Hoosier National Forest / Lexington Kentucky - October 2009

Sisters of St. Benedict Monastery

Hoosier National forest, in the central part of southern Indiana, was a beautiful surprise. I didn’t know much about the park before stopping there, but was captivated by its beautiful waterfalls, gorgeous rock formations, and mossy forests. I wish I’d had time to stay and do more hiking.

Right near the park was the amazing architecture of the Sisters of St. Benedict Monastery – I am not a religious person but I really love and appreciate the beauty of structures like this. We had a very nice tour – if you’re ever in the area and enjoy old churches and beautiful buildings, check this one out!

After passing through Hoosier, we visited friends in Lexington, Kentucky and had a tour of the world famous Kentucky Horse Park.

Kimahri and I resting in a beautiful natural cave in Hoosier.	A standardbred being put through its paces at the Kentucky horse park.	A silly glamour shot of our car, “Smith” the Pontiac Vibe in Hoosier.

An amusing sign we saw on the back of a semi. Good stuff.	Kimahri posing regally in the fall leaves at Hoosier.	An artistic shot of some of the stained glass at the monastery.	The hike of Hemlock Cliffs at Hoosier is full of beautiful surprises.
Our friend contemplates one of the standardbreds, nose to nose.	A meet and greet with the horse show horses and their owners.	We were lucky to get a tour of the University of Kentucky animal cognition lab from a good friend, Holly.	Holly introducing us to one of the research pigeons. It was amazing the sheer range of personalities in the birds!
I love draft horses. It was really neat to get to meet both horses and their keepers at the park.	One of Holly’s dogs showing us one method for dog cognition research. She touches the screen with her nose to ‘select’ an item!	Another beautiful horse at the parade of breeds.