonderful cool air coming from the opening. There were posts along the trail telling of the history of this park, but I must admit I zoomed past them and can't remember the little that I did read. Cute little guy hanging out on the railing. I think I spent more time with him then I did reading the history posts. Yeah, first signs of fall!! Reminded me quite a bit of the hiking trails in Northern KY. I miss hiking... that is definitely not a FL activity ...

After day one on site at Fort Campbell, my coworker, O'Shane, and I went on a little tour and tasting at MB Roland Distillery. Great find! It was a very cute little former dairy farm out in the country. The tour was informative and the tasting was fun, and only $5 for veterans! I bought a bottle of pink lemonade moonshine to share with Jenn, which was good when mixed with tonic (too tart on its own). I learned that moonshine is just bourbon that has not aged in a barrel. Makers use it for cash while they are waiting for their bourbon to age. Moonshine takes a few months to created, compared with a few years for bourbon. They can make all sorts of flavors by adding fresh fruit at the fermentation stage. Adorable farm! On the tour Lined up for the tasting (we could pick four)

Work has brought me to Clarksville, TN (work is actually just across the boarder in Fort Campbell, KY). Let me sum it up by saying, not impressed!!!! I'm staying at a cheep-o hotel in Clarksville because Kelsie recommended it. If this project carries over into next week, I'll be changing hotels. Never stay in a Tru. No coffee or microwave in the room, the rooms are small, the bedding is cheep, the toilet runs and twice now I have not been able to watch my TV. The breakfast is cheep (though no hotel I've stayed at is good) and the lobby reminds me of a youth hostel. I think they are going for the shabby-chic look, but it's really just cheep. The town of Clarksville is equally unimpressive. I found a waterfront part on the Cumberland River, but there were homeless crazy people and I did not feel safe. There are lots of restaurants and shops around, but all chains that are also in Orlando, so why waste my time with them. Walkway along the Cumberland River. No pretty fall c...

I forgot to post this over the weekend. I had less than two days at home between trips to bring out all my pumpkins for fall. Decorating for fall always makes me happy!!! I crocheted this!!! Another library crochet class win. Love it 💗

Worst work trip ever!!!! If I never have to return to Baltimore, that would be perfectly fine with me! First, let me say, it’s a big, dirty, scary city. My work was in Edgewood so I only needed to drive out then back into the city. That was bad enough! As for Edgewood, the most picturesque thing I found to take a picture of was the front of Wegman’s grocery store. The area felt blah… it was on the water, so I thought there could be potential, but I didn’t find much to get excited about. There was an estuary park with trails that was nice, but I had the wrong shoes on to explore the area. They had some fish tanks and hands on activities inside for the kids which is where I got the picture of the cute little turtle.  Wegman's grocery store. I'm sooooo ready for fall. Unfortunately, all of the trees were still green; no fall colors on this trip except for the display at the store. Loved the comical pumpkins! This is a Diamondback Terrapin, the Maryland state reptile.  The work pa...