Archive for the ‘Travels’ Category

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Meeting New Old Friends

October 25, 2010

Patti and Neal at Cataloochee Valley, North Carolina. October 20, 2010.

Both Betsy and I have been following Neal’s blog (and he’s been following ours) for nearly two years.  Neal is a retired systems analyst living in Indiana, although he was born in eastern Tennessee.  Neal is a wonderful photographer and features his photos on his blog.  Neal is also my hero — he’s not afraid to tell Betsy exactly what he thinks!

When Neal found out that Betsy and I were going to Maggie Valley to see the autumn colors, he decided that he and Patti would like to do that as well.  The four of us met up Tuesday evening and had a delightful dinner.  It was as if we had known each other for years.

On Wednesday the four of us visited the Cataloochee Valley to see the elk which had been reintroduced there.  We then drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mount Pisgah, stopping at just about every overlook to take in the colors.  I won’t frighten you by telling you how many pictures Betsy and I took over the three days.

Betsy, Patti and Neal at the highest point of the Blue Ridge Parkway. October 20, 2010.

Thursday we drove across the Cherohala Skyway from North Carolina to Tennessee, again enjoying the autumn color.  After visiting Bald River Falls near Tellico Plains, Tennessee, Betsy and I headed home while Neal and Patti headed toward a visit with Neal’s brother.

Patti and Neal taking pictures at Santeelah Overlook, Cherohala Skyway, North Carolina. October 21, 2010.

We enjoyed our time with Patti and Neal, even if this is the view of them we often saw!

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Down Memory Lane: Tallulah Gorge

October 14, 2010

One of our favorite places to visit is Tallulah Gorge State Park in Georgia.  It’s a spectacular river gorge with five major waterfalls.  A dam just above the gorge controls the flow of water throughout much of the year, but the river and waterfalls are still beautiful.

There are trails along both the north and south rim of the gorge.  The Interpretive Center is on the north side of the gorge, but in our opinion the best views of the falls are on the south side.

Most of the waterfalls can only be viewed from the rim trails, but one, Hurricane Falls, can be seen from near the base, if you’re brave enough to tackle 600 steps down into the gorge (and 600 back up).

These pictures were taken during our first visit to Tallulah Gorge in June, 2009.  At that time we weren’t aware of the South Rim Trail, but we did hike the North Rim and take those steps down into the gorge and back up.

To see these pictures and others, click HERE.

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Down Memory Lane: Blue Ridge Parkway

September 30, 2010

On our way home from Williamsburg, Virginia, in 2007 we traveled part of the way along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We chose that route so that we could visit some waterfalls along the way.

Summer is not a great time for waterfalls, especially if they are small and there hasn’t been much rain.  But the drive along the Blue Ridge is beautiful any time of the year and the hikes to the falls were through beautiful woods and along pretty streams.

It may have taken us longer to get home by taking this route, but it certainly made the trip more enjoyable.

To see these pictures and others, click HERE.

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Our Smokies Adventure

September 13, 2010

The track of our trip to the Smokies. September 9, 2010.

I’ve mentioned our GPS unit several times and have talked about how much we like it.  This past Thursday we got a lesson in how much we rely on it.

Our GPS got recalled by Garmin, and we sent it in to be repaired a couple of weeks ago.  So when we went to the Smokies on Thursday we didn’t have it.  We were going to drive Rich Mountain Road, a road we had never taken before.  But we knew it was a primitive, one-way road out of Cades Cove, a place we’ve visited several times.  The sign at the entrance to the road said it went to Townsend, a place we’ve been to many times, so off we went.  I did have my geotagger with us, but that only showed (after the fact) where we had been, not where we were going.

We had no problems in the park.  After leaving the park the road became paved and two-way.  When we came to a four-way stop, we knew we were back to civilization.

That’s when the fun began.  We came to a ‘T’ intersection with no signs.  We figured we were west of Townsend, so we turned right.  A little later we came to a ‘Y’.  The right branch looked like the main road, so we took it.  We drove along enjoying the scenery — and eventually we arrived back at the four-way stop.

Trying to find our way home. September 9, 2010.

We tried again.  This time we took the left branch at the ‘Y’.  That led to more beautiful scenery — and a dead-end!  We turned around and followed the road in the other direction.  Eventually it led to the highway that got us on our way back home.

After all of this ‘fun’, we were delighted to get home and find a package on our doorstep.  Inside the package was our GPS!  We wasted no time getting it put back into our car.

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Down Memory Lane: Ledford Mill

September 9, 2010

Betsy and I did some waterfalling on Valentine’s Day back in 2009.  We didn’t stray out of our part of Tennessee, but we still saw several new waterfalls.  Two of those waterfalls were at Ledford Mill, in Wartrace (near Tullahoma), Tennessee.

Ledford Mill is a historic  gristmill at the head of Shipman’s Creek.  It was built in 1884 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.  Several years ago it was converted into a 3-room bread and breakfast.

One of the rooms, the Falls Room, opens to a garden that contains two waterfalls, Ledford Mill Falls and Pond Falls.  While neither waterfall is especially large, the garden is very pleasant.  Although we didn’t spend the night at the mill, the owners graciously allowed us to visit the garden and the waterfalls.

To see these pictures and others, click HERE.

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Down Memory Lane: The Smokies in the Spring

August 26, 2010

My Beautiful Bride is a mountain girl at heart and is one reason she moved to Tennessee from Texas back in 2000.  (I’m glad she did!).  In May, 2001, we visited the Great Smoky Mountains for the first time.  Betsy had been there many times before, but I had only driven through it once.

We spent a weekend exploring Cades Cove, Little River Road and Newfound Gap.  We also added a waterfall — Meigs Falls — to the collection we had just started.  We were even able to experience some good mountain music at the lodge at which we stayed.

We’ve been back to the Smokies many times since then — it’s much more convenient to get there now that we live in the Glade.  But this first trip in May, 2001, was — and still is — very special.

To see these pictures and others, click HERE.

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Down Memory Lane: Fort Erie

July 29, 2010

Betsy and I went to Niagara Falls in 2002.  We stayed on the Canadian side of the border, and in addition to visiting the falls we also visited some of the historical sites in the area.

Fort Erie is across the Niagara River from Buffalo, New York.  It was part of the British fortification system along the river and served as a British supply base during the War of 1812.  During that war the Americans captured Fort Erie twice, but withdrew back across the river each time.  When the Americans abandoned the fort the second time they destroyed it, but the fort was rebuilt by the British after the war.

To see these pictures and others, click HERE.

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A most unusual event occurred in the Glade yesterday afternoon — it rained.  It’s been several weeks since we’ve had a good rain fall.  As I write this over an inch of rain has fallen since it started.  Our lawn may actually turn green again.

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Down Memory Lane: Mount Nebo (2009)

June 21, 2010

Scenes from our visit to Mount Nebo, Arkansas. March, 2009.

If you have visited here for any length of time (or have visited Betsy’s blog) you have heard us speak of Mount Nebo in Arkansas.  Betsy knew of this place before we met, so she gets all the credit for introducing me to it.

Mount Nebo State Park is atop Mount Nebo, near Dardanelle, Arkansas.  The mountain rises about 1800 feet above the floor of the Arkansas River valley and offers wonderful views in just about every direction.  Sunrises and Sunsets are simply spectacular.

The park has rustic cabins, most built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.  We have our own favorite cabin perched on the edge of the mountaintop with a wonderful view of the valley below.  We can enjoy beautiful sunsets without leaving the deck of the cabin.

The park also has several miles of hiking trails and a couple of nice waterfalls.  So you can understand why we enjoy going there so much.

The picture in the collage above were taken in March, 2009, while visiting Mount Nebo to celebrate my birthday.  We had an ice storm while we were there, so that gave us a great excuse just to relax and enjoy the fireplace in the cabin.  We weren’t going to let a little thing like ice mess up our vacation!

To see these pictures and others, click HERE.

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A Visit to Mount Magazine

May 27, 2010

I’m not sure where all the time goes.  It seems as if I just get started on something when the late news and weather is over and it’s time to go to bed.  The weather has been great — the weeds in the flower beds are growing like crazy!

Since I have been running out of time each day, I have gone to the archives to make this collage from our visit to Mount Magazine in Arkansas in 2009.  Mount Magazine is the highest point in Arkansas and contains some wonderful views, waterfalls and hiking trails.  It also has a great restaurant.  Betsy and I have spent the day at Mount Magazine on every Arkansas visit for the past three or four years.

To see these pictures and others, click HERE.

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Please keep Betsy in your prayers.  She has been having a great deal of pain with her left knee and finds it hard to put any weight on it at all.  We’ve been to a couple of doctors and she will have an MRI later this afternoon.  Hopefully the MRI will give the orthopedic surgeon some answers.

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Down Memory Lane: November, 2001

March 8, 2010

Scenes from November, 2001.

Several weeks ago I came across a folder of pictures taken back in November, 2001.  That was the first November that Betsy and I were together.  It was also the first November that Betsy had been in Tennessee after several years in Louisiana and Texas, so she was still going ‘ga-ga’ over every bit of autumn color of she saw.

The highlight of the month was a trip we made to Saint Augustine, Florida, to see Betsy’s brother, Ray, and his wife Evelyn.  We went out for Thanksgiving dinner and were joined by Betsy’s son, Bert, and her grandson, Chris.

Ray and Evelyn gave us a tour of Saint Augustine while we were down there.  We visited the lighthouse as well as Ray and Evelyn’s church.  While at the the church Betsy practiced her preaching style from the pulpit.  It’s too bad there were only three of us in the congregation!

To see these pictures and others, click HERE.

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My sweet bride is ‘kidnapping’ me for a few days to celebrate my birthday.  She hasn’t told me where we are going, but I suspect our trip might involve some waterfalls.  I don’t know how often we’ll have internet connections, but I’ll try to visit with my iPod whenever I can.

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