Jeeping - June 28-30, 2019

For the second year in a row, The Husband and I (along with his sister and her husband) participated in the TN Trailjam at the Loretta Lynn Ranch near Waverly, Tennessee. 

Now, don't get the idea that we are hard-core trail enthusiasts.  Except for letting our grandchildren drive our Wrangler in the fields around our house, our Jeep had never been off-road until last year's trail ride.  We don't have big honkin' mud tires, lift kits, fancy suspension, and all that stuff.  Our 1998 Wrangler is stock; until recently, it was my everyday drive-to-work vehicle. 

We left Friday morning, stopped in town for breakfast, then made our way to Lexington, Tennessee on back-roads.  We'd booked two cabins at Natchez Trace State Park, but check-in time wasn't until 4 p.m., so we had time for another of our favorite activities, shopping in flea markets, before heading to the park.

The cabins were clean and stocked with linens and kitchen necessities, but there was no television or internet.  We stowed our stuff, then drove back to Pin Oak Lodge for its Friday night seafood buffet, which was . . . okay, as far as buffets go.  Afterward, we went back to the cabins, built a fire in the fire pit (despite the fact that it was about 200 degrees outside), and sat around and talked for a while.  One down-side to these cabins is that they do not have comfortable outdoor seating.  There were picnic tables outside each cabin.  Ours was weathered and somewhat green with moss (I suppose that's what it was), and I was a bit reluctant to sit at it for fear of stains on my pants and splinters in my butt and elbows.  Our cabin also came with a mouse, which I discovered during the middle of the night when I heard crackling noises from the kitchen and got up to find that our potato chip bag had been invaded. 

After breakfast, we headed to the trail ride.  We'd planned to join a Jeep trail to a local winery, but we didn't make it in time, so we just scoped out the vendor area and the various events.  There was a "Barbie Jeep" race, where full-grown adults rode their kids' toys down a steep hill.  It was pretty funny, except for one guy who dislocated his shoulder when his ride flipped and he took a bad fall.  After that, we drove around to the hill climb and watched as a few brave souls powered their Jeeps up a steep hill.  If our tires had been more aggressive, we'd have tried it, ourselves!  When we'd had enough of the mid-day heat, it was time to ride a trail in the shady woods. 

We stayed on the easy trail.  It was quite a bit longer than it was last year, and not quite as muddy.  We crept along the trail without incident.  About halfway through, we noticed a group of Jeeps had pulled off in an open field to watch another hill climb.  This hill was big and steep.  We watched a monster off-road vehicle go up it, but the sun was so hot that we gave up and went back to the trail before we saw whether or not any of the tricked-out Jeeps were going to attempt it.

It was almost 4 p.m. by the time we finished the trail, and we were all hungry.  There was food at the Trailjam, but we were hot and wanted to sit down to a meal in someplace cool.  We drove back to the group of businesses near the interstate and ate at Rochelle's, a barbeque joint.  My sloppy hamburger was hand-patted and delicious.  The Husband wasn't all that impressed with his rib dinner (but, to be fair, we live near a place that serves the best ribs in the world, so his standard is pretty high). 

The heat and dust and the jostling had pretty much sapped us all, so after we ate we called it a day and went back to our cool cabins.  The next morning, we packed up and headed home, traveling different back-roads just to see something different.  After three days of mostly driving in the heat, it sure was good to come home and stretch out on the couch.

Crater of Diamonds State Park - October 20 - 25, 2018

We hauled the camper to Arkansas, to the Crater of Diamonds State Park, in Murfreesborough. 

It was a fun trip.  The weather was perfect - warm enough for short sleeves during the day, and cool enough for a camp fire at night.  My sister-in-law and brother-in-law joined us Sunday morning, and we hunted diamonds all day.  Found nothing but rocks.

The diamond field is a 30-acre plot outside the campground.  They plow it, occasionally.  They say that the best time to find diamonds is right after a new plowing that has been followed by a rain, and that most of the diamonds are found by people who just walk around (without digging) and look for glints.  Because there is mica in the soil, there are a lot of tiny glints. 

The ground had not been plowed for a couple of months when we were there, but there had been a recent rain.  Where people had not disturbed the soil after the rain, little stones were resting atop thin columns of dirt.  In the bottoms, the mud would nearly suck the boots off my feet.

The in-laws went home Monday morning, and The Husband and I spent the day roaming around the little shops in town.  On Tuesday, we went back to the diamond field and heard news that someone from Texas had found a diamond lying on top of the ground about 5 minutes after walking into the field that morning.  Hmph.  That was MY diamond.

Wednesday, I asked The Husband what he wanted to do that day (we were DONE diamond hunting).  He said, "Let's just drive around and sight-see."  I said, "How about if we sight-see in the direction of a Hobby Lobby?"  The closest one was in Hot Springs, about an hour away.  We drove there, picked up a few crafting supplies, and went downtown to find some lunch.  Tucked against a hillside was a neat little pizza place - I think it was called "Grateful Pizza," or something like that.  The pizza and salad were yummy.

Thursday morning, we hitched up and headed home.  It rained on us all the way home.  We'd considered parking the camper and then heading to Alabama for a story-telling festival in Athens, but by the time we had un-hitched and emptied the camper, the thought of another road trip was not all that appealing.  It was good to be home.

Wedding Doings - September 15, 2018

Nephew Buck is marrying today, to a most lovely bride.  The whole family, right on down to cousins, is abuzz with getting ready for the big event.  My grandsons are probably searching YouTube right now for instructions on how to tie a necktie. 

But this post is about Buck, who, in his lifetime, has provided the family with some interesting stories.  (I am certain there are many more good ones I haven't heard.)

Buck was fearless. 

Let's start around age 2, the time of his life when I knew him best, before everyone grew up and struck out in different directions. 

At about age 2, Buck rode his tricycle out of the secluded cove where he lived.  He took a right at the entrance of the cove, and rode several blocks, all the way to busy Central Avenue, where he took another right turn.  His frantic parents caught him pedaling leisurely down the sidewalk, traffic whizzing by him. 

A year or so later, he gave his whole family heart failure when he was caught climbing up the side of a log cabin, using the protruding logs as a ladder.  He was almost to the roof when apprehended.

Another year later, Buck got into his grandmother's car, managed to shift it out of gear, and rolled it down a hill at his family's Christmas tree farm, flattening multiple saplings. 

Fast forward a couple more years.  Buck and his sister spent a few days out in the country at his grandparents' house.  All of his local cousins came to visit.  At some point, Buck's grandparents got into a spat.  Shortly thereafter, Buck went missing.  Grandmother called out to him.  No answer.  She called out again:  "Buck, if you are in this house, you'd better come out right now, or you'll get a spanking when you do come out."  No answer.  Thus began a frantic search.  Grandmother enlisted all of the grandchildren to help find him.  They spread out in all directions, calling for him.  No answer.  Remembering Buck's tendency to wander off, Grandmother drafted one of the older grandchildren to ride up and down the road with her in the car to help look for him.  They scanned the ditches.  They called and called.  No answer.  Grandmother was sure he had drowned in the pond, or someone had kidnapped him on the road.  Finally, someone found him.  He'd been in a bedroom closet the whole time, frightened by his grandparents' argument.  I'm told that he received the promised spanking from Grandmother.  It looks like the one time Buck let fear overtake him, he got in trouble. 

I'm not telling some of the other stories I know.  ;)

I'm guessing that, at this moment, Buck is all dressed up in his wedding clothes, and probably posing for photographs with his beautiful bride Lindsay. 

And I am betting that, although he may be nervous, he is fearless.  :)

Colorado Trip, September 2 - 7, 2018

My sister-in-law has a cabin near Estes Park, Colorado, and she and my brother invited us to come for a visit.  They also invited my sister and her daughter.  On Sunday, September 2, at about 8:45 a.m., we loaded up in an airplane and headed to Denver.  My brother picked us up at the airport.

Garden of the Gods

My lovely, frugal niece had bought an airplane ticket to Colorado Springs because (for some reason) it was cheaper, even though she was on the same plane as us.  The deal was that the plane stopped in Denver, then went on to Colorado Springs.  Unfortunately, so did the niece's luggage.  No problem, my brother said, he'd wanted to see Colorado Springs, anyway.  So there we all went.  On the way, we drove through the Garden of the Gods, but it was really crowded, so we didn't linger.  We stopped for lunch at a Mexican place - I don't even remember the name of the town, but the food was good and so was the margarita.  (Don't judge me; I was on vacation.)  After lunch, we took the backroads all the way to Boulder, where we laid in some groceries for the week, then we drove on to the cabin.  It was dusk when we arrived.  We were all stiff from all the sitting we'd done, and in no mood to cook dinner, so my brother opened a bottle of wine and passed around cheese, crackers, and olives, and soon we were all just as happy as could be.  ;)

One thing about my siblings is that they are early-to-bed folks.  They drop like flies when the sun goes down, and get up with the chickens.  When I got up at 5:00 Monday morning, my sister had been up for an hour.  She'd already made the coffee.  Good girl!  When the rest of the crew got up, my brother made us pancakes for breakfast, and then he drove us down to Estes Park.  He dropped us off in the touristy part of the town (it's all rather touristy) and had ice cream on a park bench while we visitors poked our heads in the shops.  The weather was a little chilly, and I had to buy a pair of wool socks to keep my toes from snapping off.  There were street vendors in a little plaza, and we took a slow stroll past the booths.  They had some neat stuff.  We had another Mexican lunch, then headed back to the cabin.  We'd made crock pot lasagna before we went to Estes Park, and it was ready by the time we came home.  We had an early dinner, and everybody hit the sack.

Us, at Rocky Mountain National Forest

Tuesday morning, we're up at the crack of dawn again.  After breakfast, we drove up to the Rocky Mountain National Forest.  Such beautiful scenery.  It was about 45 degrees up there, near 14,000 feet.  We stopped at a few vistas, hit the gift shop, then took the long way home.  On our way down the mountain, we saw a rainbow BELOW us.  (I guess you could say that we were "over the rainbow."  Heh..."way up high.")  ;)  In a country field, we saw prairie dogs scampering all over the place.  That evening, we had steaks (grilled to perfection, I might add), baked sweet potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, and more wine.  My sister made a coconut pie.  It was all very, very tasty.

Over the rainbow...look closely.

Us, in the rocky clearing.

Wednesday, we delivered the niece to meet a shuttle to go back to the airport, for she had to go back to work.  When the shuttle left, we went down to Estes Park to shop at a yarn store (my hands were needing some work to do).  On our way back to the cabin, we saw a guy pulling his trash can down his driveway.  His dog was with him, and I was looking at the dog when I heard my husband say, "Damn, dude!" and I looked at the guy, and HE WAS NOT WEARING ANY PANTS.  He had on a flannel shirt and tennis shoes.  That's it.  One wonders what the urgency was in returning the garbage can to the house.  Or maybe he just never wears pants.    Back at the cabin, my brother suggested a picnic lunch up on a mountain.  We had to go off-road to get there, which delighted the menfolk.  (I kinda dug it, myself, to be honest.)  It was a rocky clearing, and on a clear day we could have seen forever, but a cool mist had rolled in, and we were enveloped in a haze.  Still, it was fun.  More wine, cheese, and olives, with caramel popcorn for dessert.  Who couldn't like that?  

Sprague Lake

Thursday, we drove around again.  On the way through Estes Park, we saw a herd of elk right at the edge of the town.  We went up to Sprague Lake.  Absolutely beautiful.  When we left the lake, the sun was shining bright.  A few minutes later, back in Estes Park, it started to rain, then sleet pelted down so hard that it was heaped up at gutter downspouts.  Back the cabin, it had hardly rained at all, but it was chilly.  We warmed up some blackeyed peas and stirred up some cornbread for supper, and called it a night fairly early.

The next day was going-home day, so we got up early, made breakfast, cleaned the cabin, battened down the hatches.  By 9:30, we were on the road to the airport.  We stopped at a grocery store in Boulder for coffee and doughnuts.  In the store, I slipped on some liquid and bent my arthritic right leg further behind me than it had bent in years.  Had to fill out an "incident report" for the store.  Thankfully, that didn't take too long, and we made it to the airport on time.  It was not raining when we landed, but by the time we shuttled to our car, rain was coming down in buckets, right there at rush hour.  Land sakes!  Happily, we made it through the city traffic without any trouble.  It was dinner time by the time we crossed into our county, and we were able to have our usual Friday night Mexican dinner with my husband's sister and her husband.  Made it home about 8:30 that night.  I put on my pajamas and went straight to bed.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip, but, as always, it was good to get home.  :)

We B Jeep'n'! June 22-24, 2018

We did something this weekend we'd never done:  we went on a Jeep trail ride!  Our 11-year-old grandson went with us.  We had a big time!

The trail ride was at the Loretta Lynn Ranch, near Waverly, Tennessee. 

My sister-in-law and her husband also have a Jeep (well, SEVERAL Jeeps), and they went on the trail ride, too. 

We left at 9 a.m. on Friday morning.  The Husband and The Grandson drove our Wrangler.  I followed them and The In-Laws in my Patriot.  We all stopped to eat a big breakfast, then hit the road.  So we wouldn't have to battle I-40 traffic, we drove up Hwy. 70 to Waverly, then took Hwy. 13 to the Ranch. 

Before checking in at the Ranch, we checked in at the nearest KOA campground.  It was just off the interstate.  We booked two camping cabins, each of which came with a full bed, a set of bunk beds, and an air-conditioner.  That was it.  But the room was clean.  The bathroom and shower were in a bath house across the road from the cabins.  The restrooms were clean, although a little funky-smelling.  Thank goodness the air-conditioners were loud enough to drown out the interstate traffic noise!

As soon as we'd checked in, we climbed in the Jeeps and went to the ranch.  After getting a sticker at the information booth, we headed for the trail.  We'd been warned not to try the intermediate and difficult trails, so we stayed on the easy trail.  It was not altogether easy.  There had been a rain on Thursday, and the trail was muddy.  Still, we were able to motor along in 2-wheel drive for most of the trail.  About 3/4 of the way through, we encountered The Hill.  It was steep and curved, and lined with trees and saplings that ached to yank off our mirrors.  My Wrangler had not been in 4-wheel-drive mode for at least two years, and we had trouble shifting into 4-Low.  We tried several times to get up the hill in 4-High gear, but it wasn't happening.  Finally, The Husband gave the lever a powerful yank, and it worked; we clawed our way to the top of the hill. 

The In-Laws had already made it up the hill ahead of us and were waiting on us.  We proceeded along the path behind them for a few yards, then they came to a halt.  I could hear some clanking and some cussing.  It seemed that The Brother-In-Law's Jeep was refusing to move either forward or backward.

He got out and wanted to lie down on the ground to look under the Jeep, but the ground was soupy.  I found a towel in our Jeep, and he spread it on the ground and slid under the Wrangler.  More cussing and clanking.  Meanwhile, traffic was piling up behind us.  I heard engines turn off and doors slam.  Soon, drivers from the Jeeps behind us were coming up to see what the hold-up was.  I heard one guy say, "We'll just pick him up and set him off the trail" (referring to the Jeep)."  Another guy walked past our Jeep and said, "OK, where's the Newbie?"  I said, "WE are the newbies, but it's the guy in front of us that's broke down!"  Altogether, about three guys came forward.  One of them said he knew what the problem was, and he slid under the Jeep, yanked something, crawled out, and said, "OK, try it."  A miracle!  We finished the trail with no further delays.  The evening ended with a live band on stage near the parking lot.

The next morning, we went to breakfast then went back to the trail ride.  The sky was overcast, and we were afraid it was going to rain any minute.  We signed up for the 10 a.m. trail ride and the 12 p.m. Jeep trail to a wine-tasting at a local winery.  The trail was even soupier than it had been the previous day, but we shifted into 4-L and motored right along with no problem.  By the time we reached the end of the trail, it was time to get in line to go to the winery.  Seeing about a 1/4 mile train of Jeeps on the road made me smile.  :)  On the way to the winery, it started to rain.  The Husband and I were staying dry in the front seats, but The Grandson was getting a face full in the back seat, so we pulled out of the train and yanked up the top right fast.  We made it to the winery in time to join the rest of the drivers for the wine tasting.  This winery was called the "Grinder's Switch Winery."  It was very neat, and the people were very nice, and if you are in the neighborhood with a little time to spare, you should go there!

After the wine tasting, we detoured to visit a little flea market, then we grabbed a bite to eat and went back to the cabins.  The In-Laws went back to the Ranch to look around a little more.  The Grandson wanted to go swimming in the KOA pool, so we stayed at the campground to let him swim.  Late that evening, we all met up and went to dinner together.

Sunday morning after breakfast, we headed home.

The trail riding was fun.  But here's a hint:

If you have a sensitive gut, don't eat gravy for breakfast then go on a 2-hour trail ride unless you are willing to go potty in the woods.

East Tennessee Trip - June 10 - 16, 2018

Last Sunday, we left out of here around 9 a.m. to go to east Tennessee to see our kids and pick up our camper.  Back in March, our son started his new job, all the way across the state, and we loaned him the camper until he could find a place to live for him and his family.  They're all settled into their new house now, and we wanted to see it, and them, and help them celebrate the baby's 4th birthday.  We arrived on Sunday evening, a little after 6 p.m.  (Tennessee is a l-o-n-g state, especially when you're traveling from lower left to upper right!) 

We had a couple of fun days with the kids.  Monday we did a little birthday shopping for the baby in the morning, then went out for birthday dinner at a Mexican restaurant that evening.  The baby loved it when the wait staff sang "Happy Birthday" to her.  Tuesday, we lazed around a good bit (well, *I* lazed around while everybody else worked), then went to a lake that had a little sand beach and a swimming area.  Wednesday, after hugging all the kids, we picked up the camper at the RV park where our son had left it and drove to Cedars of Lebanon park to camp for a couple of days.  We spent most of Thursday and Friday poking around in antique malls.  Today, we battened down the hatches and drove home.

About the only arguing my husband and I ever do is when we are trying to park the camper, whether in a camping spot or in our driveway.  He has this thing: the camper MUST be perfectly parallel to whatever we're parking it on.  He usually does a pretty good job of backing the trailer into the parking spot at campgrounds, but getting it into our driveway is always a bitch.  It's either too close to the house, or too close to the edge of the driveway, or it's crooked. 

On the return leg of any camping trip, we're always tired from a long drive, and it's usually hot outside.  My job is to get out of the truck and "c'mon back" him.  It seems I can never find the right place to stand so that he can see me as I motion him.  Today, it was about 95 degrees when we began the parking attempt(s).  He pulled that camper up and back about half a dozen times before he quit (and I think he's secretly STILL not satisfied with where he put it).  On the next-to-the-last attempt, I asked him if he wanted me to go inside and get the tape measure, and measure from the front of the camper to the house then from the back of the camper to the house to make sure he's got it straight.  He turned his backside to me and said for me to measure THIS. 

I told him my tape measure wasn't that long, and then stuck my tongue out at him.

It was a fun trip, but it's good to be home.

And parked straight.  ;)

Roaming...Oct. 23 - Oct 26, 2017

Early this year, when we chose this week for a vacation, we assumed we'd go camping somewhere.  Life has a way of changing best-laid plans, and though we still took this week for a vacation, we did not go camping.  We batted around the idea of renting a cabin in the Ozark mountains, but the cabins where we wanted to go were all booked by the time we tried to make reservations.  It wasn't until the end of last week that we settled on a destination:  Poverty Point, a World Heritage site in Louisiana.

Monday morning, we hit the road to Louisiana.  We intended to try the tamales at Doe's Eat Place in Greenville, but discovered that it closes on Mondays.  We picked another spot and, to our delight, discovered that they served Doe's tamales.  YUM!  Bellies full, we headed on to Poverty Point.

Poverty Point is a site where a Native American community lived in the distant past, as early as 1600 BC.  That's BEE-CEE, folks - over 3,000 years ago.  The Mississippi River ran past the site when the people lived there.  The river has changed course since then; maybe that's why the people moved on.  In any case, what remains of the village are several mounds and faint indications of what once was a series of raised semi-circles, where it is thought that the people placed their tents.  Having lived near the Mississippi River all my life, I know that it regularly rises out of its banks, so I "get" the raised semi-circles.  What I would love to understand is the mounds.  There are five of them, the tallest of which seems to have had an earthen ramp built up to the summit.  The people would have built these mounds by hauling dirt in baskets - millions of basket loads.  Building these mounds was no small effort.  They brought in stones from as far away as Ohio (and maybe farther).  Why did they do it?  Standing atop the largest mound, over-looking the plaza below, it was easy to imagine people moving around, doing their everyday things.  But what happened on top of this mound?

The sun was starting to set as we left Poverty Point.  We had not made a hotel reservation anywhere - that's just how we roll, most of the time.  The closest town was Delhi, and the nice young woman at the Poverty Point visitor center said there was a motel there, but we decided to drive on to Monroe, Louisiana, thinking the hotel and dining choices might be better.  On the way to Monroe, I noticed "West Monroe" on the map.  I asked The Husband, "Why does 'West Monroe' sound familiar?"  His face lit up when he remembered that the Duck Dynasty folks (of TV fame) have their store in West Monroe.  We drove right on past Monroe.

It was dinner time when we checked into a hotel in West Monroe.  The friendly attendant gave us a book with restaurants and other points of interest.  Our first two restaurant choices were not open on Monday nights (do the folks in West Monroe not EAT on Monday, dang it?!), and when we arrived at the third choice, they wouldn't let us in because a private party had booked the whole place (double dang-it!).  We ended up at a place called "Copeland's," which was a happy accident.  The food was wonderful!  We had bits of duck stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped with bacon.  We had etouffe, and crab-stuffed beignets, and corn and crabmeat bisque.  And for dessert, we ordered (to go) a pumpkin bread pudding with dulce de leche sauce and candied pecans.  OMG!

Tuesday morning, we ate hotel breakfast food, then drove to the Duck Commander store.  We did a little shopping, watched a series of videos about the Duck Dynasty folks, had our picture made in front of a "green screen" - two rednecks holding shotguns.  We had lunch at Willie's Diner, then went downtown to shop Antique Alley.  Finally, about 2 p.m., we pointed the truck toward Tyler, Texas, where my cousin Tammy lives.  Tammy had offered to "put us up" for the night when she found out we were coming through Tyler.  We had a nice dinner with Tammy and her son, and kept her up too late talking about old times and catching up on the latest family news.  It was so good to see them both. 

Wednesday morning, we left for Waco, Texas, where TV personalities Chip and Joanna Gaines have their "Magnolia Market" store.  The place was crawling with people!  It was hard to move around without bumping into someone.  (I asked a cashier if it was always "this much of a mad-house," and he replied that Wednesdays were their "off" days.  I'm glad we were there on their "off" day; I don't like crowds.)  I was a bit disappointed by the inventory in the store - there wasn't a very big variety of stuff - but I thought that the store and the surrounding area were very "Chip and Joanna."  Behind the store was a big, open area, covered in astro-turf and dotted with striped bean bag chairs, where babies toddled and grown men tossed a football.  There was a covered pavilion lined with rows of picnic tables, and food trucks surrounding the lot.  We bought hot dogs and ate them under the pavilion, then drove around Waco to sight-see for a bit.  After that, we drove outside of town to JDH Designs, where metal worker Jimmy Don (who is sometimes featured on the show) has his business.  Jimmy Don was there, and he shook our hands and told us how honored he was that we'd driven all that way to see his shop.  I liked him!

Tammy's brother, Mike, lives in a little town near Waco, and we had arranged a visit with him and his wife, Liz.  Mike met us outside of town when his work day ended, and we followed him out to his place.  Mike and Liz own some land on which they built a house with their own hands.  It is a beautiful house, filled with Liz's paintings and Mike's wood-work.  Mike showed us his collection of arrow heads that he has found over the years, then we went out to the back porch, where we sat and visited until bedtime.  During the evening, Mike's brother Tommy joined us.  I had not seen Mike and Tommy since they were teenagers (too long ago to admit!), and it was wonderful to spend the evening with them and reminisce about old times. 

Mike had left for work when we got out of bed on Thursday morning.  Liz was still there, and we had a few minutes to chat with her before she had to leave for work.  When we were alone, we talked about what we might like to do for the rest of the day.  We had three more days to do as we pleased.  The Husband said, "I think I am ready to go home."  I was ready, too, so we threw our suitcases into the truck and struck out for Tennessee.

We'd planned to spend the night in Texarkana, but there was still a lot of daylight left when we arrived there, so we kept driving and ultimately decided to just come on home.  It was almost 10 p.m. by the time we pulled into our driveway.  We were both stiff and tired and ready for our own bed, and though we had enjoyed every day of our little vacation, it was good to be home!