Mammoth Cave hike - Fall 2008

One of our favorite activities is hiking in Mammoth Cave National Park - particularly when it's Fall and the leaves are changing. Due to really dry weather, the annual change of colors in the leaves has been less spectacular this year. Still - very pretty

I helped take the Scouts on this hike. We did a little over 6 miles. The Sal Hollow trail to the Turnhole Bend trail to the Good Luck Church Springs Trail.



Here's the whole group - not the most flattering picture


Caves like this one are very common. This is a tiny cave - no idea how far in it goes.

Tennis balls - pros and cons

In the last post I wrote about how cool it was to have a tennis ball tree in the back yard. Fall has taken on a new meaning this year. During the Fall - leaves are supposed to drop. They do - but Tennis Ball trees also lose their fruit. Green - straight off the tree tennis balls weigh about 2 pounds. We've had lots of tennis balls fall off the tree. It's starting to get a little old.


Now having a yard full of ankle twisting - rotting tennis balls - isn't so bad, if you never go out there. But.. there is another downside to the tennis ball issue. A LOT of branches are over the roof. When one falls down it sounds like someone has thrown a basket ball on the roof.

Most of them fall at night.. On the roof over the master bedroom. Picture if you will... Brian and Julie slumbering soundly after a long days work - around 1 am, 2 lb tennis ball drops on roof - jerking Brian and Julie awake. They listen to a rolling sound along the roof, the tangling of the ball in the gutter and then a "Clack" when it hits the ground. At this point the dog starts to bark hysterically. Julie and Brian sigh....

They are still cool looking trees - but as in everything in life, there are pros and cons to everything.


Tennis Ball tree AKA Orange Osage Tree.