Zoo 2012

July 16, 2008

On the first day of our vacation, dear husband and I decided to drive off without the boys to scout out a lake. It was going to be a long trip and the boys wanted to stay home. It was a good decision. We were going to visit Dale Hollow Lake which is on the KY-TN border and a long way from home. We decided to take a longer route to avoid a few narrow, curvy roads. I still ended up getting carsick twice. It was beautiful country, but boy were we back in the sticks. I thought we lived in the country. The little town we were in did not have cell phone towers. It did not have cable television. It did not have any place to eat! We finally asked around and found a little restaurant and had a so-so cheeseburger. We visited a couple of marinas which I have to say were nice and then we started back home. This is where it gets good.

Many years ago after watching Sergeant York, we looked up Pall Mall on the road atlas. I had mentioned this to dear husband before we left as we were going to be near there. We hit the backroads and our first stop was the cemetery where Alvin C. York is buried. It is across the street from the church he attended. Then we drove to the post office/general store that was owned and operated by York and his sons. The clerk there told us that they had a self-guided tour that began with a movie and asked if we would like to watch it. We watched it in a little section of the general store that resembled a small chapel. We sat in pews and watched the movie.

After browsing in the general store, we left and walked over to the York home. The home is fully furnished and open free of charge to the public. York's son, Andy, is a park ranger and was there the day we visited. The home is beautiful. The dining room was decorated for Christmas. I wondered if they left everything the way it was after York's wife, Gracie, died. We walked through the home looking at all the rooms. There was a very old sun bonnet that belonged to York's mother. After we came back downstairs we talked a long while with York's son. There was a piano in the parlor, but it had a sign that read Do Not Touch. He asked if either of us played the piano, and I told him I did, but that I was rusty. He told me to sit down and play. There I was, sitting in Alvin and Gracie York's parlor, playing You've Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley! If I had thought, I would have played Give Me That Old Time Religion. That is the song that is featured throughout Sergeant York. We didn't visit the grist mill. We are saving that for when we visit again with the boys in the fall. Here are some pix from our trip.



Alvin and Gracie York Gravesite



Gracie York Memorial



Alvin York Memorial



A small flag left by someone



Post Office and General Store



Typewriter and Memorabilia



York Family Dining Room



Tank

You can read about the Sergeant York Foundation HERE.
Alvin York Teacher's Guide and 5th Grade Lesson Plans can be found HERE.
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sergeant York And His People, by Sam Cowan

May 12, 2008

Dear husband and I went fishing last Monday. I caught three large mouth bass and dear husband caught two. He had two to get away; one right at the boat. I reached for my camera when I should have reached for the net! It was a beautiful day. Foggy and cold first, but then sunny and warm. I looked like I was dressed for the antarctic instead of the lake. I had on long johns, jeans, and then dear husband's coveralls. I was also wearing thick mittens that fold back so your fingers can stick out when you fish. My feet got cold, but I didn't open my mouth. I knew if I did, dear husband would make me wear his boots! :-)

I saw several Great Blue Herons and a beaver! In case you are wondering, I caught all my fish on a Yum Wooly Hawgtail (Green Pumpkin). I kid you not...wooly hawgtail. Here are some pix from our trip.



Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam! I always sing this when I see a sunbeam.




Sometimes the fog rolls off the water like a big cloud when the sun comes up.



And sometimes it hovers over the water in wisps and curls.




We found this little waterfall on the bank in a little cove.



I found this on the bank when I had to get out of the boat to stretch my legs. The blossoms were fragrant. I brought one back to the boat with me.



Beautiful purple-lined clover growing on the bank.

March 11, 2008

Our first day back at school went....well....we got through it, but neither of our hearts were in it. Youngest dear son had no desire to do math and the washing machine started leaking, so it was just one of those days. We did get to have pizza for supper, but I have to say the Mia pizzas from Pizza Hut leave a lot to be desired. They are supposed to be a medium one topping pizza, but they looked awfully small for a medium and they had just a skim of cheese and very little pepperoni.

It appears that winter and spring are in a tug of war. Spring is slowly gaining a foothold, but winter is not showing any signs of giving in or giving up. I am rooting for spring. Go, spring, go!

Here are a couple more pix from our Gatlinburg trip. I took these at night, trying not to capture the glare on the windows or the shadows of people passing by. I had tried before on another trip to take these during the day and they turned out awful. These are a little better, but I still need a lot of work in this area.


I really wanted to take more pix in Gatlinburg, but it was so cold and a little man on a bicycle got after me! He kept calling it his motorcycle and he followed me all the way back to the van. I'm pretty sure he was harmless, it's not like he could abduct me on a bicycle, but dear husband wasn't so amused at a strange man following me around. Dear husband had gone to warm up the van and was waiting on me. After that he didn't want me venturing out alone again.

I sure would love to have one of those apples this morning for breakfast.

March 8, 2008

Here are some of the pix from Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies.

I finally got a decent pix of a lionfish. They seemed to be showing off in the tank during this visit.

Aptly named stonefish. He actually looks like he is made out of sand. He always just sits on the bottom of the tank.

And finally a decent pix of a barracuda. He was in the shark tunnel.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

This one's name eludes me at the moment, but he held still long enough to get a clear shot.

March 7, 2008

We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in February with a trip to Gatlinburg alone...just the two of us...without the boys. It was only the second time in our marriage that we spent the night away from them. The first time was several years ago and happened because we got stranded on the interstate and could not get home. We had went to see Indigenous at a concert. They were performing in a little bar in Lexington. We couldn't take the boys and we really wanted to see them again while they were in the area.


My sister came to stay with the boys and we set out on our trip. We didn't have time to eat lunch. We were planning on eating as soon as we picked up our tickets. We were on the interstate when we looked ahead and saw traffic stopping. We turned on the radio and learned that a wreck had shut down the interstate and motorists were being directed to take an alternate route. We had just passed the exit we needed, so we made a U turn in the grass and headed for the other road. We were so hungry. We didn't even have a stick of gum or a tictac. We found the road we needed and although we were hungry, our spirits were high. We went down this road a couple of miles and then we found ourselves stopped in traffic again! We sat and sat and sat....waiting and wondering if we were going to make it on time. We noticed a man sitting on an ATV just ahead of us at the junction of another small road. People were talking to him and then turning onto this road. We found out that we could take this road to get to the concert. I can't remember where it was, but I would love to one day go back and drive on this road again. It was beautiful country. By the time we got to the concert, the first act was already playing and we didn't have time to eat. I called my sister at a pay phone to let her know we had made it and we went into the club.


It was so tiny! The whole place was no bigger than my kitchen and living room. The women's bathroom was so small you had to turn sideways to go through the door. I am not joking! There were only five or six tables so we had to stand. We were starving and we don't drink so we tried to just enjoy the music. The band was so good and we were so close to them. The stage was only about a foot off the ground. They played all our favorites and we were having a really great time until...I started feeling sick. I got really hot and dizzy and sick at my stomach. I tried to fight it off, but I kept feeling worse and worse. My blood sugar had dropped from not eating. When I couldn't take it anymore, I turned to dear husband and told him I was sick. He got me over to the wall and I slid down in the floor. If I hadn't been so sick, I would have been horribly embarrassed. I know everyone thought I was drunk. He got me to my feet and led me to the door. My this time I was passing out. He almost had to carry me to the car. He went next door to a 7-11 and bought me a Sprite and within 20 minutes I was feeling better. I wanted him to take me back to the concert, but he said I needed food so we left and went to get something to eat. I was so mad at myself for getting sick. We learned at the restaurant that the interstate was still shut down! We tried to find a motel room in Lexington, but they were all booked full of stranded motorists. We had to drive north, and we eventually found a room. I called my sister and then we went and bought a toothbrush and a more items to do until we could get back home. By this time, it was very late so we went to bed. It would be several years before we attempted to go anywhere alone again!


Here are some pix from our recent anniversary trip to Gatlinburg. The first ones are of a little town we drove through. I love the first one!



















I'll try to post more pix from our trip tomorrow.

My Favorite Shots From The Trip

I now know this is the barn that was used in the El Pano scenes in the TV series Christy.




Cades Cove at dusk.