31 Oct. 2018 Color has Arrived!

What a difference a week makes! A week ago we drove through the park to Cades Cove and there was very little color. Today we repeated the drive and the colors were beautiful! The reds, browns and yellows covered the hills The leaves were falling off the trees and sparkling in the sun as they fell. They were swirling on the road in the breeze and from the passing cars like a psychedelic painting. It was a beautiful drive. Exactly what we had hoped to see while we were here. Tomorrow we head off to Nashville.

Thanksgiving is when???

25 - 30 Oct. 2018 Girls Weekend!

Leslie and her Mother, sister Cynthia, niece Lauren and Lauren’s 7 month old daughter, Olivia drove to Fredericksburg, TX for a girl’s weekend reunion.  They stayed at a charming B&B Cynthia found. There was no hot water that first night.  Diane was not a happy camper.  A call was made to the office with hopes they’d find the voicemail the next morning and get to work fixing the problem.  By 11am a second call was made and the situation was finally remedied. However, nobody got a bath or shower until that night…not even baby Olivia.  So all women grabbed Olivia’s baby wipes and headed for the bathroom!   It was Saturday and a beautiful day to walk Main Street and go through the many interesting shops.  Fiesta Winery tasting room was open and looked very busy (a good indication it will be a fun experience and the wines are good).  The tasting turned out to be a lot of fun and the wines were pretty good.  After the tasting, everyone bought a few bottles and requested a pink red wine slush for the rest of the walk down Main Street.  Baby Olivia threw a tiger sized fit, inhaling a breath big enough to make the impending scream something no less than legendary. How in the world does a 7 mos old baby notice that all but her are drinking pink drinks and hers is clear water?  Man, she is really smart, crawling, trying to walk and talking simultaneously…at just 7 months! Having stayed up too late chatting, it was a slow start to Sunday.  The day concluded with a visit to the 4.0 Winery and tasting room.  They have Lost Oak wines from the winery in Fort Worth.  Once again the weather was beautiful as wine and a cheese tray were consumed on a wonderful outdoor patio.  Ahhhhh.  Mostly it was an uneventful weekend except for Olivia’s memorable fit.  In this picture, she is just beginning to put 2 and 2 together.  Check out that face!  Being together like this again was incredibly unforgettable and initiating another little family member was truly special. 

Dinner Friday night at the famous Hill Top Cafe

Wine Tasting at Fiesta Winery. Baby getting mad.

Last day in from of our charming B&B

26-28 Oct. 2018 Rainbow Falls

 It was cold and rainy for the last two days, so David did laundry, worked and picked out some hikes for the coming day’s after the rain moves out. Sunday David awoke to a bright sunny day. After driving through the traffic in Gatlinburg, he arrived at the trailhead for Rainbow Falls to find the parking lot full. So he drove down the road a little farther and found an old logging road that he was able to back into with the beast. The trail to Rainbow Falls is 2.7 miles each way. David found the trail muddy and slick. Typical of Smoky Mountain trails, it is up hill for all 2.7miles and then down hill the same distance coming back. The trees are changing faster at the higher altitudes but the wind is also knocking them off the trees quickly. So it was a pleasant hike with the changing leaves on the trees, falling off as you walked and finally the carpet of leaves on the trail. The hike was a bit steeper than expected, but after little more then an hour and a half he came to the falls. The trip back was a bit faster but much harder due to the slippery conditions along with being tired. But it was a fun day. David heard from the Girls. It seems little Olivia (Leslie’s Grand Niece) wants to skip walking and go straight to driving. The girls are having fun shopping, sampling wine, and playing with Olivia.  

Olivia Learning to Drive at 7 months

Rainbow Falls Trail

Leaves changing finally!

A sturdy bridge

One of many falls along the trail

Another waterfall

Rainbow Falls

Close up of Rainbow falls

No climbing!

Best color all day

25 Oct. 2018 Busy day

Leslie packed up and flew back to Texas today for a girl’s weekend out. Leslie, her Mom, Sister, Niece and Grand Niece are headed to Fredricksburg for a weekend of wine tasting, shopping and catching up on Girls stuff. David was left behind to work, wash the RV and take care of Etta. Leslie will tell y’all blog followers about her trip when she gets back.

24 Oct. 2018 Blue Ridge Parkway, TN and NC

Today we decided to drive the southernmost portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Parkway runs along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia for 469 miles to the Great Smoky Mountains NP. The parkway includes over 88,000 acres of land along the parkway and some natural areas. There are hiking trails along the parkway that we did not know about that look like they could be fun. When planning our trip, we had originally thought of setting up outside Shenandoah National Park so we could visit the NP for a few days and then work our way down the Blue Ridge Parkway to Great Smoky Mountains NP. Man are we glad we did not set ourselves up for that route! The Blue Ridge Parkway is a two lane, very narrow blacktop road with hairpin turns, steep grades and most importantly, short twisting tunnels. Many of the tunnels we drove through had one or more turns in them and the height of the tunnel at the edge of the road was less than ten feet tall. The center of the tunnels were taller but with the twisting turns, you could not have driven down the center since you could not see oncoming traffic. With our 13foot 6inch tall Wanderer, we would have been scraping the tunnel walls. 

Leslie drove today, so she had the fun of trying to keep “The Beast” on the road while David got to enjoy the views when not holding on for dear life. It was Leslie’s turn to give David a few scares and get even for Wears Valley Rd! There are lots of pull offs to taken in the beautiful views. At these higher altitudes, there was more leave color than in the lower altitudes of the NP. In another week it should be gourgeous. We drove the Blue Ridge Parkway from its southern most point in the Great Smoky Mountains NP to just outside Ashville, NC (about 60 miles). To get to the parkway, we drove through Great Smoky Mountains NP on US441 (taking the Gatlinbury Bypass) to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. At the top of the New found Gap, we crossed over from Tennassee to North Carolina. North Carolina is the 12th state since we left Texas in June. The Appalachian Trail crosses the road at this point. Seventy miles of the Appalachian trail runs through the park. The stretch of the Appalachian trail that runs through the park is one of the most remote and rugged portion of the trail.We stopped at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center to obtained our Blue Ridge Parkway passport stamp (our18^thPark Stamp). Then it was onto the winding parkway. We stopped at several of the pull offs to admire the beautiful views. We stopped at the Waterrock Knob Visitor center to eat our picnic lunch and walk Etta. By the time we got to Ashville NC, Leslie was tired of the constant turns so we jumped on I-40 to go back to Pigeon Forge. 

State Number 12!

View from Newfound Gap

Appalachian Trail at Newfound Gap

A little color just starting to show

View from the Blue Ridge Parkway. You can see why they are called the Smoky's!

Blue Ridge Parkway. The road is narrow with lots of low hanging trees.

Selfie along the Blue Ridge Parkway

22 Oct. 2018 Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We made our first foray into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We drove through Gatlinburg so Leslie could see what it is like. The sidewalks were packed with people and the traffic crawled through town. It reminded us of Wisconsin Dells with all the tourist traps and junk stores. We decided we would take the bypass from here on out. We made our way to the Sugarlands Visitor Center and collected our17^thPark Stamp. From the visitor center we drove along the Little Rivers Road to Cades Cove and then around Cades Cove. There was a little bit of tree color but not a lot along this lower altitude route. It has been too warm, but the cold snap we are supposed to have in the next several days should kick off the leaves to change color. We saw some wild turkeys along the Cades Cove road (hmmm, how long till Thanksgiving?) and some deer. The traffic wasn’t too bad. With Leslie’s knee still hurting her we choose not to do any hiking. We still have not heard from the doctor. We took the one-way gravel road, Rich Mountain Rd, out of Cades Cove to avoid the traffic. The road was a primitive gravel road but was in good shape so it was a fun drive back. 

Wild Turkeys

21 Oct. 2018 Pigeon Forge, TN

John, Cheryl and Betty came by today to see our new home and hung around for some more visiting. We might have planted a bug in John and Cheryl to get an RV! Betty told David that just after her and John’s father had gotten married, they had lived in a trailer by the college campus, but it was not as nice as ours. 

20 Oct. 2018 Happy Birthday Betty!

We drove over to Maryville to attend Betty Johnston’s, mother of our great friends John and Cheryl Johnston, 90^thbirthday party! Betty is still spry and getting around great! After a delightful party at the country club, we went back to Betty’s home and hung out with them, our great friend Darrel and a few of John’s cousins. Its was great to be able to catch up with our friends that we had not seen in a couple of years. It was even better that we could catch up because of a very happy event! The drive back in the dark was a bit tense. Wear Valley Rd runs along a little creek and for a good portion it is very narrow (particularly with a big dually!), winding, no shoulders and big drop offs to the creek below. David gave Leslie a few scares coming around the corners in the pitch black dark.

Betty Johnston

19 Oct. 2018 Georgetown, KY to Pigeon Forge, TN

We left Georgetown and drove to our new spot just outside Piegion Forge, TN. Tennessee is the 11th state since we left Texas in June. The drive down was uneventful. There were a lot of hills but “The Beast” (our Ford F-350) pulled our Wanderer up them with no problem! Our mileage was even reasonable at 8.1 miles to the gallon. The trees are just starting to show some signs of color. We are staying at Kings Holly Haven RV Resort ($30 a night with Good Sam Discount) off Wears Valley road just outside Pigeon Forge. The site is gravel, full hookups (including cable TV) but only 30amps (Yes we popped the circuit breaker a few times). The site was a back in and very narrow. It took some great guidance from the owner and some back and forth before we got it in the site and the owner had to trim a tree of a few branches to clear our rig. Unfortunately the tree covered our solar panels so I could not count on them to charge the batteries and offload the 115VAC. But the resort is convenient to Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and Great Smoky Mountains NP. It is funny, when we are pulling in with our Wanderer, the people seems to come out of everywhere to watch us get backed in and setup. They have so many questions about our RV and the manufacturer. They come around for days afterwards asking David questions. The salesman at the factory had warned us this would happen because it is such a beautiful RV. RVers love to talk about their rigs and the problems they have had with them.

Some RVers love their seasonal decorations

On the way down, Leslie got hold of a knee doctor in Knoxville and arranged for her records to be transferred there. We were told the office would contact us for an appointment after the doctor had reviewed her records. In other words, hurry up and wait. 

17 Oct. 2018 Lexington, KY

We drove down to Lexington, KY from Georgetown (25 minutes), While in Lexington, we visited the Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s wife, Museum. The Museum is housed in the former Todd home where Mary lived for seven years before moving to Springfield, IL where she eventually meets Abraham Lincoln at a party. The Lincoln family visited the home several times prior to Mary’s Father passing away in the early 1850s. The Museum is the only one in the US dedicated to a single first lady. The Museum contains several personnel items from Mary and also her brothers/sisters and step brothers/sisters. We also visited the estate of Henry Clay. Henry Clay was a very influential politician in Kentucky and Washington DC. Known as the Great Compromiser, he helped broker three compromises to stave off a US Civil war between 1832 and 1851. He was the youngest Speaker of the House and actually helped define the role for those that followed. He ran unsuccessfully for president three times and also served as Secretary of State under President Adams. The mansion on the estate was torn down after his death in 1852 and rebuilt by his son between 1853 and 1855. The wood working in the mansion is incredible! David was so entranced by the woodwork he almost did not listen to the guide during the tour. The estate also has two underground icehouses. During the winter, ice from nearby lakes and rivers, and snow, would be collected and put in these two conical brick icehouses. As the ice melted in the summer, the cold water would be collected and routed to baths in the nearby underground dry cellar where it would be used to cool crocks full of butter and cream! An early refrigerator. This was before the collection of ice for refrigeration was commercialized and became an industry, which lasted until the mid 1900s. The estate also featured a gas works where liquid kerosene would be converted into gas and pumped into the house for the gas lanterns. There is no documentation that shows Henry Clay and Abraham Lincoln ever worked together, but it is known that Mary Lincoln talked frequently with Henry Clay when he was a visitor to the Todd house and that Abraham Lincoln was a great admirer. President Lincoln used quotes from Henry Clay’s speeches in his own speech’s frequently. By this point Leslie’s knee was hurting pretty bad so we headed home to the wanderer. 

Mary Todd's bed for when she was home on the weekends from boarding school

Ice Houses at Ashford Estate (Henry Clays estate)

Mansion at Ashford Henry Clay's estate

16 Oct. 2018 Georgetown, KY

David worked most of the day, but we did get out in the afternoon to historic Georgetown. Georgetown is the birthplace of the American Bourbon. Bourbon is distinguished from whiskey by the two factors. First, it must be distilled from at least 51% corn. Second, it must be aged in virgin white oak barrels. We visited the only remaining distillery in town, Bourbon 30, and sampled their hand crafted, single barrel, bourbons (75% corn based) as well as their Rye whiskey (91% Rye). The Bourbons were very good but their Rye Whiskey was fantastic. We walked away with two bottles. Afterword we walked the tiny downtown area and had dinner at Local Feeds. A restaurant that locally sources all their ingredients. It was excellent. 

Downtown Georgetown

Plaque at the spring where the American Bourbon began

15 Oct. 2018 Canton, OH to Georgetown, KY

We reluctantly pulled out of Canton and drove down to Georgetown, KY. We were in the rain all the way and our once clean Wanderer was covered in road grime. We are staying in the Whispering Hills RV park ($37 per night). It’s a relatively new RV park. The roads are all gravel as are the sites. We have a small grassy area with a picnic table but the sites are pretty close together. The utilities are great but beware, the water pressure is 72lbs so you best have a pressure regulator. 

2-15 Oct. 2018 Canton, OH

Sorry for not posting for the last couple weeks. It has been a busy couple weeks.

We spent most of the last two weeks doing things with our family in the Canton area. We drove down to Carrollton with Veronica to visit her sister Helen and niece Linda and had a great visit. Another day we drove down to Bergholz to visit our Aunt Joyce in the old family house. David’s father’s family is from the Bergholz area and the house in Bergholz has been in the family since the 1940s. There is an old apple tree in the back yard where we always gathered for family visits. The tree predates when the house was purchased by David's grandparents. We think it is at least 80 years old and still hanging in there, if a little worse for wear. Just outside Bergholz are a couple of plaques that commemorate when the town was invaded by the Confederate raiders during the US Civil War.

 

The Old Apple Tree

We also helped our Cousins sort through their Mom and Dad’s storage unit. We mostly provided muscle and moral support. It was a very difficult day for all, but they got it cleaned out. We went for a hike at Brandywine Falls in Cuyahoga Valley NP with our cousin Amy. Unfortunately, Leslie slipped on a rock and tore up her bad knee. She can walk, but it hurts and keeps slipping out of alignment. We hope it will get better with rest. David drove to Washington DC the last week to support an important meeting. It was faster to drive than fly. Our final weekend we had a great dinner with our cousins (Amy, Beth and John), another with David’s Step Brother, Step Sister, Veronica and Cheryl. Our final night we went with Veronica to our favorite Jewish Deli, Corky and Lenny’s! 

Brandywine Falls

24 Sept. – 1 Oct. 2018 Canton, OH

The weather once again got wet, which limited our activities. David had work coming out of his meetings the previous week. But we got out with Veronica several times, helped her with some things around the house, and got out with our Cousins. We celebrated David’s 59^thBirthday by going to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We collected our 16^thPark Stamp at the Boston Store Visitor Center in Boston Mills. The Cuyahoga River was used into the early 1800s to move trade goods. In 1825, they began the building of the Ohio and Erie Canals, which run parallel to the Cuyahoga River for a long distance, and right through the park. Many of the small towns in the park came into existence during the building and running of the canal, which was finished in 1832. The river became the worst polluted river in the US in the early 1900s and actually caught fire and burned for several weeks before the communities along the river started a major effort to clean up the river. They still warn visitors not to swim in the river or eat fish caught in the river. After reviewing the exhibits on the park at the visitor center, we drove over to the Ledges Trail Head and hiked the Ledges Trail (~2 miles). The Ledges are a sandstone and volcanic rock formation with 20-30 foot drop offs. David had hiked this trail once before with his Dad. The ancient rocks mixed with the old trees provided some dramatic backdrops for our pictures. The trees are just starting to change color. On the way back to the Wanderer, we came across a famers market run as a coop by the privately owned farms within the park. We could not help but pick up some fresh fruits and vegetables and admire the variety of pumpkins and gourds for sale. We finished up the day with a wonderful dinner at the Twisted Olive with Veronica. David proclaimed it the best birthday ever. We plan to go up and do some more hiking over the next couple of weeks. 

We spent part of the time working on the Wanderer. We changed out the water filter for the first time and David washed the Wanderer from one end to the other. That’s a lot of RV to wash! Leslie cleaned house and wiped down the extensive woodwork inside (That’s a lot of wood to wipe!) and put things where they belong. 

Ledges Trail

Ledges Trail

Ledges Trail

Farmers Market

Farmers Market