As predicted, the leaves were spectacular, the weather perfect, and the wildlife flourishing. There was a flock of about 100 Canadian Geese that would fly in every afternoon just about sunset. They would land in the corn field next to our camp. Noisy but beautiful. For a few nights they camped in the cornfield and would fly out early the next morning (noisy but beautiful). The last few nights they flew into the cornfield at sunset, fed for a little while and then flew to a different location to spend the night so we didn't get to see them fly out in the mornings. We think the coyotes were bothering them since we could hear the coyotes running and howling at night. There were a lot of them by the sounds of their howling. We could also hear hunting dogs during the night and you could always tell when the lead dog tree'ed whatever they were after. He would start baying and you could hear the balance of the pack behind him just a yappin' and then the change back to the pack all together baying at their game. We never saw the coyotes or the hunting dogs but the sounds made pictures enough.
I did not try to take pictures of the leaves or the mountains. Cameras never can produce the depth or dimension needed to capture the grandeur. I did take some sunset pictures (because I just had to try) and it didn't turn out too bad:
There is a project in Kentucky putting quilt squares on the ends of barns. This is an interesting project and imparts a lot of the heritage of the area. The squares are built of wood and are 4 x 8 in size. I have found out the project is popular in North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, as well as Kentucky. Most likely other states too. I am going to download some additional information and keep it handy as we travel to other areas and for when we go back to Kentucky. Check it out at Kentucky Arts Council website. Follow the links for the Quilt Trail. They have other states listed also.
The weather! When we first arrived it was a very warm middle to high 70's and this lasted a couple of days.....................And Then.............. the cold front moved in with a rainy day and the temperatures began to drop. The lowest night was 32 degrees and the second lowest was 37 degrees. Days were windy and so the wind chill kept the 60 degree weather feeling pretty chilly. For the most part we were toasty warm in our tent and under our covers or with our coats and sweaters. I did wind up buying a head scarf. I have found out Florida winter clothes are quite different to other states winter clothes requirements. A couple of nights Jim got chilled and you know when you are camping there just doesn't seem to be anyway to get warm after you catch a chill. One of the nights he sat in the car with the heater on for a while and that helped. So of course he came home with a terrible cold and now I have it too. For those of you who know me well you know I don't do colds gracefully and I am not pleased that after my successfully avoiding all the germs at work all those years - I retire and almost immediately get sick. What's fair about this? I let my guard down about all those germs out there - I must remain vigilant, they're everywhere!
Our next trip is to Virginia to visit our long time friends, Ginger and Frank Bell. Marge will go with us on this trip and that is always a hoot! Jim will again be our chauffeur or medical transport driver depending on the condition at any given moment. Jim and his friend Michael will do a Two Guys camp trip for a week towards the end of November. They've never been able to go for an extended stay and so they have decided to head to GA to the Stephen Foster Campgrounds. Then we plan to hang it up for a while and get some projects caught up around the house!
