Uh, did someone get lost on the way to cart return? Attention, Kroger shoppers!  What in the holy U-Scan is going on here?

I went for a bike ride Sunday afternoon and, since I live very close to the Greenbelt on the west side of Owensboro, I decided to ride down through Jack C. Fisher Park and all the way over to the Joe Ford Nature Center. When I use to run daily, I was on that stretch of the Greenbelt a lot.  Routinely, I would leave my house, run up behind Kroger on Starlite Drive, access the Greenbelt at Parrish Avenue, run down through the park and then onto the nature center and back. That was a solid 5-mile run. It was a great workout with great scenery.

Over the weekend, I didn't run it. Like I mentioned, I biked it. That portion of the Greenbelt was pretty much the way I remembered it. There's a really cool bridge that runs parallel with the bypass just off Parrish. Granted, the creek underneath it isn't the most attractive body of water in the county and the smell of it will sometimes make your nose hairs curl. Jack C. Fisher Park was packed. As usual, there was some sort of youth baseball tournament underway and I could hear the sounds of balls being thwacked by bats and the cheering from the stands.

And, that portion of the Greenbelt that runs from West 5th Street Road to the GRADD building parking lot on 4th Street was, as usual, shady and a touch scary. If you've ever walked, run or biked that section, you never know when you're going to see a snake sunbathing on the path or slithering out from the creek bank to feed on an innocent. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but that's always what I fear in my head- being eaten by a snake on the Greenbelt.

For all the usual fare, I did pedal across something very unexpected on the trail.  These!

Chad Benefield
Chad Benefield
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WTH? I don't believe this is the proper cart return. And, besides, this section of the Greenbelt is probably a mile and a half from the Kroger parking lot.

Chad Benefield
Chad Benefield
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There was this random section of the Greenbelt with several (maybe 7?) grocery carts from Kroger shoved up along the fence lines on both sides of the path.

Chad Benefield
Chad Benefield
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Uh, why?  Where did these come from and how did they get all the way over here? Did a cart collector at Kroger get disoriented when he/she was performing the nightly cart return?  Is this why I sometimes have difficulty finding a cart inside the store?

This is quite the random cart collection.

Chad Benefield
Chad Benefield
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As you can see, the one on the left in the photo above still had a weekly ad in it. I should have checked out this week's deals.  I would have ridden my bike ride back to Kroger if the deals were good enough.

Like a seasoned detective, I looked around to see if there was any indication or hint as to why the carts were there. However, I noticed nothing- except for the carts, a rabbit and a squirrel. I'm pretty sure the rabbit and the squirrel are innocent.

So, why in the name of digital coupons are there Kroger shopping carts scattered along the Greenbelt?

 

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