Natural Bridge State Resort Park, Slade, Kentucky
Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work – this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart. ~ Ecclesiastes 5:19-20
Most mornings when I wake up, there’s a song in my head. Most mornings, it’s a song of praise or a hymn.
But not today.
Today, it was Jim Croce (remember him?) singing “Rapid Roy”. Good grief! Where in the world did that come from?!?
In case you don’t know, Jim Croce was a songwriter/folk/rock singer who reached popularity in 1972, and then died in a plane crash in 1973 at age 30.
He’s known for songs like, “I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song” and “Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown”, and “Time in a Bottle”. Many of you may recognize those songs, but how many know “Rapid Roy”?
Oh, Rapid Roy that stock car boy he too much to believe
You know he always got a extra pack of cigarettes rolled up in his t-shirt sleeve
He got a tattoo on his arm that say, ‘Baby’
He got another one that just say, ‘hey’
But every Sunday afternoon he is a dirt track demon in his ’57 Chevrolet
So there I am, lying in bed as I waited for Blaine to wake up, and I’ve got this crazy song in my head.
It didn’t go away. It was there as I ate breakfast. It was there when we were driving to the trails. It was there when we hiked our ten miles . . . . all ten . . . .
I tried to change the channel. Forced myself to sing something spiritual, or even a different Jim song, but all those songs kept getting interrupted by Jim’s deep, folksy voice, insistent on remembering Roy. It was like two people sitting in the front seat of an old car, warring over the radio station buttons, with snippets of both songs popping on and off.
Oh, Rapid Roy that stock car boy . . . Blessed assurance Jesus is mine . . .he’s too good . . .oh what a fore . . . rolled up in his . . . salvation, purchase of God . . .
Yeah. Just like that. Unfortunately, I finally gave up and let Jim have his memorial for the day. ☹
Now on to things Blaine won’t roll his eyes at.
We’d planned on today being a long day, since we surrendered yesterday to soggy weather. We took on the very short Gray’s Arch trail, but combined it with other trails and made it a loop for a total of about 4 miles.
I think it was in the upper 40s.
I didn’t feel the need to crawl up any higher.
Am I getting old?
What’s left of a memorial wreath 
God is soooooo good to us!
But none on the trees beside it!
Some were more difficult than others, but we didn’t get wet! Yay!
that caused me to remove my coat and put up my hair for a while – –
hiking uphill for a good little bit, and a major hot flash. : )
And eveidently, I’m walking like Flash again. . .
I must be cooling off. : )
Here’s a perspective for you!
Be sure to note how skinny the trunk of this tree is!
Kinda made us want to check it out,
but that one’s not on our agenda for today and we know nothing about it.
Then it was lunchtime, and after a very filling, turkey sandwich and bag of chips in the Jeep, we drove over to the Courthouse/Double Arch loop trail for an additional six or so miles.
The sign says the loop is 5 miles,
but we and others clocked it and determined it’s closer to 6 1/2.
but we were having trouble deciding which rock that was. : )
Hordes of them! Circling overhead!
We’d best be really careful, lest we become a feast for them!
because of the sign and the fact that the trail just kinda stopped here.
We’re thinking that’s what happened to the beginning of this trail, but no one had cleaned it up yet.
Still, it was obvious that it’d been a while ago.
Look how teeny they are!
Very nice!
It’s just above the big one, between the rock layers.
Carved steps that were kinda scary!
So much beauty! So many hills! So much fresh air!
We had an interesting show after we returned home. We acquired new neighbors, and they set out to decorate for Halloween, which was nice. But then, for some reason, they decided they should move their fire ring. This guy worked for the better part of 30 minutes trying to move a large, heavy, filthy piece of metal that was secured to the ground – Blaine said probably anchored in cement so no one would move them. He even got his tow bar (to tow his camper behind his truck), and used it as leverage to try to pry it out of the ground, while he stomped on the end of it! Not a good idea! What if he’d bent it?!?
Several of our neighbors put up decorations today. 
Happy Halloween Eve! Enjoy the final, campy story!
