SOUTHWESTERN KENTUCKY: LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES

Some photo odds and ends taken by me (just vacation snaps - Jerry takes the real photos! ha ha) along the way. It was a 6-hour drive down to southwestern KY and Land Between the Lakes...and, as I've said before, it was HOT and HUMID the whole time. But you can enjoy the photos in the coolness of your own home - no mosquitoes, no chiggers, no damp heat :)

We went to a place that had a little restored "village" with a waterwheel and a very expensive restaurant. Of course, I decided the week before to begin a very strenuous plant-based diet (can't eat anything with a mother or a face! and no dairy of any kind and no oil - if that's possible), so had a bit of a struggle finding things to eat that I didn't just take with me and fix in the microwave in the hotel. In this little village, there were ponds, animals, flowers, and a little chapel where people married - no wedding that day (the poor bride wouldn't have made it in the heat) but there were about 1/2 dozen of us walking around slowly.

Land Between the Lakes

http://www.lbl.org/LBLGeneralMap.pdf

is a boating area and park area so lots of little parks and places and historic areas, as well as plenty of water and marinas and B&Bs. All along the roadways (where were strangely deserted - were we the only ones crazy enough to be down there and NOT in a boat on the river?), growing beside the roads were mimosas. My grandmother had one in her front yard for years - full and lush and full of hummingbirds in the summer. The smell was wonderful! Took this photo along a pond that was full of American lotus flowers blooming - the whole area was covered with them so, of course, we took a mile walk around to take photos and get mosquito- and chigger-bit :)

Did you know that we have our own American Lotus blooming in the US? I didn't. They were gorgeous - lovely and pale yellow in a pond of blue...had to take a lot of photos here, of course (good thing I had my OFF towelette to keep the mosquitoes off me).

We also went to a Nature/Garden Center to see dozens of hummingbirds swarming around feeders, tethered owls and hawks and caged bobcats and deer.

When a group of children (about 9 plus 2 adults) came running up to the owls, the barred owl began hooting...maybe saying, "Slow down! It's too hot to be running!" or were they saying, "Too many kids...go away...go away!!" The little screech owl began huffing, too, and since she had just gotten dipped in a tub of water and was looking a little worse for wear, she wasn't in any mood!

We also tried to see the bison and elk herd in the park close by - but didn't go right after dawn or just before dusk (apparently, bison and elk are smarter than Rhonda and Jerry and are only out in the coolest parts of the day!)