Winter in Florida

Several people have contacted us, asking about our journey.  There are many things I want to write about, but little I can share while protecting Pat's privacy.  For now, just know that we're in Florida for the winter and hope to get back on the road in the next couple months.  Our first trips will be short, but we hope each one will increase in duration.

As Pat's needs settle down, I'll be able to get involved in other things and will begin posting again.

Thanks for your support and love.

Day #261 – Worries About Pat

Gatlinburg TN

Kelly and I are a bit worried about her mother, Pat.  If you’ve read earlier blog entries, you’ll remember that she has bi-polar disorder.  And, about 15 years ago, she had a brain aneurysm.  As a result, she has some difficulty in solving problems, making decisions, and analyzing situations.

Pat has been complaining of bilateral shoulder pain since early May.  We’ve encouraged her to see a doctor, and, over time, she has done so.  A rheumatologist ruled out arthritis.  An acupuncturist was unable to reduce her pain.  Recently, she saw an orthopedic specialist who immediately told her she needed surgery to repair rotator cuff tears in both shoulders.  He sent her to physical therapy, which she attended sporadically.  A second orthopedic guy told her she did not need surgery, but needed to stick with physical therapy.

As a result of seeing all these different doctors, she is amassing quite a stock pile of drugs.  We weren’t sure what all she was taking, but she was definitely making her own choices about amount, combinations, and frequency.

After talking this over for quite a while, and talking with Kelly’s brother Chris, we all agreed that I would go to Sarasota for a while to help Pat make some decisions about her medical care.

Kelly has stopped taking calls from her mother.  I am handling all conversations with Pat.  This has been pretty stressful for all involved, but I’m really happy that Kelly can detach herself in this way.

The kittens continue to give us joy.  We really want to keep one….or two…. But, we know we cannot.

Day #257 – Kittens Start to Play

Gatlinburg TN

I swear every time I turn around, the fur balls have grown.  At this morning’s 6 AM feeding, I noticed that Stripey’s ears are now at the top of her head and her head is looking more like a cat’s head.

A few days ago, a woman who owns a dog-sitting service loaned us a new crate for the kittens.  It fits perfectly on a back bunk and has doors on both one end and one side.  It is so easy to use and it’s plenty big enough for the gang.

Last night, Kelly noticed that the kittens leave their nest area and go to another corner of the crate to move their bowels.  They still don’t have the pee thing down yet, but this is real progress.  I think it’s time for a litter box!

Today we discovered that they’re playing with each other.  This is brand new.  They try to crouch and pounce, but their fat bellies and shaky legs get in their way.  Still, they’re rolling around and biting any body part that moves.

On Thursday, the vet recommended that we start weaning them.  He suggested starting with milk on a finger until they can lap from a saucer, then mixing canned food with the milk.  Since the kittens are chewing on the bottle nipples, and ignoring my milky fingers, I decided to skip a couple steps.  I got a can of Newman’s organic cat food (who knew?!?) for them.  Stripey loved it.  Fran and Buffy tried it.  Gray was very confused.  All finished up with a bottle.  I’m calling this a success and will try again tomorrow.

Day #252 – Process Note - Blogging

Gatlinburg TN

Every now and then, someone points out that I haven’t blogged in forever.  Not quite true.  I blog nearly every day.  What doesn’t happen is the posting.  At the very least, I make detailed notes of the day and what I want to blog about.  I have to sit with some of the entries for a while, to make sure I got the tone right and expressed the feelings and ideas accurately, while omitting unnecessary words.  “Coat of Many Colors” and “The Good News” would be examples of that.  Some entries, like the one I’m working on about Tom’s mother, aren’t connected to a specific day.  Those I work on even longer, trying to make them better pieces of writing.

We have a fairly involved process for getting photos ready for the blog and for online viewing.  We have been so busy lately that we haven’t even taken photos off our camera cards.  I’ve been procrastinating on posting to the blog because I don’t have photos to share.  If I were to post them as they are now, without processing, it would be a nightmare to go back and fix.  I finally looked at a calendar, muttered under my breath, and decided to post without pictures.

I’m trying to figure out how to post some of the extra material we’ve accumulated.  Some of you have asked for budget information because you’re thinking of doing a road trip some day.  Some of you have asked for gasoline/mileage data.  We’d love to post restaurant reviews and other notes that might come in useful when any of you pass through places we’ve been. 

For us, the answer is a web site.  Kelly wants to write it in PHP.  It’s a great language, but I don’t know it.  I’m more familiar with HTML.  We’re both pretty good with CSS and XHTML.  Sorry about the geek-speak – we can’t agree on a language to use to develop the site.  We have style clashes, too.  Her work in web design required her to build and implement sites that were totally complete.  My work experience is in building large sites in phases.  We have agreed on a design for the home page and a layout for the site itself.  We’ve also pretty much decided to build our own blog within the site so that we have better control over how it works.

Day #251 – Kelly’s Day

Gatlinburg TN

Kelly has been singing the blues that she hasn’t had a day to herself in the trailer in way too long.  She’s right.  On weekends, she’s been too busy driving the shuttle vehicles to enjoy any time to herself.  During the week, she tends to be the one who runs the errands, either by herself or with the campground manager.

I knew better than to leave her alone.  When she’s away from the trailer all day, it only seems like I have the day to myself.  I generally end up doing at least one load of laundry, making a quick check of the shower houses, running garbage to the dumpster, cooking, feeding kittens, etc.  Since she’s gone, she really doesn’t see all the things I do during the day.  If I had left her in the trailer, either important things would not have been accomplished or she would have felt cheated out of “her” day.

So, I gave her a day where she didn’t have to do any “work” in the trailer.  I made her French toast with turkey sausage and Clementines for breakfast.  I did all the laundry.  I made her a nice lunch and served it to her next to her computer table.  I did the kitten feedings on my own. (She wanted to play with the kittens at one point, but that was by choice.)  So, except for solitude, she got what she needed.

Things broke down a bit at dinner time.  Kelly likes to play with fire.  She loves to build a campfire in the early evening.  So, when she said she wanted to grill dinner, I thought it meant she wanted to do that herself, as part of her day.  No, what she wanted was for me to grill dinner.  Oops.  Nevertheless, she seems to have had a really good day.

Day #250 – The Front Porch

Gatlinburg TN

The Front Porch restaurant serves Mexican food and is open on Friday and Saturday nights.  They don’t serve alcohol, but you’re allowed to bring your own beer.  Sometimes the waitresses sit down at your table to take your order.  Sometimes, one of the kids will take your order.  If it’s busy, you’re encouraged to refill your own beverages.  Usually, there are lots of kids running around.  While everyone is expected to have a good time, drunkenness, rowdiness, and swearing are not tolerated – it is truly a family establishment.  There is live bluegrass music both nights.  The restaurant is also open on the first Sunday evening of the month.  The Sundays are special – acoustic music only and an open mike. (http://dininginthesmokies.com/_cosby/aafropor.htm)

We go to the Front Porch nearly every week.  The food is very good and so is the music.  It’s one of the few places we’ve found where the music is not overly produced.

Tonight we went to the Front Porch for an evening of old time acoustic music.  The regular Sunday musicians were there.  There was a woman in her sixties who played the bass fiddle.  A woman my age played the accordion on some songs and a guitar on others.  A woman Kelly’s age played the mandolin. (She apologized that she wasn’t very good yet as she’d been playing only five years.)  A man in his sixties played the mandolin.  A woman in her thirties played piano on some songs and fiddle on others.  After they finished their two sets, the fun started. 

A man from the audience sat down at the piano (The piano is “tacked” – thumbtacks in the hammers to give it a honky tonk sound.) and started playing a show tune.  Soon, the other musicians came back onstage and joined in.  You haven’t heard anything until you’ve heard bluegrass musicians play Broadway tunes!  Then, the owner requested a series of Irish tunes.  They tried to pick them out, but no one really knew them.  We were told that the older musician also played the corded zither.  We requested a couple songs on that instrument.  He was so good!  When the musicians forgot some of the words to “In the Sweet Bye and Bye,” we helped them out.  Everyone joined in on the last song of the evening, “Goodnight Irene.”

I just found out, from the Internet, that this restaurant is for sale.  Golly, it’s tempting!

Day #249 – Cat Update

Gatlinburg TN

Every day the kittens live is a triumph. 

Despite ourselves, we’ve become attached to them.  We tried to call them by their colors or markings, but Spot quickly became Fran.  Even after determining that Fran was male, his personality was just too much like our neighbor Fran to be called anything else.  Kelly calls him Francis O’Malley Brucklacher.  Wonder why.

So far, they seem to be doing really well.  Here’s a chart showing their weights, in ounces:

	19-Jul	22-Jul	29-Jul	31-Jul
Buffy	4	4.7	7.2	8.8
Fran	5.3	5.7	7.5	9.1
Stripe	4.8	5.6	7.8	9.3
Little Gray	3.8	5	6.6	7.9

They’ll be three weeks old on Wednesday August 4.  Sometime that week, we’ll take them to the vet for worming.  We’ll probably keep them until they are weaned and starting to use a litter box.  We have two options at that point:

1. The local humane society would take them and place them in a local pet shop, but there is no “no kill” guarantee.
2. Alicia, who tried to get her MomCat to accept them, might be willing to take them back and find homes for them.

Kelly and I prefer the second option because it would put the kittens with other cats for socialization.  Also, her home was so clean and she was clearly such a cat lover that I wouldn’t worry about the final homes she found for them.

Day #244 – Work Schedule Update

Gatlinburg TN

Everyone agrees that Kelly and I are working too much.  Until today, Fran and Paul cleaned the shower houses on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Kelly and I had the other days.  Because weekends are the busiest, we were running ourselves ragged from Friday evening through Tuesday morning.

Now, Fran and Paul clean the shower houses on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  That means I don’t have to clean them on Mondays – saving me at least two hours.  Since Fran is cleaning cabins again, that has relieved us of even more hours.

I freaked – I was afraid that if we didn’t get our 20 hours in each week, we’d have to start paying for our site again.  Kelly convinced me that, because of all the miscellaneous stuff we do, we don’t have to worry.  We run errands for the manager at least once a week; we watch the campground when he’s away; we look over all the sites weekly and make a list of what needs to be done prior to the next weekend; we keep the storage room organized.  I often wash, dry, fold, and organize the cabin linens while Fran cleans.  Maybe just knowing he can count on us to do what needs to be done is, in his mind, a fair exchange.

Day #243 – Homeless

Gatlinburg TN

Today was the first day I’ve felt homeless.  The reason seems silly, but I haven’t been able to shake the feelings.  Today, I saw the latest Wednesday Night Supper List and my name wasn’t on it.  With that, I’ve lost my home.

The “Wednesdays” is a group of women that has been meeting for supper every Wednesday night for over 30 years.  A few of the originals are still around; some have died; some have moved on.  The group used to meet at Wild Sisters, a women’s cultural collective, then at Bloomers, a women’s bar/restaurant.  When Bloomers closed, we started going to a different restaurant every week.  A few years ago, we chose to meet at a particular restaurant the first Wednesday of the month so that anyone who had lost track of the group could find us again.

I joined the group in 1987.  I had been working at Gertie’s, a collectively owned and operated bookshop. Anne, another collective member, started dragging me to the dinners at Bloomers prior to our bookshop meetings.  I remember Carol didn’t want me in the group because I was too young – she thought you had to be over 40 to be in the group.  Carol liked her rules.  Gray thought that any woman who could hold her own within the group was clearly a member and that I did pretty well in that regard.  Anne never let me sit next to Flo.  Flo could be a bit cranky now and then and Anne was trying to protect me.  One night, the only open chair was next to Flo, so I sat down.  When Anne tried to get me to switch chairs with her, I said that I’d never seen Flo actually bite anybody.  Flo chuckled and there was no more talk of whether I could be a member.  Flo and I have been friends ever since.  I don’t hug her and she doesn’t bite me.

Carol was always the keeper of The List.  It was a very private list, with contents known only to the “regulars” of the group.  Everyone who was welcome in the group was listed, with address, phone number, and birthday.  Every now and then, she’d try to pare it down, but we usually stopped her.  When someone would move to another town, state, or even country, they’d stay on the list.  Partly because we still felt connected, and partly so that all of us would have the contact information.  Carol thought someone should be dropped from the list after a certain number of months or years of not coming to dinner.  For example, the year I helped Kelly rehab a house, I had to ask Carol to keep me on the list.  We loved Carol, but sometimes she got a bit carried away with rules.  When Carol died, Kelly took over The List.  Now that Kelly and I have left town, someone else has become the Keeper of the List.

The Wednesdays are my family.  They’ve held me up when I could barely stand.  They’ve put a roof over my head when I was in such bad shape I hadn’t even known I needed a roof.  They’ve laughed at my jokes, eaten my food, worked in my garden, and let me into their hearts.  Family loves you no matter what.  And, I love all of them, too.  I have, and will continue to, move heaven and earth to be there for each of them.

It’s only a list, right?  Only a piece of paper with a surprisingly small number of names on it.  It shouldn’t matter.  These women are my family and I still know they are there for me as I am for them.  Removing me from that list when I no longer live in Pittsburgh is just reducing clutter – making the list easier to manage.  Makes perfect sense.  Right.

One of the reasons I started this journey was to do hard things.  I wanted to live outside my own box and make friends with the uncomfortable feelings which come with that.  Well, I sure hit it today.  Being off the list does not mean being out of the family. 

Other important stuff that happened today:
Kelly has been driving the campground van.  This weekend, she started driving the campground bus, too.  Think “short bus” and you’ve got the idea.  So far, she hasn’t run anyone over and she hasn’t hit anything.  Today, she backed it up into its spot between trees without any problem.

Kelly and I moved the manager’s wide (very wide) flat screen TV into Cabin #10 today.  She, Fran, the manager, and I watched “Mama Mia” in air-conditioned comfort.  It was yummy.

Day #238 – Work Update

Gatlinburg TN

It’s going to be a balancing act for a few weeks – juggling our work schedule with the kittens’ eating schedule, and our sleep schedule.

Here’s a summary of what we’ve been doing as work-campers.  That thing about 20 hours per week hasn’t been working very well.

Week ending June 21^st – 27 hours:

• Clean cabins
• Clean pool filter
• Clean camp sites (pick up litter; clean out fire ring; burn leftover wood; rake tent sites)
• Wash linens from cabins
• Deliver wood to campsites
• Clean shower houses (8 toilets; 8 showers; 4 sinks; floors; garbage)

Week ending June 28^th – 20.5 hours

• Clean cabins
• Clean shower houses
• Spray poison ivy

Week ending July 5^th – 33 hours

• Clean campsites
• Clean shower houses
• Deliver wood
• Pick up trash from campers and mash it into the dumpsters
• Shuttle campers to town and back in the campground van

Week ending July 12^th – 29.25 hours

• Clean campsites
• Clean cabins
• Clean shower houses
• Wash linens from cabins
• Deliver wood
• Greet incoming campers and get them settled on their sites
• Organize the supply room

Week ending July 19^th – 14 hours

• Clean campsites
• Clean shower houses
• Deliver wood
• Review all campsites and list tasks that need to be done
• Run errands for the manager
• Install new wiper blades on the shuttle van

We are pretty much “on call” all the time.  Today, the manager asked me to keep an eye on the campground while he and Kelly were out.  Since I was in the middle of feeding the kittens, I told him I could not do that.  It’s the first time I’ve said, “No,” to him.

Kelly usually takes the late night feeding shifts – up to about 2 AM.  I try to go to bed by 10 PM, but it’s usually midnight.  She sets an alarm for me - I get up as early as 4 AM.  She sleeps in, but generally no later than 10:30 AM.  Looking back over my notes, we do about 1/3 of the feedings together.  She handles 1/3 on her own and I handle the other third.  It’s really hard to bathe the kittens without help, but we’ve both done it.  Fran helps when she can.  She’s been great about keeping all the towels and bedding clean.

I generally clean the shower houses in the early morning, between cat feedings.  Kelly generally handles shuttle runs and taking care of errands for the manager.  We clean campsites and cabins together because it’s such hard work.  It’s easier on us physically and the work goes faster when we share the tasks.

Day #237 – Kittens Come Home

Gatlinburg TN

Alicia emailed me a bit after midnight to let me know it wasn’t working.  Kelly started off in the truck to get the kittens and I stayed home to call Alicia.  She had tried so hard, but it just didn’t work.  When MomCat started growling and fighting Alicia off, she knew there was no use trying any more.  Everyone was disappointed.

It poured down rain the whole day, so Kelly was a long time coming home.  The kittens cried the whole way.  We wondered whether they were hungry.  We wondered whether they missed this MomCat.

Kelly and I agreed to not let the kittens go again until they’re quite a bit older.  We agreed that the process was pretty hard on them.  So, we’ll stay at this campground until the kittens are old enough to move to a better foster position, or permanent homes.  We’ll do everything we can to keep them safe.  We know the odds are against them.  We know we’ll be lucky if any survive.  We agree to not name them.  Right.

Day #236 – Possible MomCat

Gatlinburg TN

There’s a woman who goes to the same church as Fran who might be able to help our kittens.  Her name is Alicia and she lives across the mountains in Cherokee.  Alicia has a cat that has kittens a few weeks older than ours.  Since those kittens are in the process of being weaned, we’re hoping that the cat will take our kittens and nurse them.

It was a long drive over to Cherokee today.  We were filled with hope and concern.  We knew the kittens would be better off with a MomCat than they are with us, but we don’t know this woman.  We agreed that if either one of us got the willies, we’d leave with our kittens.

Alicia is a young woman who lives in a double-wide that is precariously perched on the side of a steep hill.  We had to put the truck in 4WD to get into her driveway.  There was a lot of garbage on her porch because she was cleaning out her kitchen.  But, the rest of her home was spotless.  Even though she had three adult cats and a litter of kittens, there was no “cat” smell.

We smeared canned cat food all over the kittens and held our breathes.  MomCat licked the cat food off them and let them try to nurse for a few minutes before she stalked off.  She was very young – a first-time mother.  Alicia admitted that the cat hadn’t been all that thrilled with motherhood the first time around and wasn’t sure how this would go.  She wanted to keep the kittens over night and work with them.

It was an even longer drive home.  I was impressed with her home and how healthy her cats looked.  Kelly was pessimistic that this would work and was worried about Alicia’s ability to feed the cats every two hours.  Since Alicia had bottle-raised kittens before, I kept a good thought.

Day #235 – The Good News

Gatlinburg TN

Yesterday, before we found the kittens, the campground owners packed up their car to return to Mississippi.  Prior to leaving, Jimmy asked to talk with us for a few minutes.  We sat at our picnic table to hear what he had to say.

Jimmy told us that we had committed sins in our lives.  We had most likely lied, stolen, or done other sinful acts at some point.  He told us that Jesus had died on the cross to save us from those sins and any others – that He had wiped those sins away with His sacrifice.  He told us that anyone who believed this and welcomed Jesus into their heart would be saved and go to Heaven.  He led us to believe that those who did not would go to Hell.

I asked him a question:  What happens to people who lived prior to Christ or who lived/live in such remote areas of the world that they never heard of Him?  What kind of loving God would send those folks to Hell?  What I heard Jimmy say was that those people, with enough introspection and reflection, could come to the Lord on their own.  That was a surprisingly Gnostic answer.  Jimmy prayed with us and for us.  He gave me a copy of a Bible, with “helps” – I was very happy to receive that Bible as I’ve been frustrated with every attempt to read the one my father gave me.

I was glad that Jimmy came by to talk with us about his beliefs.  I appreciated his openness and his honesty.  I was touched by the passion of his beliefs.  My father used to warn me about “Bible thumpers”.  He told me to be wary of people who brag about their beliefs.  He told me that the real Christians are the ones who don’t shout out their beliefs at every opportunity, but who quietly live their beliefs every day.  I suppose you could say that about any value, religious or otherwise.  The two weeks I’ve been working, playing, and sharing meals with Jimmy and his family, I’ve seen them live their beliefs openly, but I never felt uncomfortable.  I appreciated the time he took to talk with us, to share his beliefs, and to encourage me in my spiritual (he would probably prefer the word “religious”) growth.

My father hoped that a person might one day come to understand another person, but that the most important thing a person could do was respect other people.  He believed that respect came from knowledge.  With that in mind, he   insisted we go to services at many different churches.  So, we learned about Judaism in the local synagogue, about Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians at the local churches, about Catholicism from going to Mass (He tried to get me into Catechism classes, but the priest wouldn’t allow it.), and about Mormonism from the local missionaries.  We went to Unitarian services whenever possible because he thought I’d get the best religious education from that fellowship.  He encouraged me to take high school and college classes in religious studies so I could learn more.

My father was an Existentialist, with some reservations.  He read the works of Existentialist philosophers and talked a lot about their theories.  He was delighted when Camus made it to my required reading list in high school.

Of all the religious services we attended, he liked Catholic mass the best.  As we’d enter the church, he’d usually whisper something in my ear about the church being a tomb for a dead God and the service being the funeral.  He stopped going after they switched from Latin to English.

My father liked to watch Christian TV shows on Sunday mornings.  We usually watched together, in the kitchen, while cooking dinner.  We watched evangelists from the time we got a TV in 1961 until his death in 1999.  He often told me that, as a teen, he’d been saved (“Washed in the blood of the lamb,” were his words.) by a famous revivalist whose name I cannot remember.  He wondered whether he would go to Heaven because he had been saved, or if his falling away from religion would send him off to Hell.

There is a huge jump between thinking about something on an intellectual level, such as religious education, and believing or having faith in something.  My father was never able to make that leap.  I’m probably going to jump one of these days, but have no idea where I’ll land.  Guess that’s the point.

I’m pretty sure, though, if there is a Heaven, cats go there.  Remember the “All Creatures Great and Small” episode where Dr. Herriot is called to the home of an ailing wealthy woman?  None of her dogs is sick, but she is near death.  In her religion, Heaven is just for two-leggers.  She told the vet that she didn’t want to go to Heaven if she wouldn’t be reunited with her dogs there.  He stammered about for a moment and then reassured her that surely there were dogs in Heaven.  Can’t imagine any place with dogs and no cats.

The kittens are still alive today.

Day #234 – Kittens

Gatlinburg TN

Today, Fran came by my rig to ask me whether I’d seen the kittens yet.  “What kittens?” I asked.  “The newborn kittens,” she replied.  Off we went, at a good clip, to see the little ones.

When I arrived at the campers’ site, two of the kittens were curled up together on the outdoor carpet and one was trying to crawl across gravel next to the carpet.  I gently picked up the kitten that was on gravel and put it back on the carpet.  The RV owners were trying (unsuccessfully) to feed the kittens from a bottle with a hard plastic tip.

It probably happened this way:  On Wednesday, July 14, MomCat climbed into the undercarriage of a big RV that was parked in South Carolina.  On Thursday, the owners of the rig drove it to our campground in Tennessee.  This morning, when they heard their rig “crying,” they took the front end apart to find three newborn kittens.

The RV owners made it plain they could not cope with the kittens and did not want them.  They were not interested in taking them back to South Carolina to be reunited with their mother.  Things got a bit confusing.  The manager called Animal Control and Kelly and I took the three kittens back to our rig.  Kelly searched the ‘Net for a vet and I started warming the kittens.  The one who had been on gravel was cold.  Kelly had no luck finding a vet, but we did find a website devoted to newborn feral cats.  Based on what we learned, Kelly went off to the pet store. 

After the kittens were warm, I bathed and dried them thoroughly.  By then, Kelly had returned with formula and bottles and the fun started.  We fed the kittens every two hours.  We told each other they would probably not survive.  We tried to not fall in love with them.  Later in the evening, the owner of the RV knocked on my door.  They had found a fourth kitten.  He was very cold and barely responsive.  I warmed him, bathed him, and tried to feed him.

These kittens have been without their mother for at least a day.  They will probably die.  If they do die, they will do so while being held and loved, in a warm and dry space.

Day #232 – Dental VIII & Museum of the Appalachia

 Gatlinburg TN

Today started with a trip to the dentist.  He inserted the permanent crown over my cracked tooth and sent me on my way.  I had such a wonderful sense of relief.  Kelly and I weren’t sure the best way to celebrate, so we just headed down a road we’d never been on before. 

We passed the Bush Bean plant, Clint’s BBQ (live music several nights each week), and a Ball (canning jar folks) plant.  All this was in the midst of farms and fields – definitely not an urban or factory setting.  Neither of us felt like touring these places, so we kept driving.

We ended up at a museum outside Knoxville that I’d wanted to visit.  It’s called the Museum of the Appalachia (http://www.museumofappalachia.org).  I had read many descriptions of this museum.  The one I liked best was this:  The founder was a pack rat whose need for old farm clutter got a bit out of hand.  When his family threatened to “do something” about it, he out-foxed them by turning his collection into a museum.  He’s collected buildings, machinery, tools, quilts, artwork – everything to do with the culture and lives of the people of the southern Appalachian Mountains.

If you’ve traveled much off the Interstate, you’ve probably seen the large concrete crosses, with writing on the vertical and horizontal parts of the cross.  Usually, the crosses say something like, “Jesus Saves” or “Get Right with God”.  Well, the founder of this museum was friends with the Rev. Henry Harrison Hayes, who put many of those crosses along the road (http://www.themountaineagle.com/news/2010-04-14/News/Highway_markers_memorialize_Appalachias_concrete_e.html).  It was his life’s work.  This particular exhibit included about twenty crosses, a map showing the routes the man had traveled, plus many of his writings which explained why he devoted his life to this project.  It was his dream to have these crosses from the exhibit erected on the Moon and Saturn.  He apparently gave the crosses to the curator in exchange for a promise that the crosses would be erected in those places.

We’ve seen a lot of cabins and barns over the last few months, so we went through those exhibits pretty quickly.  But, face it: I was there for the music.  We plopped ourselves down on some cabin steps and listened to four musicians play “old time” music.  As best I can figure, old time music is what came before bluegrass.  Examples include, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” and “I’ll Fly Away.”  We’ve been told that songs from Virginia, such as “Barbara Allen”, country, and generic folk music do not make the cut.    We listened to them for over an hour.  Apparently, that was a challenge for them.  They were used to audiences who stayed for one or two songs and then moved on.

When we returned to the campground, we got some good news.  In our absence, the manager had asked Fran to clean a cabin.  The cabin had been trashed.  Fran showed the manager, who showed the owner.  Fran now gets paid again for cleaning cabins.  Yippee for all of us!

Day #231 – Pigeon Forge Cabins

Gatlinburg TN

We are sooo fried.  We’ve been working way too many hours for way too many days.  Because cabin cleaning is no longer a paid job, it has fallen to us.  This week, we’ve put in 30 hours – way too much!  Kelly mentioned something about burnout to the owners and the next thing we knew, we’d been offered a free night in one of their cabins (http://www.arrowcreekcabins.com).

We packed enough stuff for an overnight and headed out.  We had some trouble finding the cabin as it’s really off the beaten path.  It was worth the search, though.

There was a big over-stuffed leather couch in the living room.  Kelly sat at one end, with her feet up, and I sat at the other, also with my feet up.  I was snoring within minutes.

Kelly has a thing about laundry – doing laundry just makes her feel better.  Because we knew there would be a washer and a dryer in the cabin, we took all our dirty laundry along.  She had such a wonderful time washing all our clothes!

In the early evening, I sat on the front porch and watched a thunderstorm roll in across the mountains.  I could see sheets of rain falling in the valley and lightning strikes coming down from the clouds.  I loved hearing the rain falling on the metal roof. 

Kelly played a game of pool in the living room, just steps away from her laundry. 

We had packed some leftovers for dinner and ate them in front of the wide-screen TV.

We did not turn on either of the gas fireplaces (one in the living room and one in the bedroom).  We also skipped the hot tub on the porch and the Jacuzzi in the bedroom.  Kelly was primed to take a bubble bath, but the water smelled strongly of sulfur and she thought the odor would clash with her bubble fragrance.

We had a much-needed break from the campground.  We returned to work with the clear knowledge that one night just wasn’t enough.

Day #228 – Coat of Many Colors

Gatlinburg TN

Last weekend, when we went to the museum at Dollywood, the most moving thing I saw was Dolly’s coat of many colors.  I’ve searched for a photo of it to show you, but haven’t had any luck.  This is a drawing of it, from one of her record albums.  (Sorry I can’t give a better credit for it, but none was available.)  The coat was hanging in a very small exhibit, with two sheets of paper, ripped from a receipt book.  She had worked out the words to the song on the backs of the receipts, using a blue pencil.  When I first heard the song, “Coat of Many Colors,” (http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/parton-dolly/coat-of-many-colors-13952.html) I imagined a long coat in a quilt pattern, but I was wrong.  Her mother had used large scraps of corduroy, in mustard yellow, sage green, and soft orange.  It was a beautiful little coat that fell just below the waist, with large buttons.

When I was a kid, my family didn’t have much money.  We lived in the country and were the only ones in the area who did not farm.  Prior to my birth, my mother worked.  After I was born, she wore out her work clothes, then wore my dad’s old clothes that she’d altered to fit.  My parents were friends with a family who had two daughters, both a bit older than I.  They went to Europe and New York City to buy clothes, back when Saks and Lord & Taylor were accessible to only the very wealthy.  So, there I was, in a farm area, wearing fancy clothes.  I was ridiculed daily.

When there were no hand-me-downs, my mother sewed for me.  She had the amazing ability to look at a picture of an outfit, draw the pattern on old newspaper, and then make it.  Because we lived close to Woolrich, she went to their factory store each year to buy wool and other fabrics.  She loved designer clothing, so she used Vogue as her guide.  Again, daily ridicule.

I loved some of the clothes I wore.  I loved wool plaid pleated skirts where part of the plaid was hidden in the pleat – the full design of the fabric would magically appear as I skipped or ran.  There was a double-breasted pea coat I loved, too.  I used to pretend I was a sailor on the ocean and invincible to all.  There was a boiled wool jacket, decades before boiled wool was common in this country.  I drew the line at the lederhosen, though.  I absolutely refused to wear leather shorts and embroidered suspenders to school.

I’m guessing that all kids feel they don’t fit in, in one way or another.  Most of us were raised with less than we wanted.  I don’t know whether Ms. Parton had shoes to wear.  That little coat was lined, but wasn’t made for winter comfort.  I endured bullying daily, but I grew up in a snug house and wore warm clothes.  Of all the songs Ms. Parton has written, “Coat of Many Colors” is one of the most popular.  Most of us can relate to it in one way or another.  I’ve often sent her mental “thanks” for that song and was grateful that I had the opportunity to see the coat.

Day #227 – Dinner Party for Tom

 Gatlinburg TN

Tom decided to have a cookout today in honor of his getting fired from one job and finding a new one within a couple days.  He invited his parents, Paul, Fran, one of the other campers, Kelly, and me.  He planned on grilling some beef ribs, along with several sides.  When Kelly suggested that he grill chicken instead of ribs, he handed me a bag of 12 frozen chicken breasts and asked me to take care of it.

I firmly believe that good BBQ is a three-step process:

1. Marinade in something appropriate
2. Rub with something deep in flavor
3. Mop with something sweet and spicy

I marinated the chicken in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and fresh ginger.  I made a rub of brown sugar, chili powder, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt.  I wanted to make my own mop, but Tom requested a bottled sauce.

There were two immediate problems: The chicken was frozen and I wasn’t sure it would cook evenly on a grill.  Never mind the size of my kitchen.  Since the chicken was so clean, I marinated the breasts in their own bag, right in the kitchen sink.  When they refused to thaw quickly, I threw them in the microwave, two at a time.  Then, working in batches, I rubbed them, and partially cooked them in my toaster oven.  I held each batch until all were baked, then finished them off on the grill with the mop.  They were amazing!  I also made a fresh fruit salad, a green tossed salad.  Fran brought a spicy zucchini cheese dish and Tom’s mother brought cheese biscuits and a peach cobbler.

It was several hours before I realized he’d played a “Tom Sawyer” on me.  I was exhausted from a full day of cooking in a hot little camper, with little help from anyone.  On the other hand, I made a nice dinner for my friend.

Day #226 – Dental VII

 Gatlinburg TN

Today I went in to see the dentist about my cracked tooth.  I wasn’t sure whether he would pull the tooth or go ahead with a permanent crown.  When he heard that I was pain-free, he broke into a huge grin, gave me a high-five, and ordered the permanent crown.

I left the dentist office giddy with relief.  I wasn’t ready to lose a tooth.  Kelly and I couldn’t think of a way to celebrate.

Because it was very hot, and the temperatures were expected to rise above 100, we decided it was a good day to go to the movies.  Neither of us had been to a movie since Avatar came out, so we headed to the mall.  We saw “Letters to Juliet” and “Killers.”

Day #225 – Game Night

Gatlinburg TN

This evening, we played Five Crowns with Paul and Fran.  Paul generally doesn’t like card games, but for some reason, he likes this one.  Maybe it’s because he wins.

We’d missed a lot the last couple days.  Between Dollywood and our road trip, we hadn’t heard that Tom got fired from his work camper position.  The reasons varied from one account to the next, but the bottom line was the same.  We were very upset about it because we like Tom a lot, but we knew better than to get in the middle of it.

Day #224 – Asheville NC

 Gatlinburg TN

Today was not a work day for us, so we decided to get out of the campground for a while.  We started in Cherokee.  Because we’d gone there to gamble a while back, the casino had sent us some coupons.  We had coupons for a free lunch and “free” $5 for gambling.  Naturally, we went for the lunch.

The lunch was nice and we came out ahead on the gambling (OK, I came out ahead, but it was enough to make up for what Kelly lost.).  I used my winnings to buy us each a truffle at the casino’s chocolate shop.  Not really a big profit, but enough.  I found a slot machine I liked – Star Trek.  I liked listening to Mr. Sulu beam people aboard and all the other voices from the original Star Trek TV show.  The chairs for those two machines were different, too.  They had tall backs and were decorated with Star Trek designs.  The casino has found a way to suck in even the math geeks like me who sit there and think up not-so-random number functions.

We couldn’t decide what to do next.  We weren’t ready to go home, but it was too hot to visit the Cherokee village and too early for the drama, “Unto these Hills.”  So, we set off on the Blue Ridge Parkway (http://www.blueridgeparkway.org), headed towards Asheville.

The views were spectacular.  I saw a bald eagle, soaring over a mountain pass.  Our ears popped so many times we lost count.

Kelly decided we should aim for Linville Falls (http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/recreation/wncwaterfalls/linvillefalls.htm), in the Pisgah National Forest (http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc) in North Carolina.  As the crow flies, especially crows on the Interstate, it wasn’t far.  But for two little people on the Blue Ridge Parkway, with a top speed of 45 mph, it was very far.  Too far.  After miles and hours, we wore ourselves out and took the exit to Asheville, North Carolina (http://www.exploreasheville.com/index.aspx).

We’d heard this town was a great one to visit, and I’d done quite a bit of research a couple months ago, but couldn’t remember one useful name or address. So, we called Debbie and Linda and asked them for some real-time on-line assistance.  They gave us the names and addresses of a couple restaurants.  One was out of business and the other was closed for the day.  We drove along a main drag off the Interstate exit ramp and ended up in a Zen Japanese restaurant.  The food was good and we enjoyed the break.

On our way home, we watched the sun set and then watched as stars became visible in the night sky.  It was a long day with way too much driving, but it sure was nice to get out of the campground for a while.

In other news, my cracked tooth stopped hurting yesterday.  I was able to chew real food on that side of my mouth with no pain.  I’m not sure why it’s taken so long to settle down, but I’m hoping this is a good omen.

Day #223 – Dollywood

Gatlinburg TN

Today we were guests of the campground owners at Dollywood Park (http://www.dollywood.com).  The park is filled with rides, wonderful (and healthy) food, great shows, and a museum.

The first thing we happened upon was a replica of the cabin (decorated by her mother) where Dolly Parton grew up.  She was, I think, the fourth of ten children.  Both her parents were illiterate, but they made sure she finished high school. 

We often hear of someone, even someone from our lifetime, being raised in a cabin, or without running water, but I don’t think we really understand what that means for daily survival or lifestyle.  I’ve seen so many small cabins here in the Smokies that families have lived in for generations, but this was the first that was linked to someone I knew in some way.  This cabin wasn’t much different from the others I’ve seen, except that it was more modern.  The walls were papered with pages from a Sears catalog and the cabin was insulated with cardboard.  There was no plumbing, but there was a wood-burning stove.  The only heat source was a fireplace.  There were lots of pictures on the walls, mainly from calendars.  I recognized a church fan, very similar to one my grandmother had – with a very colorful picture of the Last Supper.  There were lots of quilts, all hand sewn from scraps, and each one a work of art.  There’s nothing romantic about this – most folks in eastern Tennessee live in terrible poverty.  She must have had a very strong family to accomplish all she has.

Here’s a challenge for you:  for the next day, think about how each little thing you do would be different if you lived in that cabin, and without car or bus…not for a vacation, but for years.  Then, email me or post your response.

The next thing we saw was her old tour bus.  As RVers, we felt obligated to check it out.  It had a big fancy pink bedroom in the rear and a bathroom with a large pink bathtub in it.  There were bunks for the second driver and Dolly’s best friend.  The dinette was about as big as ours, but fancier.  There was no couch and the kitchen was tiny.  I liked our trailer better.

I wasn’t sure we’d like the museum.  Pictures of stars with other stars and cases of costumes are generally not fun for me, but this museum was different.  There was an “attic” filled with all kinds of junk.  Most interesting to me was the old exercise equipment – a butt massager, a stationary bicycle, and a treadmill were all visible.  I wondered whether Ms. Parton was as obsessed with body image as I’ve been.

Dolly Parton has done much to improve the lives of people in her home county of Sevier Tennessee.  The most impressive is her Imagination Library project (http://www.imaginationlibrary.com), begun in 1996.  Her foundation provides a free, age-appropriate book every month to every child from birth to the age of five.  The foundation provides these books in the other locations where her businesses operate - Branson MO and Myrtle Beach SC.  The foundation also works with communities across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom to help those communities provide similar materials to their children. (http://local.cincinnati.com/share/news/story.aspx?sid=164304&cid=164304)

Well, think about that challenge.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Day #220 – Back to Work

Gatlinburg TN

None of us really wanted to leave that wonderful cabin at Bee Cliffs.  Early in the morning, we took a leisurely stroll along the river to look at the cliffs and the river.  We found a good portage spot, allowing kayakers to miss some scary rapids.  There was a sign indicating that anyone wanting to use the portage would have to “pay the man” – too bad we’d left our camera behind.

Kelly and I got back to the campground at a reasonable time, but were too bummed to jump into work.  We unloaded the truck, kept the drapes closed, and played a couple card games. 

Our work today involved helping new campers get settled: we sold and delivered firewood; we sold ice; we helped campers find their sites.

We would strongly recommend the Lake Watauga area for anyone interested in camping or boating.  It was a beautiful area.

Day #219 – Lake Watauga

Elizabethton TN

We got up early this morning in an effort to paddle Lake Watauga before it got too busy with big boats and big wakes.  We were moderately successful.

I was surprised by how warm the water was in this lake.  It felt almost like a bathtub.  Other than some fish, we didn’t see much wildlife.  The water was very clear.  We found a secluded spot where Linda practiced her roll.  Kelly and Debbie worked on bow rescues.

Linda warmed up for rolling by using my boat to practice bow rescues.  Theoretically, it works like this:  I hold her paddle so it doesn’t get lost.  She rolls her boat upside down and signals for help.  I position my kayak’s bow at a 90-degree angle to her kayak, at about the middle.  She grabs my bow and uses it to steady herself while she flips herself upright.  Reality didn’t work quite as she expected.  Instead of grabbing my bow, she accidently pushed it away – I think because the shape of it is much different from her other kayaks.  When I tried to maneuver my kayak back into position, I lost my grip on her paddle.  I lost precious time trying to keep her paddle from slipping away.  She managed to use my bow to pull herself up enough to get a breath of air, then went upside down again.  By then, I was in position and she was able to flip her boat upright again.  I felt bad about what happened, but in truth, it only goes smoothly when you’re practicing and know what to expect.  In real life, it usually goes as it did for us today….or worse.  At least she didn’t have to fall out of her kayak.

After all that practicing, I was pretty worn out.  My shoulder was hurting and I didn’t want to do any serious damage to it.  So, we went back to the dock, loaded the boats on our vehicles, and headed back to our cabin.

Later in the afternoon, Kelly, Debbie, and Linda headed off to Lake Wilbur for a second outing.  I got a fire circle ready for later and thought about making supper. 

I heard from the group that everyone had fun.  Lake Wilbur is very cold because it is fed from the bottom of Lake Watauga.  Debbie, in an effort to ice her hip, stood in the cold water for a while.

Later, we enjoyed the campfire and played some cards.

Day #218 – Meet Up with Debbie & Linda

Elizabethton TN

We got up early this morning and headed off to the dentist.  I had asked Linda to remove the two stitches under my tongue, but she couldn’t stop laughing to even discuss it.  She managed to choke out something about hitting a moving target.  When I related this to the dentist, he chuckled.  He took the stitches out with no fuss.  We agreed to neither order a permanent crown nor schedule an extraction – I want a bit more time to see whether the cracked tooth settles down.
I passed the time on the drive to Elizabethton doing all the things I hadn’t been able to do for the last week.  I licked my lips, yawned, and bit into a burrito.  Ahh, the simple pleasures!

Our first stop was the outfitters (http://www.wataugakayak.com) where we learned that this river is not safe to run without a guide.  The river bed is very rocky.  If you step into the river, you’re likely to get your foot stuck.  Combine this with the fast flow and the low temperature of 42F, and it becomes deadly.  We all agreed to stick with the two reservoir lakes for now.

Dinner was a wonderful variety of foods from Pittsburgh’s Ali Baba’s.  There was lamb for Kelly, and stuffed grape leaves, hummus, babba ganoush, and pita for the rest of us.

The four of us scouted the two lakes, planned our trips, and went to bed.  We were all too tired for cards.

Day #216 – Day Trip - Elizabethton

Gatlinburg TN

We worked 27 hours during our first week (last week) as work-campers.  We worked 20.5 hours this week.  That put us “ahead” by 7.5 hours.

Today, we drove over to Elizabethton.  Because we’ll be meeting Debbie and Linda there in a few days, we all wanted to know what to expect.

We found the Bee Cliff Cabins (http://www.beecliffcabins.com), where we will be staying.  A few cabins were scattered along the river, across from the Bee Cliffs; a few more were across the road.  There were cow pastures all around. 

The Watauga River is dependent on dams in the area for water.  The level rises and falls many feet each day, based on activity at the lower dam.  This makes for some interesting kayaking.

The TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) built two dams on the Watauga River in the Cherokee National Forest, one right above the other.  This created two lakes.  One is huge and covers the city of “old” Butler.  The folks moved themselves and their belongings to “new” Butler.  The smaller lake, Wilbur Lake, is situated between the two dams.  It’s small and beautiful, but very cold.  The water in that lake comes from the bottom of Watauga Lake, above the second dam.  If you look at a Google map, on “satellite” setting, for Wilbur Dam, this explanation will be more clear. 

We did not have time to find the outfitter (http://www.wataugakayak.com), but we did scout for put-in spots.  We both loved the smaller lake, but since it has 72 acres of surface area and is only 1.8 miles long, we figured we’d need to find more water.  Based on Internet information, we went in search of a “primitive” put-in on a remote corner of the larger lake.  A storm hit as we were climbing the mountain to the lake.  We had to detour around a downed tree to get to the dirt road that led to the put-in.  After we finally found it, we were very disappointed.  There was a large marina directly across the lake and many fancy houses along the lake’s edge.  While the road to the put-in, and the shore itself were primitive, that part of the lake was not for us.

Day #215 – Dental VI

Gatlinburg TN

My capped tooth is pretty sore.  The dentist told me that if it doesn’t stop hurting in the next couple days, it will be an indication that the crack could not be stopped and the tooth will need to be extracted. 

The stitches under my tongue are causing me big hassles.  I can’t lick my lips or yawn.  Trust me - you have no idea how many times a day you do those two things until you can’t!  Eating is a problem, too, because I can’t use my tongue to move food around in my mouth.  So, I put little pieces of food on the right side of my mouth, chew a couple times, and then swallow.  I can’t drink without a straw.  And, poor Kelly – she’s running herself ragged trying to make it all better.

Not much other news to report.

After dental appointments, we usually shop at the near-by Kroger because they carry organic products, including organic meats.  We also found a music shop where old men hang out with their dogs and play music.  Between us, we manage to find an excuse nearly every week to stop by.

We are eagerly anticipating a pre-Fourth holiday with Debbie and Linda in Elizabethton.  We are nervously anticipating the arrival of the campground owners.

Day #212 – Dental V

Gatlinburg TN

Repairing a cracked tooth is like trying to stop a crack in concrete.  When my molar cracked, back on May 13, a long series of tooth-saving activities began.  The dentist tried repeatedly to drill out around the crack and fill it.  Initially, he thought an on-lay would be enough to stop the crack’s progress, but it failed.  The crack grew until it went all the way to the root.  Today was a last-ditch effort to save the tooth - a root canal.

The dentist warned me that he might not be able to prevent all the pain involved, but that he would do the best he could.  Well, he did a pretty good job.  He stopped numerous times during the procedure to shoot in more pain killers.  The whole procedure took four hours.  It was rough on both of us.  I got cramps in my neck, and he was just plain exhausted.  Near the end, he zigged and I zagged and he caught his drill on the underside of my tongue.  Two stitches later, and we continued.  After finishing the root canal, he placed a temporary crown across and around the whole tooth.

He felt terrible about nicking my tongue, but it really wasn’t his fault.  He checked on me in the evening and I tried to joke about it.  We’re crossing our fingers that the temporary crown keeps the crack under control.  If this doesn’t work, he’ll pull the tooth and we’ll go down the road of bone grafts and implants.

Day #209 – Work Camping II

Gatlinburg TN

Well, we worked hard this week, trying to learn how to do these jobs and how to best organize ourselves.  We were expected to work 20 hours; we worked 27.  We didn’t do much else.

Day #203 – Work Camping

Gatlinburg TN

When Don, the campground manager, heard that our dental bills were going through the roof and my insurance was falling short, he offered us jobs.  In exchange for at least 20 hours of work each week, we could have our campsite for free.  That amounted to a savings of about $450 per month.  While it wouldn’t pay the dentist, it sure would help out.

Our duties include:

• Picking up litter
• Cleaning the shower houses
• Cleaning camp sites
• Cleaning cabins
• Greeting new campers
• Selling firewood and ice
• Being around when Don can’t be

We both have uniforms – ball caps with the campground logo on them.  Kelly’s is blue and mine is red.

The work is harder than it sounds.  There are 60 sites for tents and RVs; the two shower houses each have four toilets and four showers; there are five cabins.

Fran and Paul clean the shower houses on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.  We are expected to keep an eye on the shower houses on their off-days, making sure there is plenty of soap and toilet paper.

Today was our first day.  I cleaned a cabin floor and Kelly dealt with the county pool inspector (note: dealing with the swimming pool is not on the list of duties).

Later in the day, we found out that Fran, who used to clean cabins for $15 a pop, had been “let go” from that responsibility.

Fran was incredibly upset about losing her job.  She thought she was let go because she wasn’t doing a good enough job.  I thought she’d been let go because Don couldn’t afford to give us a free site and pay her for cabin cleaning.  Reality probably is the latter, plus a new trend in cabin rentals.  In the past, cabins tended to be rented for a week at a time.  This season, people have been renting them for just a night or two.  Don can’t afford to pay a cleaning fee from the revenue of just one night’s stay.

Kelly and I had a serious talk with Fran, and then with Don.  Neither of us was willing to take work from someone else.  For Fran and Paul, the money she got from cleaning cabins was substantial – it really made a difference for them.  Don advised us, and reminded them, that payment for cabin cleaning had been a temporary agreement, and that its time was past.  He would no longer pay for any clean-up services at the campground.

It’s going to be an interesting experience.

Day #200 - Museum of the Cherokee Indian

Gatlinburg, TN
Guest Blogger - Beth

In the beginning the earth was wet and soft. The animals sent the Great Buzzard out to find a place for them to go. He soared over the soft earth until he grew very tired. Where his wings struck the earth were valleys; and when he rose to the sky, were mountains. This was Cherokee country….

So on June 12, though another very hot and humid day, we braved the weather to check out the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. We made a couple stops along the way. One was to a farmer’s market. Kelly had a hankerin’ for some killer brownies. We found a couple of musicians selling plants. Kelly recognized them as the ones pictured on a CD of local music I had purchased the day before to give to my father for his birthday. (It would supplement his 2000+ CD collection) Sure ‘nuf, they were the same. Named Boogertown Gap, you had to know they were special (http://www.boogertowngap.com). So they played a couple of tunes for us, until the rain started. Kelly bought the same CD I had, asked the players to autograph it and we switched so I could give the autographed copy to my dad. That was great.

We arrived at the museum to find the Cherokee Voices Festival in full swing. Booths were set up, covering most of the sidewalks around the building. Craftspeople showed off traditional fare of river cane baskets (some so tiny, they would fit inside a thimble), effigy pottery, stone carvings, paintings, blowpipes and the like. There was a small covered area for performers to gather. Singers, dancers and storytellers were scheduled throughout the day.

I succumbed to the heat, so Lori and I went inside to enjoy the air conditioning. Suzie and Kelly toughed it out and ended up enjoying an enlightening conversation with a native storyteller. I’m sorry I missed out on that.

The museum is huge – much larger than it appears from the outside. You will need to dedicate at least 2-3 full hours to see everything. There is only one bench on the path. I recommend they install more. The exhibits include archaeological timelines, traditional folktales presented with interesting special effects, and historically accurate accounts of the best and worst times. The curators use many different types of presentations from two-dimensional to 3-dimensional and holographs to draw your interest. It was well thought out and didn’t dwell on one thing too long.

The museum has a very nice gift shop. There are some mass-produced items that cater to the tourist crowd (I bypassed the shirts made in China) but they also have some hand-crafted, unique items. I bought a couple of books and I’m considering becoming a museum member. The website is www.cherokeemuseum.org. There’s some really great information.

Day #199 - Leisurely Stroll - Porter Creek

Gatlinburg, TN
Guest Blogger - Lori

Note from Suzie:  We welcome guest bloggers.  Over the weekend, Beth and Lori visited with us.  If you ever want to join the fun, just let me know!  The leisurely stroll took place on the Porter Creek Trail in the Great Smokies National Park (http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm).

Who likes to play games?  We do!  If you do too, let’s see how many 4-letter words you can find in this entry.  Bet your total will be off by just one or two.

(Have you ever heard the old folks talk about how they had to walk to school in the snow uphill both ways?  Here’s my version.)

Friday was a very warm, humid, beautiful day.  Kelly and Suzie had suggested we (Beth and Lori) go for a leisurely stroll in the Smokey Mountains; one they had done in the past and enjoyed.  WARNING!  DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS UNLESS YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL!  Unfortunately for us, we had no one to warn us, so we agreed.

They suggested we each take a hiking stick they were offering.  That should have been our first clue.  We both turned them down at least once, maybe twice, before we acquiesced and gracefully accepted one of their sticks.  Clue number two should have been they both took two sticks.

When we arrived, we saw several folks walking toward their vehicles with smiles on their faces as they greeted us.  How bad could it be?  We started out at a bit of a brisk climb but stopped here and there to take pictures of the beautiful foliage.  Kelly, can you say “shutterbug?”

Suzie and Kelly gave us a little bit of a history lesson about the families who once owned the land in the area.  We visited a family grave site and sadly viewed headstones of children who died before experiencing the joys of life.  We saw the remnants of numerous stone walls and parts of a very old vehicle – a Model T perhaps?

As we continued to climb on this leisurely stroll, the perspiration was starting to make itself known in a foul way.  Have I mentioned humidity yet?

We were urged on by the promise of seeing a very old, interesting homestead that is in remarkable shape, along with some other smaller buildings, and an outhouse.  As we approached the area, we overheard a person in a group already there telling more of the history of this particular area.  As it turns out, one older fellow in this group was a descendent of the family who once owned (and donated) the land and the buildings we were about to appreciate.

Let me tell you a bit about the outhouse.  It was that – in every sense of the word.  After Kelly and I gingerly crossed a creek, we saw a wooden shell.  Kelly approached first and saw the wooden door was open.  To our surprise, it was a two-seater.  Instead of going in and sitting side-by-side, I let Kelly have dibs; I didn’t want to leave her with memories of smell as well as sight.  Humidity at this point would have been the least of her worries.

Heading back to the trail again we were tempted by a new carrot – a really cool bridge made from a very large log, overlooking water tumbling over rocks.  How could we say, “No?”

Here’s where the age difference kicked in – or so I thought.  Kelly and I, the younger folks in the group, forged ahead of the not-so-young Suzie and Beth.  Even with Kelly stopping often to take pictures, we were well ahead of the oldies-but-goodies.  Later I realized it was probably planned that way – to split up Beth and me so we couldn’t compare notes about just how far ahead this cool bridge was.

I don’t know how Kelly did it, but somehow she got these folks to cross our path periodically and when asked, “How much further to the bridge?” they replied, “Not much further.”  Did I mention humidity yet?

Finally we arrived at the bridge and the scene was magnificent!  Kelly and I used our hiking sticks to climb down some huge rocks to get to the cold water to cool off.  Eventually Beth and Suzie arrived and although they appreciated the view, Beth’s vertigo prevented her from going more than a few steps on the log bridge.

The leisurely stroll back down the mountain went reasonably smoothly with help from the hiking sticks; our legs and backs were straining a bit.  All in all, it could have been worse.  (It could have been snowing!)  When we arrived back at the vehicle, we spoke to a man standing next to a vehicle parked near ours.  When we asked if he was okay, he replied with a sigh, “Yeah.  Did you happen to see a set of car keys on your hike?”  Poor guy!

Okay, so how many 4-letter words did you count?  A bunch I’ll bet.  Whatever number you came up with (No, I’m not going to give you a specific number.), add this to your sum.  If you take the phrase, “leisurely stroll,” and add up the letters and space between the words it equals 16.  Now divide that by the number of us who took this so called leisurely stroll – there were 4 of us.  So, 16 ÷ 4 = a 4-letter word.  Beth and I each now have a special 4-letter word for the phrase “leisurely stroll.”  If you don’t heed my warning and someday accept their offer to go on a “leisurely stroll,” I’ll bet you too will come up with your own 4-letter word.  (hehe)

As we were heading to hopefully see some black bears in their natural habitats, we opted to stop at a Subway to grab a bite to eat.  How fortunate that they were located next to a liquor store!  Can you say piña colada?

When we arrived at the park where we hoped to see the black bears, Suzie and Kelly set up chairs in the back of their truck for Beth and me to sit in so we’d get a great view.  I think it had more to do with our odiferous body odors, but I’m sure they’ll deny that if asked.  We drove for miles and miles and miles and although I got some great shots of deer, we didn’t see any black bears until we were near the exit of the park.  We did get two glimpses of black bears and that was kind of exciting.

I suggested looking for a BBQ place. We weren't sure if anything would be open that late but we happened upon Corky’s BBQ (http://www.corkysbbq.com). Even though we all "pigged out" on their BBQ, we had enough food left over for dinner on Saturday. Our waitress was a hoot. For those of you who are carnivores, we all HIGHLY RECOMMEND this place.

Day #198 – New TV

Gatlinburg TN

Our television has been acting weird lately.  We’ve been having trouble changing the channels, with both the remote and the controls on the unit itself.  I was blaming the cable service – there are numerous blank channels on the lineup, and the TV tries to bring each one in.  So, lots of times it seems like the channels aren’t being changed, but there’s suddenly a big increment in channel numbers.  Then, one day, after I enjoyed a rather lengthy Law and Order marathon, I couldn’t turn off the TV.  Neither the remote nor the buttons on the TV worked.  In fact, I couldn’t change the channel or control the volume.  We finally got it turned off by disconnecting all the wires.  The next day, it responded to buttons and the remote for a couple minutes, then froze up again.

I had quite the go-round with the Coachmen warranty people, the Jensen distributor, and the local Coachmen dealer.  We were finally able to reach consensus that I had adequately ruled out simple things like the remote needing a new battery.  Everyone agreed the TV could not be fixed, and I was not going to bring my entire rig into the local dealer to have the TV replaced.  They were afraid I didn’t know how to disconnect the broken set.  They’d forgotten that I’d had to take it apart to turn it off!  Finally, we got all the paperwork straightened out and a new TV was on its way from the distributer to the dealer.

Today, the TV arrived at the local Coachmen dealer, so I programmed the address into Maggie, our trusty GPS, and headed off to a new part of the Smokies.  The Wear Valley is still mostly farms.  I really enjoyed the trip. 

The dealer had a difficult time getting the mounting bracket off the back of the TV.  His technician had to cut the screws off.  Other than that, it was an easy swap.

On the way home, I stopped at a farm market.  Most of the veggies had been grown in the field out back; the peaches had come from Georgia.  I chatted with the owner about the Gatlinburg farm market, then loaded up the truck with fruit and veggies for the weekend – all for less than $10.