Archive for the ‘Travels’ Category

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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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Turtle Rocks

March 4, 2010

Turtle Rocks at Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas. February 24, 2010.

When Betsy and I visited Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas last week, we hiked a couple of trails which were new for us.  One of the trails was Rock House Trail, which is fairly short, but did lead us through the “Turtle Rocks” shown above.

“Turtle rocks” are mounded structures resembling a turtle shell which have been carved in thick sandstones.  Turtle Rocks are found only in Hartshorne Sandstone, which is found at several locations in the Arkansas River Valley.

It’s not known how the “turtle rocks” were created, but they are certainly are interesting.

Can you see the turtles through the trees?

As we followed another trail we spotted on “turtle” on another, as shown in the picture above.

The “Turtle Rocks” of Petit Jean certainly added to our day at the park.

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Home From Arkansas

March 1, 2010

Betsy awaiting the sunset outside our cabin on Mount Nebo. February 23, 2010.

It’s nice to be home.

Betsy and I had a wonderful few days in Arkansas.  It  is difficult to decide on a single high point for our time there.  We was the sun (something we still haven’t been able to do in Tennessee), beautiful waterfalls, glorious sunrises, majestic sunsets, and fascinating rock formations.

We stayed at our favorite cabin in Mount Nebo State Park.  In late February the sun sets directly opposite the back deck.  We did have to go to the other side of the mountain to see the sunrise, but even that was definitely worth while.

Although we stayed at Mount Nebo, we also visited Mount Magazine and Petit Jean, two other nearby state parks.  We had been to each before, but we managed to see something new in each park.

We had thought we would return to Garvan Gardens on our way to Nebo to enjoy the spring flowers, but the cold weather had delayed most of the flowers, so we decided to check out some waterfalls in the Ouachita Mountains.  We had not been in that region before, and enjoyed seeing new sights and visiting new waterfalls.

Since both of us have new cameras you can imagine the number of pictures we took  (then again, maybe you can’t!).  We’ll share some of those with you in the days ahead.

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Little River Canyon

February 18, 2010

Little River Canyon, Fort Payne, Alabama. February 14, 2010.

Little River is one of the country’s longest rivers that forms and flows for most of it’s length along the top of a mountain.  The river begins about 1900 feet above sea level on Lookout Mountain and ends at 650 above sea level at Weiss Lake.  This results in one of the most extensive canyon and gorge systems in the eastern United States containing one of the South’s clearest, wildest waterways.

Canyon Rim Drive follows the western rim of Little River Canyon for the final 11 miles of the river’s length.  There are several overlooks along the route which give wonderful views of waterfalls, rapids, canyon walls, trees, plants and birds.  At one overlook we even spotted some kayakers down in the canyon below.

I think the Little River Canyon would be beautiful any time of the year, but the water flow can be quite low during the summer months.  But if you are near Fort Payne, Alabama, I think you would enjoy Canyon Rim Drive any time of the year.

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Betsy and I took advantage of a break in the weather to go to Hendersonville to check in on my parents.  Both of my parents were in good spirits and we were able to help them with a couple of problems they’ve been having around the house.  But the most amazing thing for us was that once we got off the Plateau there was no snow to be seen!  However we came back home to snowy reality.  In fact it is snowing as I write this on Wednesday night (enough already!!!).

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I’m grateful for all the beauty of this world — in both nature and in people.

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