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Just a Litter Picker Upper, Bowling Green, KY (2026)

05/15/2026

It’s definitely been a busy week/month, but I didn’t wanna wait any longer to post about Sunday! I have a couple other adventures to catch up on, but I’ll get there! Have you be belated Mother’s Day, to all the mothers and caregivers out there! I had a really great Mother’s Day this year, with my boys, well they are adults-21 & 19 but they will always be my boys! 💜💜 We went to owensboro and watched Michael, which was pretty good, but I can’t wait to see more, and then, since we had a little time, we stopped near Cromwell because I wanted to check out a spot to possibly kayak and see what type of put in or takeout situation there would be. Well, just like most places, we found plenty of trash, but it was quite a beautiful little area and the green river is def wider around this area. I had brought two bags from the car, but that wasn’t enough to get even some of the surface level trash. Sometimes it really is disappointing how much trash people leave around sometimes! There were three mattresses left at the bottom of the boat ramp, which obviously we couldn’t get, but we did collect about 10 bags worth of trash that day. And while they are, unfortunately not as enthusiastic as Whitney‘s girls, they knew not to complain on Mother’s Day, and were very helpful and carried all of the bags for me! I don’t have many photos, but we did meet a man that was cleaning his boat after he got it out of the water and his name was Perry. He thanked us for what we were doing and said that he’s never seen anyone cleaning up around that area. My younger son asked him to take a photo of us and I asked him if he was on Facebook and he was, so I gave him the first sticker that my husband ordered for me! hopefully he finds us and starts to follow the movement! it was a great day, and I was very surprised and thankful for the stickers that my husband had ordered for me!

04/25/2026

Give it just a second and you will see a beautiful blue heron take flight! Seen during kayak and lifter adventure at Nolin River, Ky on earth day! Stay tuned for river otter video!

04/23/2026

What a beautiful and wonderful Earth Day! I got the privilege of being off of work, unexpectedly and since the weather looked
so nice, I got in touch with my cousin, and thankfully, she was available to spend the day together! We met at Nolin river, KY and started our kayak journey at White Mills. We got one bag of trash in the parking lot, before leaving, but it was quite clean because I’m pretty sure Whitney/ Sun KYst sticks and stones has been there recently, if my memory is working! We saw so much wildlife, including 6 to 8 deer (at 2 different spots), most of them walking across the river but 1 was just sitting and chilling and laying down, behind a dead tree. We saw at least two blue herons, and I got a great video of one flying off. I will post that later. And of course, we saw some turtles and thankfully no snakes, but we also saw at least one river otter/beaver! He/she was trying to climb up the side of the river, esp once he/she saw us, but couldn’t accomplish that, so he/she got in the water and just started swimming along the bank! I got a pretty cool Video! We/my cousin found 1 old-school pop top lid and also an old Pepsi free can-we found out those began production in 1982 and were made more famous by the back to the future movie because it was in the movie and was the first caffeine free soda, from my understanding. We found lots and lots of glass, some which was very disguised and looked like rocks so I’m assuming they were very old. and some were very very old looking pieces that had textures and some still had words! I was also able to get a piece of metal, 2 full plates, 3-4 mostly intact, if not fully intact glass bottles and 2-3 cans and 2 plates, from under the water, while we were floating! My skills are getting a little bit better lol and thankfully, my knee keeps getting better also! I’m still wearing the compression sleeve, especially when I’m active but I think it’s more of a confidence thing but it definitely helps me continue to get out and about and help our planet and help Whitney meet the Earth Day/Bearthday goal! Overall, we were able to remove 22 bags worth of trash from Nolin River today! What a great number for a great day! We believe In A Cleaner Kentucky!

04/22/2026

First, Happy Bearthday and Earth Day to my wonderful and inspiring friend, Whitney/ Sun Kyst Sticks and Stones, my friend! 40 Sun KYst sticks and stonesng toA Cleaner Kentuckyall the bag totals from the adventures in April so that all of the totals can be added for the Earth Day challenge with Sun KYst sticks and stones and A Cleaner Kentucky! On April 3rd, a friend and I are headed out to one of our favorite kayaking spots on Drakes Creek, Ky. It was a really nice float, and the water was at a great level, and the magical spot was wonderful, as always! And I love the sound and sights of the water dripping down from the rocks! So relaxing! We didn’t make a lot of stops, but on the stops we made, we didn’t find a ton of trash, which I think is progress. We got started a little later than normal and forgot that the sun sets earlier in early April, so we finished and we’re packing up right at dusk/dark so didn’t get photos of all of the trash and what I got was not a great photo. I got some trash before we launched but most during the float, including a 4ish foot long swiffer/mop or some sort of handle that was a good walking stick up the hill at the take out-I can tell that I’m definitely still building strength because I don’t remember that hill being so rough last year! Lol-also found a piece of metal that got put in the bag, some really nasty smelling neon green night crawlers in a container that was left, lots of glass (but I also found several big intact bottles so I get very excited when I see glass bottles intact because I know I won’t be cleaning up 10,000 pieces later from those bottles!), and I even kept a few cool, smooth pieces of glass, found a few cans, and at the very end, an old school pop top! All together, we got 7 bags of trash that day. On the 11th, another friend and I took a kayaking trip in Barren River in Bowling Green! I got a life jacket and few small items at the beginning before we started. We found so much glass in the rock beds where we stopped and we only stopped at 2 rock beds but that is heavy trash! And we also got a paint roller, some plastic jugs that weren’t too heavy/were able to be opened and emptied and some old cans! Few more random items at take out also! All in all, 15 bags that day! On the 13th, husband and I set out on a drive and wanted to go to one of our favorite spots on Drakes Creek that we hadn’t been to in a while, but unfortunately, there were a lot of people there, so we decided to drive a little longer and stop at another spot. I’m thankful that we stopped there because there was definitely plenty of trash after the weekend. For some reason, I didn’t end up taking any photos that day, of anything, but husband got a picture of me picking up some trash and some pictures of some flowers! We removed 7 bags that day and pretty much all of it was new trash, but I think that is progress after a nice weekend with lots of visitors because it’s a pretty popular spot! On the 16th, I had a little break at work so I headed out to barren river take out spot, to check water levels and of course there was some trash so I had to pick it up! I just got one full bag once again, I think it’s progress! I also met a girl at the boat ramp and she and a man were getting the boat out and she talked about disliking seeing litter around, so I told her about a cleaner ky. Hopefully she checks it out! Yesterday, the 20th, husband and I decided to go spend a little time in nature and thankfully, we were able to go to our favorite spot on Drakes Creek and cleanup. It’s the spot we had tried to go to earlier in the month but had too many people! I had some of the tools that I needed to clean up a lot of the metal and things in the fire pits so I got to work on that! There was one fire pit that I didn’t get to, but I think I got almost all of the metal and crazy looking glass and other trash out of 2 of the 3 for pits that had burned things with nails/metal, glass, aluminum, etc! We cleaned up a lot of the other areas at that spot as well, and wow, most things we found were pretty typical, unfortunately, I found a diaper, three tampon applicators, and a condom, along with the condoms packaging. I literally found three of the grossest things, all in one day! Early in the day, I was trying to get glass out of dirt and accidentally cut my finger, so I made sure to clean it up quickly and put antibiotic ointment on it and cover it up since I knew I would be working in the fire pits later. And I learned my lesson and made sure to use gloves on glass after that. But we were able to remove quite a bit of trash overall yesterday which totaled up to about 20 bags. Most of it was pretty new trash, but I did find some old school cans! It definitely seems like that there is progress being made in the spot also because we used to be able to get 25 to 30 bags easily and we counted all of the metal and glass as several bags, due to how long it took, how heavy it was and just how much it was! And my husband also picked up a bags worth of trash in the baseball parking lot in Lanesville, Indiana, where we watched our nephew play Little League so make that 21 bags. that brings my total for the year to 228 bags! A lot less than last year, but that’s not the point. I’m just glad I’m able to get back out more and see progress in these places, which also means I need to start visiting new places also! I love to explore this beautiful state! I believe in A Cleaner KY! And I believe we will hit the 1 million bag goal tomorrow/on Earth Day/on Whitney‘s 40th birthday! So proud of her and everyone involved in this, even if it’s just giving positive support on Facebook!
#acleanerky

04/18/2026

Bald eagle landing in nest and flying. Green River, KY March 2026 kayak and litter adventure! Sorry about to extra “background”/talking noise! Follow me for more like this!
Lynn Camp Launch

04/18/2026

Soothing sounds from 300 springs on Green River, KY! Litter and kayak adventure with friend and cousin, March 2026!

Lynn Camp Launch

04/17/2026

Ok going to work on some more catching up on posting for March so it may be a little long, but I want to make sure all bags picked up are added to the Earth Day challenge with A Cleaner KY! It’s been a lighter year for me but I’m getting back to it and am so happy! I took it easy and tested my knee slowly, so that hopefully I won’t ever have the same issue again! 🤞🏼 So my first outing was a drive with my son’s girlfriend! I wanted to show her some beautiful places and continue getting to know her and although we only got out of the car once, we had a good time and she and my son keep telling me that I have to take them kayaking this summer! I will do that and show them how to clean up! We got 1 bag at the Plano bridge rd/drakes creek! It wasn’t much, but it was all on level ground, so I felt like it was OK! On March 14, I had a little break at work so I stopped at Barren River for a few and got 3 bags and a metal pole! On the 21st, with permission from my doctor and the knowledge that it would be an easy put in and takeout, a friend and I are headed out to Barren River Lake, to do a little floating, cleaning up and testing the knee! besides all the dead fish in the lake, which was apparently normal, after our weather this year and last year, but low-key had us freaked out a little bit because there were so many dead fish, we had a great day and were able to remove the 14 bags of trash! Lots of glass and a few cans along with a few of them being old-school, but definitely a little bit heavy trash including most of a car headlight or what looked like a car headlight?! 🤷🏻‍♀️ I forgot to take a photo of one of the full Menards bags! She is an amazing friend and has been amazing support and help through all of this! On the23rd, husband and I went to one of our favorite spots on Drakes Creek, and because the weather had been nice, I figured there had been a bunch of people there over the weekend and it would need cleaning. And I was correct! We got 12 bags of trash that day, including part of a shovel and part of a chair! And then, somehow, I happened to have a random Wednesday off, on the 25th, so husband and I decided to head out to our favorite spot on Rough River Lake and do some cleaning! This is one of those spots where there are still so many of the old School cans and lids, along with the random shoes, of course and husband found several pairs of sunglasses, and there was so much glass and the typical plastic bottles and other lake trash! I hope to get back down there and kayak, before the water level goes up, so I can clean up across the cove! We got 25 bags worth of trash thaLynn Camp Launchul for him to carry the heavy stuff! I’m so proud of the knee and body for being OK and continuing to get better! And then on the 29th, I was lucky enough to get to meet my cousin and my friend again at Lynn Camp Launch (I highly recommend when the water level is right!) to float 9 miles on the green river! 2 days prior, the water levels were 2 feet above normal, so we figured we would be good, but it was at normal level by the time we got there, but it’s all good! Took a little more energy than we thought and I was definitely wore out, but the springs were amazing as always and we got to see the eagle nest and even watch the eagle land in its nest with the babies. I’ll post that video later since I cannot post videos and photos together. We didn’t make too many stops because obviously there’s not near as much daylight at the end of March as there is in the summer, but we had a great time and were able to get 4 bags of trash that day! I’m not sure if there is less trash or we just happened to stop at the rock beds with not much trash, but it definitely seemed to cleaner than it did last year. i’m hoping it’s cleaner but maybe we just didn’t see the really trash filled rock beds?? I filled almost a whole bag up before we launched. and on the 31st, I picked up 4 bags of trash at my office, including a big box! It was a mess and I’m guessing some of this is due to the wind?! Idk but felt good to not see the trash all around when I was done! Thanks for everyone for all the support and for reading this extra long post and hope you enjoy the photos!

04/10/2026

Thanks for your patience! I thought January was a rough month, but the last 6 weeks or so have definitely tested me and worked to teach me lessons in patience and healing and I’m sure other things! And I feel incredibly grateful that things with my knee were not worse and that it continues to mostly heal! As those of us know, that are at least in our mid 30s and older, the body just doesn’t work or heal the way that it did when we were younger! Lol
Anyway, I just wanted to do some catching up on some of the adventures that I had in February, before my knee decided to go crazy! All of this clean up was from KY! I believe in A Cleaner Kentucky! On the 9th, I went to one of my favorite places on Drakes Creek. It’s so open and there are many places to explore, but the only downside is that this is the place where people party but worse, where pallets get burned and there were several fire pits! I didn’t have the tools with me to clean up the small metal, nails and debris, but I did use my grabby stick to get what I could safely out of the fire pits, including 1 fire pit that somehow had several glass bottle pieces melted together, and unfortunately, a point on the end that made my pinky bleed way more than one would think a pinky should bleed, especially when there was no mark left. I haven’t been out there since early February, so I can imagine it definitely needs some cleaning and hopefully I’ll be able to get out there soon! that day I got 15 bags worth of trash and barely touched the main trash from bad things burning in fire pits! On the 12th of February, I was noticing a lot of debris and trash in our parking lot at work, so when I had a little break, I picked up a couple of bags worth of trash. I got out for a little bit on the 14th, even though it was Valentine’s Day, but I knew bad weather was coming, so I wanted to at least enjoy the sun. I wasn’t sure if I was just going to drive or what, but i’m really glad I got out and did what I did that day because it was kind of special to meet and make some new friends. I had to stop at the first bridge on Drakes Creek that I got to. There was quite a bit of trash in the bushes and around that area so cleaned that up. Then I drove to another area on Drakes and cleaned that up and some along the road leading to the creek! While I was cleaning up, a young man asked me what I had been hunting for and was surprised to find out it was just trash! Lol That’s not the first time but many people think I’m hunting mushrooms, but I don’t know a thing about that! Then, as I was about to leave and just clean up a little bit more, I ran into a lovely woman named Rachel and her three children. A little boy quickly gifted me with two white shells and then a big rock! The little girl had a tear in her plastic bag and had lost some of her treasures, so I asked her if she wanted me to give her another bag and she did. They were sweet and I am very appreciative of the treasures! The mom and I spoke for a while and talked about how wonderful the nature is in Kentucky. And while She is newer to Kentucky, and has lived other places/states, I could tell that she enjoyed what she had seen so far and was eager to learn about more beautiful places in our state! It was a pleasure to meet her and her children! Rachel, I hope to see you on Facebook and if you want more info on some great places in Kentucky, check out my page or feel free to just message me on messenger! It was great to meet you and your wonderful children that day! I wish I could have posted about this earlier! I was able to remove 11 bags of trash that day. and then on February 16th, I ventured to Green River Lake. My son attends Lindsey Wilson University, so I just “had” to take him some things which meant I “had” to go to the lake and clean up! Lol I started at one of the roads that leads to a wonderful part of the lake and cleaned up what I could without getting too muddy and worked to assess whether or not I would be able to kayak. I decided it was good enough to kayak so after collecting that trash, I went to Holmes Bend. It was much more windy there, so I cleaned up for a little while before getting the courage to put my kayak in the water! it was a pretty great float, except that for about 20-30% of the float, there was some sort of green film on the water, so I chose not to get as much trash as I could in those areas. All in all, I got 28 bags of trash that day! And that was my last adventure, for several weeks. That brought my total to 115 bags for the year. Last year, I had over 300 bags by the end of February, but Kentucky weather is very unpredictable! hopefully, I can start posting more consistently and can catch everyone up because thankfully, I’ve been able to have several adventures over the last few weeks. Still building up strength, but I’m getting back out there! Thanks again for everyone’s support! I truly appreciate it!

03/06/2026

So update on the knee. I saw my doctor on Monday and while I didn’t get all the information, I feel like he did a very thorough job in working to figure out what was going on. So, because I had ran a fever off and on during this process (some just low-grade, but it got up to almost 103 at one point, but kept coming down for the most part), they swabbed me/my nose for all the things and i got a shot of Rocephin in each butt cheek, just to be on the safe side. My doctor seemed to be worried that since I didn’t have any other symptoms and the knee stuff had come on so quickly, and escalated suddenly, & seemingly without any injury, that possibly some sort of infection had set up in my knee. so then my doctor drained 25 to 30 cc worth of fluid off of my knee (after numbing it well, of course)! And then I was just basically told to rest, ice, use compression, but not the splint that the ER gave, that he said was basically going to atrophy my leg very quickly, so I switched to an ace bandage and kept my knee as elevated as possible. I found out over the last two days that everything is negative so I’m very thankful that some sort of infection didn’t set up in my knee. I guess I either injured it and had no idea about it or did it in my sleep or who knows?! But theoretically, as long as the swelling continues to go down and things continue to get better, then I can get off of the crutches and start to slowly ease back into things! I think the worst part of this, besides the worry about infection and pain and feeling a little incompetent on crutches, was that I missed so much time out in nature with so much good weather. A friend and I had planned to kayak last Saturday, but my body had other plans! I’ve worked to stay in mostly good spirits about it all and know that everything is happening exactly as it should, but I’ve also had my moments where I’ve been extremely disappointed about not being able to get out and about like I had planned and want to do. But as we all know, life makes its own plans & our job is to figure out how to deal with it all. Thanks so much to everyone for all of your kind words, prayers, positive vibes, and overall support! It truly is appreciated! And I hope I have cross posted/shared this with all of the original groups that I posted to. Still not great with technology! And I’ll eventually post some of my February adventures, before all of this craziness happened!
And I’ll leave you with some nature photos!

02/28/2026

Well, as much as I have been looking forward to the weather for yesterday and today and had plans to kayak with a friend today, life decided it was really going to get in the way. For some reason, my knee started swelling on Thursday, but I could still walk on it but by yesterday morning, it was way worse so I went to the ER, got a huge splint that goes from my ankle to my thigh and we’ll see what the doctor says on Monday. I literally didn’t even do anything to it, that I remember or know of, but this is definitely one of the most painful things I’ve ever been through! And it’s def not something that can be planned for?! Maybe I can get caught up on some posting, from other adventures in February! and I’ll be back out, as soon as I can, safely!

Just a Litter Picker Upper

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