Northgate RV Park, Athens, Alabama
The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instruction. ~ Proverbs 16:21
We had errands to run today. Most importantly, we had Kohl’s cash to spend! You know that’s why they do that, don’t you? You buy stuff, they give you cash, you go back for more, you buy more than the cash is good for, they give you more, you go back . . .
But we had other things to check out as well, like Hobby Lobby, which happened to be right next to Kohl’s, and a Home Depot to return something which happened to be on the other side of Kohl’s. Kohl’s. At the center of everything important! At least in the nearby town of Huntsville. 😊
So, I have to tell you about our trip to Hobby Lobby. We’ve been needing a nativity scene to display at Christmas. I began searching seriously back in October when Mom and I visited Amish Country and stopped at the Christmas shop down there. I’m too picky; too many criteria to be met – small, one piece, not too heavy, nice faces, etc., etc.
And since we left home in October, we’ve looked a bunch of places. Still no luck.
Until today.
As Blaine and I perused the large selection, we came to this one nativity on the shelf and Wham-o!! It hit both of us at the exact time! We already have this one! We think we bought it (from Hobby Lobby) last year after Christmas and packed it away in our basement – – and promptly forgot all about it! And I guess this is why I was blind to all the others I’ve looked at – God knew we already had one. 😊
Once we were done shopping, we took on Monte Sano State Park, at the suggestion of my hairdresser, Narrah. We weren’t going to go because it’s a 45 minute drive from home, but all the other places were on the way, making just a 20 minute drive. Until we went home, of course.
Monte Sano State Park is located near Huntsville in northeast Alabama. In Spanish, Monte Sano means “Mountain of Health.” In the late 1800s, visitors from across the United States came for “the season” to experience and enjoy Monte Sano’s fresh air, spectacular views and mineral springs. ~ taken from their website
We are sooo glad we came! Not only was it a great day for hiking, the interconnecting trails offered us a chance at some real exercise, and some great sights!
After checking in with the Visitor Center and picking up a really nice, large, laminated map, we chose to begin with the easy Plateau Loop Trail. Gotta warm up these old, out of condition (temporarily, lol) bodies. However, instead of completing the loop, we wandered off onto another trail. Yes. On purpose. 😊
Not sure how much they can observe with all the trees around.
I guess it doesn’t take much to impress us. : )
Kinda ominous if you ask me. We didn’t see any more.
Blaine stepped right over it without spotting it, but it caught my eye right away.
It’s obviously been across the trail for a while. . . .
Blaine says it’s a drainage outlet.
Right smack dab in front of us.
I looked it up, it seems to be a Shaggy Bark Hickory.
What they don’t tell you is that the shortest route is straight up the side of a mountain!
And a good reason to take a break. : )
It was beside the office.
I’m sure it’s really pretty in the Spring and Summer, but not today.
Not sure why they didn’t make the trail go around the tree.
Artistic license, I guess. : )
Lunchtime brought us to another trailhead. We drove there and parked, ate and headed out on the Sinks Trail. We had no idea what that meant – – if anything. The only thing we saw sinking was our trail, as we walked further and further down the side of a “mountain”.
Time to get back to the main trail.
After a while, this trail connected to another called “Stone Cut”. Again, we had no idea what that meant, but it ended up by far our favorite; as you can tell from the excessive amount of pictures we took in this area. If it weren’t for that, we wouldn’t have had nearly as many pictures to share. 😊
but there wasn’t anything to take pictures of once we were on top.
This is a fun experiment – – This picture is the original. As you can see, the sun is setting quickly! 
This one shows the same picture in black and white. You can hardly tell the difference!
Dinner was great! We stopped at Lawler’s BBQ. We were there last time we were in town and it was soooo good, we ordered the same thing again! Blaine had pulled pork and beef, baked beans and potato salad, and I had the giant stuffed baked potato with pulled pork, butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese and chives. Yumm-mmy!!