A perfect morning for a hike in paradise.

What a spectacular day - two in a row. We are going to pay dearly for it, though. The prediction calls for three crappy days to follow. Time to take advanage while we can.

Around 9 am, we drove to the LBL Nature Center. The actual Nature Center is a small building that guards a fenced-off garden and small petting zoo. At least, that is the impression I got from the brochures. We didn’t fork over the $7 per head to find out for sure.

Surrounding the Nature Center was the genuine treasure we were looking for. Two lakes, Hematite and Honker, has a network of trails weaving around them. We tackled 4 miles of trails, mainly concentrating on Hematite Lake.

With the bright sun filtering through the fall leaves, the atmosphere glittered with shear exhilaration. At the far end of the lake, a long boardwalk through the lowlands was an added surprise. We love boardwalks.

The trail around Hematite Lake is 2.2 miles.

Apparently, this is a black walnut seed pod.

The boardwalk through the bottomland on the far side of the lake.

A small tag nailed to the tree trunk identified it as a sycamore tree. I love the smooth, naked looking bark. It was the only sycamore tree we have seen in the forest. When I was in Central Park in New York, I saw similar trees. I wonder if they were sycamores. Time for some Googling. (Yep, that’s what they were - the American Sycamore.)

We came across this memorial on the Hematite Lake trail. The inscription read: Forever In Our Hearts. Aimee Jo Ford. Jan. 2, 1972 - Sept. 10, 2020. (Wanda’s birthday is also on Jan. 2.) I wonder if they spread her ashes next to the path?

This mini-cemetery was on the 1-mile Woodland Walk trail loop.

This tree’s trunk was split in half, yet it soldiers on. It appears that the tree is sending out roots from the upper portion of the trunk.

These thick woody vines both fascinate and baffle me. I understand how thin supple vines crawl up tree trunks. These fat suckers somehow bridge 20 or 30 feet of empty air.

How did this thick heavy stiff woody vine throw itself some 40 feet up in the air to grab ahold of that tree top?

This supple leafy vine, I get.

My theory: These plants are giant Lilly pads that floated on top of the water when the water level was higher. When the level dropped, it left the pads hanging up in the air. Plausible?

Even succumbing to Fall’s end-of-life cycle, they make an artful exit.

To top off the day, we returned to the Central Woodlands Bike Trail to finish up the part that we missed the other day. This time we got on the trail at 1 pm.

Starting at the opposite eastern end, we hit the trail running hard. Last time, I followed Wanda as she slowly picked her way along the steep, narrow trail. That way I wouldn’t have to keep looking back to see if I was losing her.

Not this time. I still followed Wanda, but I had to work hard to keep up. She turned up the heat and cooked through those hairpin turns. Just what got into that girl? I’m not sure what got me more excited - the trail or Wanda. Yowza, that was fun. I’m rethinking this whole mountain biking thing!

This eastern bridge over Lake Barkley (Cumberland River), is identical to the western bridge over Kentucky Lake (Tennessee River). The identical twin bridges are 10 miles apart. Both bridges have the attached walkway - a nice touch.

The return trip back over Lake Barkley.

Alas, the day waned, and we settled in for our three-day rain delay. Tomorrow we will go into the city of Murray and do a load of wash.

B-o-r-i-n-g!!!

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

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