Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Smoky Mountain Vacation - July 2009

A few weeks ago Fran and I returned from one of the best vacations we have ever had. We went to the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge area and stayed in a wonderful cabin in the mountains. What made the trip particularly enjoyable was sharing it with our grandson, daughter-in-law, and her parents. After a stop-over in Nashville to see Alison Krauss and others perform at the Grand Ole Opry, we headed to a little cabin in the mountains. This first photo is the view from a rocking chair on the back porch.

Our cabin was located in the Legacy Mountain Resort, conveniently located right outside of Pigeon Forge. I had reserved the cabin, site unseen, by doing a Google search and then looking over various websites. Everything Legacy Mountain advertised was there...we had no disappointments. In fact, it exceeded our expectations and it would be difficult to stay anywhere else in the area after this wonderful experience. We highly recommend it.

Here are some shots of the inside of the cabin. It was a one bedroom unit with the addition of two sofa sleepers. And if you have two willing folks who don't mind climbing up a ladder to sleep in the crow's nest (see photo below) you really could sleep eight. Our grandson loved the crow's nest!

There were two porches, one on each level, with a hot tub on the upper porch. Pool table, foosball, and my personal favorite, air hockey. Full kitchen with cook- and eating-ware provided. It was fun.


And our daughter-in-law's mom, Becky, is a phenominal cook. She loves to cook breakfasts, so every morning, before heading out, we ate the kind of breakfast that makes you forget about eating again until suppertime.
If you ask people what to do in the Smoky Mountains, they will usually tell you to be sure to take the Cades Cove scenic drive. It is nice, although there are often traffic jams, because apparently there are many people who have never seen deer or wild turkeys. Our very favorite drive is the Roaring Fork Loop. If you can only take one scenic drive in the park, make it this one.

The road begins in Gatlinburg and winds through deep old forest and alongside a flowing stream. Back in the 1830's there was a settlement here, and some of the homes are still standing. There are various waterfalls and great hiking trails. Oh, and we did get a passing glance at the backside of a black bear in a blackberry patch. The photo below shows a tub mill, used for grinding corn into meal.

On another day we drove the Newfoundland Gap road across the Smoky Mountains from Gatlinburg to Cherokee, NC. At one point, the Appalachian Trail crosses over. Seeing the sign below reminded me of how much I enjoyed reading Bill Bryson's book A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail. I may need to re-read that book. But I digress.

You can only ask a ten-year-old to spend so much time in the car, so this drive was nice as it offered several opportunities to get out at overlooks and look around. As Khale headed up the Appalachian Trail, I thought I heard him say that he would meet us back at the cabin.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Babies and Wild Things - Synonymous?

Two fun websites today:

Having a bad day? Visit Tom Arma Collections and see if you can keep from smiling. A couple of my favorites are the caterpillar and the fly in the "Baby Bugs" gallery, and the buffalo in the "Please Save the Animals" gallery. What's your favorite?

Do you remember reading Where the Wild Things Are, the Maurice Sendak classic? You probably have heard that it is being made into a movie, scheduled to be released in mid-October. How they are building a feature-length movie out of a picture book is beyond me, but I'm interested. Recently I discovered Terrible Yellow Eyes, a website created by Cory Godbey, an artist/illustrator living in South Carolina. Graphic artists are invited to use this site to pay tribute to Where the Wild Things Are by sharing their creative interpretation of Max and the Wild Things. It is truly amazing to see the work of these talented artist and then to be able to visit their websites or blogs to see what else they have in the works. Wow, what an inspiration!

Oh, and you can view the movie trailer at Warner Brother's site: http://wherethewildthingsare.warnerbros.com/

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Do You Know...

...what these words have in common?

Keepsies
Marrididdles
Alley
Taw

Extra credit: Give the definition of each.

A free pair of these glasses to someone.
You don't have to have the right answer to win, so take a guess!
NO cheating (as in googling, wiki-ing)

Monday, July 20, 2009

Tim Hawkins - Funny Man

We just returned from our vacation and I hope to blog about it soon. In the meantime:

Need a Good Laugh?

I have had the opportunity to go to a Tim Hawkins Comedy Night not once, but twice, this year. What a funny guy. If you are not familiar with him, you can see some of his comedy routines at http://www.timhawkins.net/. He not only has a wonderfully quirky view on life, but he plays the guitar and sings as well. He parodies a lot of songs, one of my favorites is his music video Cletus Take the Reel (Jesus Take the Wheel) which you can watch on his website.

Check out his calendar to see if he is coming to your town anytime soon.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Remember the William Wegman dogs?

These dogs were popular on Sesame Street several decades ago.


Question 1: What is the breed of these dogs?

Question 2: Do you find it peculiar that they have human-looking hands?

Question 3: Would you eat bread made by dogs? What if they agreed to wear gloves and those hair net thingies?

Question 4: Is this a PETA-approved activity? Why or why not? Defend your answer in 25 words or less.
Wish I could get my dog to bake bread...

Here's another cute one...

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Sunday, July 5, 2009

The Palm of Your Hand - Alison Krauss

This song makes me cry (in a good way) every time.



"If I trust the One who died for me,
Who shed His blood to set me free,
If I live my life to trust in You
Your grace will see me through.
***
I'd rather be in the palm of Your hand,
Tho' rich or poor I might be.
Faith can see right through the circumstance,
Sees the forest in spite of the trees.
Your grace provides for me."

Friday, July 3, 2009

Happy Anniversary!

Here are three interesting websites that I hope you enjoy:

There I Fixed It: This first site is in honor of my husband, Fran. Today we celebrate our 31st anniversary. We probably wouldn't have ever met except for the fact that my car broke down 32 years ago. When I told my friend, Nick, that my car was in trouble, he said "Let's take it to my friend, Fran. He can fix anything." And that's how I met Fran. Our first date was to Hood's Discount Store. Isn't that romantic? He won my father's practical heart almost immediately, and truth be told, my parents have always liked him better than me. So this site shows examples of repairs that would never be attributed to Fran. By the way, I think cooking multiple hotdogs on a rake (above) is actually a pretty good idea. Go to the site to see more "creative" ways to fix things.

25 Awesome Virtual Learning Experiences Online:
Well, you could spend all day and then some here. What incredible learning experiences are available through the Internet! From panoramas of the Seven Wonders of the World to a virtual tour of The Louvre to a virtual walking tour of the Smithsonian National Museum of National History. Pretty cool stuff.




And finally, Plantware just makes me laugh. I have trouble enough getting things to grow around my house, let alone adding the extra pressure of trying to make plants grow around things or be funtional.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The Little Engine That Could

Do you remember the Watty Piper book The Little Engine That Could from your childhood? Or perhaps you have read it to your children or grandchildren?

I am the librarian in a school that is over 50 years old. Back in 1978, before I was there, the school suffered a fire which resulted in total damage of the library and other rooms. A new library was built, but there were no books. All the other elementary schools were asked to donate duplicate copies of books, or books that they did not want, so that the library could be back in business. Consequently, when I came along about 10 years ago, there were still many old books in the collection. Some are in such bad shape that I have to remove them from our collection, but there are others which are passable and might even fetch a little money if they could be up for sale.

One book that is still hanging around is the 1954 Platt & Munk Co. edition of The Little Engine That Could. I recently discovered a 2005 edition with new art work by one of my favorite children's author/illustrators, Loren Long. Much of his art work is remeniscent of the WPA artwork from the mid-1930's, particularly the landscapes of Grant Wood.

The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper.
Illustrations by Loren Long. Copyright 2005


Here are the two styles, taken from the same area of the story that reads: "Up, up, up. Faster and faster and faster and faster the little engine climbed, until at last they reached the top of the mountain." Sorry for the poor quality of the page above...check out the book from the library to see the beauty of this new artwork.

The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper.
Illustrations by George & Doris Hauman.
Copyright 1954

I love what Loren Long has done with this classic. He has turned dated art into illustrations that breathe life into every page. It's a real treat to enjoy an old story in a new way.