Boxing in Kentucky

Yes, it has been a while since I last went boxing.  Not sure why but probably a bit of laziness on my part and also partly because - alas I am a fair weather boxer.

But boxing we went on Christmas Day to a small town along the Ohio River in Carrollton.  

We ventured to a Park - General Butler State Park to be exact.  

A beautiful State Park located right in the middle of the town.  Now - how cool is that.

 
General William O. Butler was a member of the famous 'Peace Conference' as an attempt to prevent the Civil War as well as serving as a Kentucky Congressman. A graduate of Transylvania University in Lexington, KY he went on to serve the country in various battles during The War of 1812. One of those battles was The Battle of Frenchtown and The Battle of the River Raisin where he was taken prisoner while fighting the British for control of Michigan and the lower Great Lakes. The failures at this battle led to the phrase "Remember the Raisin" being used as a rallying cry during The War of 1812.

Our search, which was a very round about but nice hike,  

lead us to the observation deck at the park.

 Constructed in the 30's by the CCC and I think it is quite impressive.

The CCC was a  public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. Through out the US we can see what was accomplished during the run of this program.  While social programs aren't always the answer, I do believe during this time frame it was a needed and well run necessity.  Now we have the relief given to those who are job less but there isn't any "work" attached to it.  Just think if those we receive assistance were put to work maintaining our cities and parks --- wow...  we might see some more beautiful stone work, stairs, observation decks and a lot less litter.  

ok off my soap box. :-)

 You can barely make out the Ohio River in the back ground.  

It is also here that the Kentucky River meets the Ohio.

  Love these old Postcards.

 I always find it cool to locate benchmarks - this marks the highest elevation in Carroll County. 

In my years of boxing we have stumble across many including geocaches that we weren't looking for.

 As seen from the trail. After 80 years it is still intact and minus any graffiti. 

One of the reason for the name - Fossil Trail.
Brachiopod fossils galore AND 
the Kentucky State Fossil.

Get this - 24 cottages are available, with some having a private balcony or patio. One, two, three-bedroom cottages with one bath and two or three executive cottages with two baths are available. Tableware, cooking utensils, and linens are provided with fresh linens available daily.  plus The campground offers 111 campsites with utility hookups and grills. Showers and rest rooms are available at two central service buildings and one laundry facility is available.  

You could camp all summer long and still make it to work on time.  

Monday the New Sunday.

Since I was in Remsen at the BARN FOTA I didn't get my letterboxing fix sooooo after work I bugged out to the big little village of Frankfort.

My front seat always makes a great place to stamp in especially since the place was swarming with mosquitoes.  I can't imagine how my ancestors survived those horrid hoards of blood sucking fall pests.

Here it is - Old Gate Number 1 where my grandfather worked between 1900-1910.  

Union Fork and Hoe Company - 

Creek looks quite placid now but I am sure it wasn't so peaceful a 

few weeks ago when the hurricane came through.  It was a beautiful 

day for boxing and I would have bagged some more but......there's always 

next Monday.  or Sunday or may be even Tuesday. 

It's Sunday and that means LETTERBOXING.

Ah, what a beautiful day for boxing.  Beautiful blue skies and a gentle breeze, what more could I ask for.

After a quick stop at TSC for dog food and chickHEN feed we drove over to the 

Evergreen Cemetery in Verona.  I so love boxing in cemetery's.  I could spend forever 

just wandering the grounds reading names and dates and marveling at the words that 

people put on their loved ones stones a hundred years ago.

A shot of my messie log book.  When ever I would box with Kati and James they would always have such nice neat pages and I would always have ink spots.  Today was no different.  Left a HitchHiker I've been carrying around for months because I kept forgetting to leave it somewhere.  I figured this was as good a place as any. Now I hope someone finds it soon so it can get back to traveling. 

I thought that this hitch-hiker was unique in its construction.  A bottle cap from a bottle 

of Guinness holds an intricately carved image of what is on the cap.  

After a quick stop at home to get dear husband we headed out again.

This time to SUNY IT and their hiking trails. 

Spencer J. Roemer Nature Trail is located near the soccer fields on the SUNY IT Campus. 

Boxing with the men is always cause for laughter on my part.  While looking for a flattish surface 

to stamp in on they both (and at the same time) say - the garbage can.  Now can you see any

 flat surfaces there. I think not but it worked nevertheless and we finished up our stamping. 

My happy boxing team.

Amanita flavoconia???? 

took this at evening time and it was a bit more yellow 

but with all the trees around it was hard to get true color.

If anyone has any idea what variety this mushroom is, I appreciate the identification.

 I love fall, The year is winding down, Shrubs and trees are dropping their fruits and nuts. 

 This nature trail was no exception with its beautiful colors of autumn.  

Dogwood, buckthorn, rose hips and grapes dotted the pathways. 

And so ends another happy boxing Sunday.  Since I will be in Remsen next weekend for the 

Barn FOTA I guess I won't be out boxing but maybe I'll have a chance to plant one instead.  

My last one at the railroad station has turned up missing.

Traveling Sunday ...again

Sunday was not only a beautiful day but James, the Lacustrian, and Me, Granbee, had the whole afternoon to ourselves, so after a terrific church service we headed north to Camden.  But first we stopped at a nifty and swampy area to check out some plants.

This was the site of a letter box we searched out last week but we spied a different water 

plant flourishing along the pond edge.  The lacustrian rapidly took notice so had to return.  

Once we found out what it was "water shield" we had to return for a better look. 

And yes, we were wading in to get a sample and yes, it is now happily growing 

in the greenhouse.  Lacustrian admitted that he missed "swamping around"

Once we had a successful harvest we back tracked to get that letter box we couldn't

 nab last week because of all the people traffic.

This turned out to be one of those lovely old cemetery that has been greatly neglected.  After climbing up a steep by small hill we were greeted by a ground full of acorns and hickory nuts, mushrooms and wintergreen berries. 

Back in one corner was this once magnificent mausoleum that really needed a lot of TLC. 

Here are place the remains of George Marsden and his wife. 

Had fun gathering tops to acorns for a winter Christmas project.

Found our letterbox and headed out to Camden and a trip through Forest Glen,
another gem in the middle of a village.

Sunday's Trampings

With a few hours to spare before the anticipated thunder storms we stopped in Canastota at the Great Swamp Conservancy to find a box and while there to take a look at the new osprey nest platform.  Pretty awesome - right out in the open. I wasn't able to get a photo of this new nest.

In 2000, the Great Swamp Conservancy built an platform to encourage Osprey to nest on their property. The following Spring a pair of Osprey did indeed take a liking to the platform and built a nest and raised their young. Every Spring since 2000, a pair of Osprey have come to the platform and built a nest. That is until 2010. That year there was strange goings on. The pair of Osprey began to build a nest and stopped. They then began building their nest on an electrical transformer on Pine Ridge Road, the road the nature center is on. 

The power company did not like this one bit and were considering taking the nest down. The people at the nature center called the DEC to help in protecting the Osprey's nest. The power company allowed the Osprey to keep the nest and raise their young. But once the young had fledged, they destroyed the nest. They did though build a platform for the Osprey. It was then discovered there was a young sapling growning through the bottom of the original Osprey nest and that is why the pair abandoned their original platform nest. 
In the Spring of 2011, the pair of Osprey returned and must have liked the new platform because they built "a new nest" on it and today when I planted the letterbox, they were there feeding their young. (copied from atlasquest entry by Nurse Ann)

Since I didn't have my camera today,

 I will give credit to Dina for posting these on the Conservancy webisite. 

Stamping Ground

Today I finally made it to Stamping Ground and Buffalo Springs Park 

You see I was surprised to find that no one else has placed a stamp at such a notable place.  

We were not disappointed once we got there.  

This small city (and I do mean small) has taken great pride in their history.  

This is what currently guards the famed stamping ground

This is what it looking like inside.  Not to impressive but somehow awesome anyway. 

 Industry took over as the city grew.  Many of the relics still remain.  

The signs states - water not treated - do not drink. 

 I have no idea.  Perhaps the tannery factory?  Would appreciate any suggestions.

Just one of the mill stones - a larger one is part of the walkway.

 The playground and fitness circuit were up a very very steep hill. 

 A view from the top of part of the city. 

Pretty interesting. And yet - there was no where for me to place a letterbox.  At first glance I thought the wooded area between the road and the spring.  Until I found that there was way too much poison ivy.  Like so many parks in Kentucky this one was is very well maintained.  I knew I wouldn't be able to leave a box here so I had to search for a better place. 

To find out more about stamping ground :

http://www.stampinggroundky.org

It isn't hard to find the park at Stamping Ground.
 It is located on Route 1688 just south west of Route 227
 (the four corners in town)
Once there locate the sign that tells about the Buffalo and their stamping. 
(hint - the back is not the same as the front)

1-7-2

2-5-6

3-1-2

4-3-1

5-1-1

7-4-1

8-4-4

10-4-5

10-3-3

10-4-6

10-2-8

1-1-1

By figuring out the code using the sign you will know which cemetery the Maple Leaf is hiding in.

Once at the cemetery, walk past the sign and straight back as far as you can go.
There is a small cemetery stone.
To the left of the stone and not far is a very tall tree. At the base underneath stones, leaves and twigs is a lone Maple Leaf.

I hope you enjoyed the history of the place as much as we did.

For a little added help - see photos below. 

the stone

the spot

the tree

all three