What's happening in my world…
I want to get in some hiking while in Colorado Springs so I am heading over to Palmer Park. It is a great place to hike if you are ever in the Springs area.
Some of the trails allow dogs and horses. Some of the trail are flat area while others go up and down some great looking rock formations.
Temperature is great at 72°F and light to no wind.
Well, I am back in Colorado Springs. The weather is great. I just hope that I get some hiking time in while I am here.
My wife, Karen Allen, is running out of mystery books. You never want the avid book reader in your life to run out of books. Never fear, we have found a great mystery book store called the Book Sleuth, but it is in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Karen is in luck, because I travel to Colorado Springs on a regular basis.
Helen C. Randal is the owner, but I will have to confess that Karen and I thought she was dead the first time we walked into the store. She was slumped over and the book she was reading had fallen out of her hand. Given a door bell rang as we entered, we argued for few minutes about who was going to check her vital signs. This went on for a few minutes more, but we soon decided that we would make a large noise, which I am thankful to say she was not dead.
Lyman Mark manages the store for Helen. Lyman must have read very book in the store. You can barely describe a book that you are looking to purchase and Lyman will be able to put his hand right onto it.
Harry Delugach invited Karen and I to his wine tasting this past Friday. We had never been to a wine tasting. We are glad we went, because we had a great time. And, we got a meet Harry's sister Allison, too.
Harry had selected a set of wines from various regions of Spain. And, a number of the guests provided food. We brought a multi-layer dip with chips.
Harry had a form for everyone to take notes on what they thought of the wines as the tasting progressed. It was neat to compare what we all thought about a give wine. Someone may think of the wine as being too sweet while someone else thought it was dry. I think I would have been better prepared if I knew how to taste wines. I saw “Teach Yourself Wine Tasting
It was suggested that Karen and I host a beer tasting given how much we enjoy trying beers.
Mammoth Cave was cool as in 54° F or 12° C, which is to be expected. Karen and I were on limited schedule of time, because we were heading over to Lexington, Kentucky. Due to our limited time, we decided to only go on the self guided tour of Mammoth Cave. This tour enters through the historical entrance and takes you by the saltpeter artifacts and walks you through some of the largest trunk passages in Mammoth Cave.
The saltpeter artifacts are from the time period around the War of 1812. Mammoth Cave became a valuable commercial property with the outbreak of the War of 1812 between the United States and England. Cave sediments with abundant quantities of nitrate, an essential ingredient of gunpowder, were mined by slaves during the war.
Helpful maps: Park Map & Detail Map.
Karen and I are heading to Kentucky for the Memorial Day weekend. We have never been to Kentucky. Karen has been wanting to see the bluegrass, which not actually blue.
We will start our trip by heading to Mammoth Cave in central Kentucky. As I understand this is the longest recorded cave in the world with over 360 miles of explored and mapped. 
We are going to be staying at our first Bed & Breakfast while we visit Mammoth Cave area. We found the Serenity Hill Bed and Breakfast at BBOnline, which a web site dedicated to providing information about any and all Bed & Breakfasts.
After Mammoth Cave, we will head north to drive the Blue Grass Parkway over to Lexington, Kentucky. 
From Lexington, we will visit the surrounding area including Richmond and Berea. In the Lexington area, we could visit the Kentucky Horse Park (pictured at the top of the page). In Berea, we will surely go to the Kentucky Artisan Center. The center looks to be a great place to pickup a souvenir for our trip.
Karen and I are going to walk up to Village of Providence's Saturday Market. They had one of these Saturday Markets last year and now they are having them every 2nd Saturday from May 13th through October 14th.
It includes a farmers market and artists. During last year's event, the artists worked in all mediums to include painting, printmaking, sculpture, jewelry, tile mosaic, drawings, photography and mixed media.
The event runs from 7-am to 3-pm.
Karen and I headed downtown to Kenny Mango's Coffee Shop and Gallery. We had just finished a great workout at HAC so we headed to Kenny's to listen to Larry Woellhart, a friend, playing music. Kenny Mango's is located on North Side Square in Huntsville, Alabama. The crowd is not too small or too large. Kenny promises that he will get me a WiFi connection some day soon, but you may be able to pickup a nearby business' signal. (Not that I am suggesting you hijack a WiFi.)
Karen enjoyed the chamomile teas while I had cappuccinos and chai teas. The feeling of hot caffeine rushing through you helps you relax at 10 o'clock at night. Not!
Well, I hope that you have been thinking about your mother. Mother's Day is this coming Sunday. It is a good day to remember what our mother's have done for us.
For some, it is a day of reflection of things past. For others, it is a time to call our mothers or spend some time together.
Many of us have memories of past Mother's Day. Some of us are just starting to build memories.
Were ever you find yourself in this list of possibilities, I hope that you stop and remember your mother for all the sacrifices she made for you.
Karen and I got out and did some hiking today.  The weather was great with the temperature around 74º.
If you haven’t hiked the Land Trust trails, you are missing out on some great trails.  The trails are primarily located on Monte Sano Mountain in Huntsville, Alabama, but there are others located throughout Madison County and north Alabama.  The Land Trust has over 3,400 acres of land.  The trails include many levels of difficult from easy on up.
We hiked all over the area between the Land Trust Parking lot and Cleermont Drive.  I highlighted our hike on the map.  It is a beautiful area with a creek running between the Fagan Spring Trail and Wildflower Trail.  We found a lot of wild life on the hike.  I saw a large black snake that was over three foot in length, but it move to quickly for Karen to catch up and see it.  Soon after the first snake, we saw smaller two foot long black snake similar to the first.  The snake did not move.  I guess warm of the sun was to good to leave.  The under growth was jumping with life, too.  We saw chipmunks, squirrels, and lizards frequently.  Karen spotted a pool of tadpoles.  They were too young to see any legs or arms.
If you are interested in hiking the area, I have provided a link here to the trails in PDF format.