Summer in Kentucky

Don't ya just love those end of summer days in Kentucky!

The sun is shining, the leaves are turning, the cool breeze is blowing and the excitement of fall fills your heart.

I'm always a bit leery of change when it comes to the weather. Which is really strange since I have lived in the great state of Kentucky my whole life.   The common saying around here is "If ya don't like the weather just wait a while."  

You'll wake up to a rainy cold day and by noon the sun is shinning brightly at 75 degrees. 

It's always best to keep a pair of shorts, a rain jacket and a sweat shirt handy at all times.

I tend to get a good dose of depression right there at the beginning of fall.

The dark mornings and early sunsets along with the cold wet days gets the best of me.

Roger and I decided that this weekend was going to be spent soaking up the last bit of this glorious Kentucky Summer.

So on friday we drove the kiddos down to the grandparents (a 4 hour drive round trip) and left them there!

On Saturday morning I woke up bright and early to a rainy cloudy day and a VERY quiet house.

I had no clue what to do with myself.

So I headed to the fitness center to work out.

I NEVER get to get up in the morning to exercise. It's always late in the afternoon when I am COMPLETELY drained from the day, so that was quite lovely to get to do that!

After a shower, some lunch and snuggle time/reading time, Roger and I headed to Bernheim Forest for a short 2 mile hike.

bridge to a 75 foot drop off/look out

We ended up hiking around the ridge of the hill which was STUNNING this time of year.

Lots of colors starting to show through the green.

On the drive back to the main gate I yelled "STOP"

I saw this beautiful little field and just HAD to pop a squat in it's beauty. 

While there we found this lovely bench under a GLORIOUS tree.

"Rog, I want to build a house right here and live forever!"

On the way back into town we remembered that a convent was close by.

Being the nerdy religious freaks that we are, we decided we just HAD to stop by for a quick peek.

someone else got the prime parking. We were hoping to get Jesus to bless our car too.

The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth's convent was stunning.

The beauty took my breath away.

This is a garden pathway leading to the cemetery that is lined with the stations of the cross.

one of the stations

 Roger and I have always been fascinated with old cemeteries. It seems as if a lot of our dates take place in them. As a mater of fact, on our honeymoon we visited an old cemetery in Charleston, SC. There is something so calming to me about walking amongst the dead.

On the convent grounds we came across this little room.  I have no clue what it is but I'm hoping some day soon we can find out.

 And of course we introduced ourselves to one of the sisters and were let into one of the buildings to snoop around a bit.

look at that staircase

 As we were pulling out of the parking lot we heard on the radio that the Kentucky Bourbon Festival was going on in downtown Bardstown, Ky so we decided "HEY LET's Go!!!"

We hurried on down the bourbon trail to small town America for a good ol' fashioned festival.

Heaven Hill's warehouse of bourbon

Bardstown, Ky

wouldn't be a festival without the bikers!

Roger and I grabbed some burgers, popped a squat under a shade tree and enjoyed some major people watching and good ol' country music! 

After dinner we headed out to our friend Tyler's homestead. He had been working all day clearing brush and needed to burn it.    which meant...... BONFIRE!!

Roger and Tyler ended up having to run into town for a few things so I was left to "man the fire" and make sure "the house didn't burn down."

It was a tad bit creepy until I became distracted with the brightness of the stars.

What a quante way to end our last weekend of summer!!

I guess now that fall is coming I best be washing my feet and putting me on some good warm shoes.