Each of us has milestones on this trip. For Dayne, reaching The Alamo was one. For me, one was Key West. Ean was excited about the Navy Seal Museum. Albert is looking forward to satisfying his curiosity about Berrien Springs, MI. One of Brodee’s milestones? Blue Ridge Parkway.

We didn’t really know what to expect. Thankfully, Jeff and Amy are very familiar with The Parkway, as locals call it, and helped us get a line-up of things to see, and in the order we’d come across them. Their suggestions were invaluable!! When they retire, we vote they become tour guides for this region.The Parkway is 469 miles long. It begins in VA and ends in NC. It has official entrances at both the northern and southern ends, and you can also get on anywhere in between. The Parkway was built so it’s a route by itself, but civilization isn’t far away. There are entrances onto the BRP on the outskirts of many towns along the way.
Our first stop was Waterrock Knob. There is a beautiful Visitors’ Center up there with a few exhibits showing some of the wildlife you may encounter while on the BRP.

In the parking lot, you’re also high enough you feel like you’re even with the tops of the other mountains. We took the short hike that curves up around the top. As you walk, there’s a tiny stream that trickles along with you. Melbee loved being able to stop and drink when she got too hot.

The view from the top was spectacular. You look out on the other mountains and can watch the clouds at almost eye level.

After Waterrock Knob, we took off for Devil’s Courthouse. By the time we got there, the afternoon rain had beat us. We figured it wasn’t best to be walking out on top of a mountain with an electrical storm brewing.

Next on the Jeff and Amy list was Black Balsam Knob, but since the rain wasn’t going away anytime soon, we decided to park it for the night at the trail head and wait til morning. We weren’t the only ones spending the night up there. A few tent campers had sheltered under some of the evergreens. We slept like babies, with the sound of rain drops putting us to sleep. No city lights, no other sounds. Just the wind, the rain, and wonderful sleep.

In the morning, we woke up and took a sunrise hike to the top of the knob. It was still windy, but it felt so good. It’s just such a peaceful feeling to look out across the way. The birds sing to you along the way, and knowing you’re somewhere special like this, your feet just keep moving all by themselves.
Graveyard Fields was another spectacular place. As we walked along down to the river, some of the foliage made us think we were back in Florida. It looked tropical. But at the same time, we could smell the sweet aroma of mountain blackberries.
When we got down the path toward the river, there were wooden stairs and a bridge that led out across. Being trailblazers, the boys decided to rock hop instead and had a blast doing so!Next on the docket was Mount Mitchell. This is a State Park, but it’s right off The Parkway, so you don’t have to pay an entrance fee. We were planning to take a hike, but since it was midafternoon….you guessed it…rain! We still had some fun anyway.

We wound our way through the mountains to the NC Museum of Minerals at the BRP Visitors’ Center in Spruce Pine, NC.

 

The last stop for the day was Linville Falls. The walk from the Visitors’ Center was beautiful. And even though evening rains continued, thet trees were so thick, we barely felt a thing. We spent the night in the parking lot and enjoyed more of the beautiful sounds of the mountains as we went to sleep.

 

Our final destination on The Parkway was the Linn Cove Viaduct.

Back in fourth grade, Brodee had done a National Park project with one of his homeschool classmates. They chose Blue Ridge Parkway. One of the tasks was to create their own postcard. Brodee drew the Linn Cove Viaduct in autumn. And he asked me, “Mom, do you think we’ll ever actually get to go to Blue Ridge Parkway?” I told him I hoped so, and knowing we were doing it now…that was an incredible thing!

We took a hike first, and the hike takes your right under the viaduct. It was unreal. We were under the viaduct!! 

Then it was time to drive it. Le piece de resistance!  This was the moment we’d been waiting for….driving the Linn Cove Viaduct!

We left The Wickhams’ and were headed to another of our special places to see.
Years ago, while on another hike back in CA, Amy had described a place in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A place called Cades Cove. She said it was a quiet little place, nestled in a valley. There was a loop road that went around the valley, and while driving it, you could come across turkeys, deer, beautiful singing birds, and possibly, a bear. There would be cabins, built by settlers back in the first half of the 1800’s, and little country churches.
We found it all, including a bear. And it was just as quaint and priceless as Amy described.
Jeff suggested doing the loop in the evening or early morning. When we arrived at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it was just the beginning of evening. We decided to hit the loop before checking in at the Cades Cove Campground.
We took one of two cut-offs that cut across the valley to the other side of the one-way loop. While on the cut-off, we were flagged down by a ranger. She was turning cars around because the road was temporarily closed.
The reason? There were two bears farther down the road. It seems they’d been mating, and the little lady had grown tired of the romp. Instead of feigning a headache, she clambered up a tree, knowing the big-fella was too big to pursue. Well, he might’ve been too big to follow her up, but he wasn’t too big to stay at the bottom of the tree and make a ruckus. While the ranger was getting all the other cars out of the way so we could turn around, the she bear decided she was tired of the Romeo and Juliet balcony scene and made a run for it. We never got to see them, but the ranger kept us filled in on the goings-on.
We went back to camp and got settled. Even got to enjoy a little R-n-R before the daily showers arrived. We decided to sit under the awning while it rained and play “I Spy”. That was a fun, peaceful moment.

 

 

Ean and Brodee had fun building a fire.

The next morning, we got up early to see the loop. And we saw some treasures.

The church above was built in 1836. We got to go in. Amy said to be sure to sing inside one. The acoustics are so good in here, it even made our meager effort sound not so horrible.

After driving the whole loop, we had another appointment to keep. There were some horses waiting at the Davy Crockett Riding Stables. We’d be going on a one hour ride.

 

While trying to take a picture of Ean on Doc, Doc decided he was ready for his close-up.

The rest of the day was spent driving through Pigeon Forge, on our way out to Smoky Mountain Knife Works. That is a store the boys have had a catalog from, and they’d been pouring over it for months. To actually go to the store, well that was a connection that had to be made! We also got to our campground and got settled in, just as the daily rain arrived to that part of town.

 

 

Upon leaving the Chattanooga National Cemetery, we were headed someplace special. Next stop, Walmart. No, that wasn’t it. Our final destination for the day was our friends’ home, the Wickhams.
For a few years, the Wickhams lived in CA. In Sonoma County, just like us. They attended our Healdsburg Church, and had three boys about the same ages as ours. Our friendship grew into more like “framily”, and it was hard to see them move back to the TN area. But it was a move God was calling them to make.
Since moving back to the area, they’ve added one more to their bunch. Liana Joy. And that she is. She’s Daddy’s number one fan, loves applesauce (who wouldn’t), and bath time. It was special getting to hold a little girl again. I hadn’t gotten to do that since my niece was that age eighteen years ago…
It seems the Southern skies know they’re supposed to rain every afternoon between 3 and 5. It’s something we’d encountered regularly for the past week or so. And that just so happened to be when we were pulling up to Jeff and Amy’s house. The sky didn’t just sprinkle. It didn’t just send down droplets. It sent down buckets. Each drop seemed like a bucket in itself. It was like the clouds decided since it was Friday, they might as well get rid of anything else they had. You know, lighten up for the weekend. So as we sat in the motorhome, looking at the 20 yard walk to the front door, we were in a quandry. Well, Albert and I were. Do we go out and get completely soaked before going into their house, or wait it out? The boys had no questions. They were not going to let some buckets falling from the sky keep them from their friends. You may be wondering why we didn’t get out our umbrellas. Well, when you’re packing for a trip, while in AZ, with the sun shining brightly and warming the days up to triple digits, one does not think of umbrellas. So, we had none.
Eventually, we all made it in without drowning, and the fun began!!

After church, we enjoyed a lunch of “Haystacks” at the Wickham’s.
If you’re not sure what Haystacks are, here’s the recipe. They’re simple and yummy!
HAYSTACKS
Main stack
tortilla chips
Spanish rice (optional)
beans
grated cheese
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes

 

The following are optional garnishings.
salsa
sliced olives
diced avocado or guacamole
diced onion (any color)
sour cream

Place the main stack items on your plate in the order listed above. Add any desired garnishes and enjoy! Yum!!!

Amy’s sister and her family joined us. It was really fun to finally meet Loree and get to spend the afternoon together. And since the clouds hadn’t dumped all they were holding the day before, there was more rain, thunder, and lightening that afternoon. That thwarted our plans of a hike after lunch, so we got to visit even longer.
The rain finally stopped and we took off for the hike. Now, Jeff and Amy are the adventurous sort. They didn’t think of this hike in the usual sort of way – go out, walk for a while, turn around and come back. Instead, they packed up everything we’d need to enjoy a hot dog supper out by the creek, complete with their backpacking stove.

 

 

It’s always hard to say good-bye, but this wasn’t good-bye. It was “until next time”…

 

 

 

 

 

Ruby Falls is located inside Lookout Mountain. There’s a cave passage that goes way inside the belly of the mountain, and for the right price, a guide will take you to it. Before our tour, we decided to take a peek from the Observation Tower.

 

 

We waited for our tour to begin, which didn’t take long. You end up being in a large group, about forty to fifty people. A guide takes you down the elevator 260 ft into the ground. From there, you walk for about thirty minutes to get to the falls. There are stops along the way where neat stalagmites (mineral deposits that come up from the ground) and stalactites (the ones that hang from above) are pointed out. They’ve named them over the years according to what the namer thought it looked like…potato chips, angel wings, elephant foot, turtle, meat and potatoes…but some of the shapes, well, it was a little like constellations. You know what I mean. 

By the time you get to Ruby Falls, you’re over 1100 feet under ground. But as Martin our guide pointed out, it’s not because you descended at all while walking. It’s because the mountain above you increases in elevation. Martin was a smart guy. And had a very dry sense of humor. He also gladly accepted tips at the end of the tour. Everybody works for tips!

On the way, Martin shared that Ruby Falls is named after the wife of the man who first discovered the falls after exploring the cave. He’d bought the rights to the mountain and cave after the miners were done with it. But no one knew there was a natural water fall back inside. He and a friend, along with a few employees, went exploring and found the waterous wonder after hours of crawling on their bellies. It became a local tourist attraction for a short time, but because of the Depression, sadly, the business venture failed.

 

 

 

 

Today, it’s thriving. So much so, the governor and mayor come around for things like cutting a red ribbon.

The boys are looking more like Albert every day……….at least while in the Ruby Falls Gift Shop.

We had another important thing to see that day. We were headed to the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

We love listening to audio dramas created by Your Story Hour. This little production company has been around for decades, and they do stories about historical figures and events. One of the stories we enjoy is The Daring Locomotive Chase. If you’re not familiar with Your Story Hour, maybe you’ve seen Disney’s version of the story starring Fess Parker.

Either way, the story is one of great courage and unwavering dedication to duty. The true story took place during the Civil War. It involves Union spies going into Confederate territory. In the end, you could say the Confederates win. But the Union soldiers weren’t forgotten. They’re memorialized here at the National Cemetery. Rightly so.

At the end of the two-part story, the teller, Aunt Carol, tells listeners that if they’re ever in the Chattanooga area, they should stop by the cemetery and see the memorial. We mentioned to each other that would be fun someday. “Someday” came June 22, 2018!

We hope you’ll listen to the story. Here’s a link to the Your Story Hour website.  https://www.yourstoryhour.org/

YSH even offers a free story of the week on their website. And be sure to watch Fess Parker. Very worthwhile.

 

 

Waking up Thursday morning, knowing Denali was gone, was hard. Her family was in our thoughts and prayers throughout the day. We thought about her a lot.

After a good night’s sleep in the church parking lot, we took off for Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. This site is historic to the Civil War. As you hike along, you can see markers showing places that were strategic to the Confederates.

We ended our day at a KOA up near the GA/TN border at Lookout Mountain. LM is another strategic Confederate site during the Civil War. Once at camp, we were able to relax after doing some laundry.

The campground dog park came with a fire hydrant. That was so funny. Mel played for a while and slept well that night, dreaming of the fun she had.

My sister and her family have had Denali as part of their family for the past seventeen years. Kyle, who’s eighteen, can’t remember a time without her. She found them as a stray in Flagstaff. She’d been in an accident of some kind that split her lip up to her nose. They tried to find her owners, but never did. Denali became a Wilson.

It’s not typical for a dog to live to be seventeen, but then, Denali isn’t a typical dog. She’s survived getting hit by a car on two occasions. She’s been bailed out of the pokey a few times because her wandering spirit took her too far away from home after she found a way out of the yard. Denali has also been know to walk the cinder block walls like a neighborhood cat. True story.

She loved her family. She loved her food. She loved her bed. But over the past year, she began her slow decline. It was hard to admit. Denali is a strong girl. A strong will. Very much like the other ladies in the family, honestly. We went for a tough hike a year ago February. Denali, in her younger years, was always up for a hike. The family decided to take Denali along and let her just sniff around the bottom of the trail. Denali had other plans.

She began her ascent. Leslee, my sister, stayed back with her, figuring she and Nali would make it a little way up and then just chill.

But Denali is a sled dog. She puts one foot in front of the other and doesn’t stop. We’d made it to the top of the ridge and could see back down the trail quite a ways into the valley. And there was Denali, not stopping, at age sixteen. She made it all the way up to the top of the hill and back, over four miles on some rough terrain.

That was Denali.

Her health recently has been failing faster. The Wilsons made the heartbreaking decision to put her to sleep. She has an inoperable tumor on one of her hind legs, and the pain was beginning to wear on her to the point she was never comfortable. Since she loves to sleep in the shade of the tree in the front yard, the family has even spent nights with her out there on blankets, hoping to help her get some good rest. Leslee has been staying home from church each Sabbath for the past month and a half. The family’s schedule has been shifted so she’s never alone.

But this evening she went to sleep for good. And she’s now buried by their other dogs. Death is like sleeping. She and Ralphie and Jakie and Samuel are sleeping. Waiting for Jesus to come again. Then she’ll have more adventures, and this time, they’ll never end.

Good night, sweet girl. We loved you so.

Per Leland’s suggestion, we left Athens by way of Madison, just a little south. It has so many beautiful homes. Some have been there since before the Civil War. There aren’t enough “oooohs” and “ahhhhs” once again to go around in a darling town like Madison. We took Melbee for a walk and enjoyed every step. We hope you do, too 😉

Leaving Madison behind, we headed to Atlanta. While passing through Loganville on the way to the interstate, the boys spotted a barber shop. One thing they were looking forward to was getting a barber shop haircut in a small town. This fit the bill. The owner, Jim, is a Vietnam Vet. He’s a quiet man, not much for conversation. But the others in the barber shop sure did give the boys an authentic experience by just being themselves. There was teasing, friendly banter and town gossip, country music in the background, and air hoses to blow the hair off after the cut. Very manly. Very much what the boys had been looking for. Very cool.

Now as I said, Jim is a man of few words. But he sure has a sense of humor! He had this up on the wall. It’s hysterical!!

After Loganville, GA, it was time to leave the small town behind and head for the big city – Atlanta. You can see the state capitol dome below. But after being in such cute towns earlier in the day, Atlanta didn’t hold a candle to the charm and personality we’d experienced back up the road. But we managed to find a couple of interesting things.

We finished up in Atlanta with a walk through Centennial Park, a site for the ’96 Olympics, then headed to the Marietta SDA Church to spend the night.

As the day came to a close, we all had heavy hearts. We’d received news from home that my sister’s dog, Denali was doing poorly, and would most likely be making a final visit to the vet.

Albert has a friend who lives in Athens, GA, with his wife. We’d be meeting Leland for dinner, so that gave us the day to explore a little.

The drive from Savannah to Athens was charming, as we took several country highways to get there. Everyone has rocking chairs on their porch, green grass that requires a riding lawn mower (has CA outlawed those yet? That would mean you had too much grass, in their opinion). It’s all just so cute!

We made it to Athens and found a park, both the people and dog kind.

Then we went to this place.

Dayne and Ean are comparing their wing span to that of a Bald Eagle.

 

Then it was time to eat! We met Leland at a downtown restaurant called “The Grit”. It’s all vegetarian/vegan. Everything was so yummy. It hit the spot!! The best part was getting to know Leland. Albert said it best…he’s the kind of guy it’s easy to get along with and talk to, like you’ve always known him. He and his wife will be out in AZ for Thanksgiving, and we hope we’ll get in another visit!

Before ending the evening, we took a walk by the UGA football stadium. They’re trying to squeeze some road remodeling in before football season starts, so we weren’t able to get as we would’ve liked, but we saw this…

The best part of being there? The boys saw their first fireflies!! Now that is awesome!

Making it to Georgia was another opportunity to thank God for his care as we’ve traveled. Georgia was another milestone. We were headed to Savannah.

We arrived in the early afternoon and took Mel to another dog park. She enjoyed more romping with the local canines.

Then we headed to the historical district. Our first stop was the Webb Military Museum. This is another jewel. Gary Webb, collector, curator, and owner, has personally handcrafted this museum, written every narrative, and placed each item himself in the displays. He’s been collecting since he was ten, and it’s all because of the love and respect he has for his parents. Here’s a link to learn more about this place. www.webbmilitarymuseum.com He’s not like any other museum curator you’ve ever met, unless it’s at a children’s museum – he let’s you touch some stuff! But he doesn’t have toys. He has genuine artifacts from wars throughout the decades. Of course, some things aren’t to be touched, but he encourages you to be involved in what you see. Very, very cool. 

Thank you, Gary, for what you’re doing. It was very special to have spent time in your museum.

Next stop was Forsythe Park. Now, this part of Savannah is beautiful. Just like every magazine shows. And this park, it’s just lovely. So many trees, so much green grass, so many beautiful flowers. The fountain was the perfect center piece. Savannah was such a treat.

 

 Everywhere we walked, it was just beautiful…

We decided a carriage ride would be fun. Felix got plenty of love before we left. Mel got to go, too. While on the ride, our guide told us a very inspiring story. The historic part of Savannah has these green park squares every few blocks in all directions. In each of these squares is a memorial of some sort for those who fought in the Civil War in that area. We heard the story of Sgt. Jasper. He was a Union soldier, and saw one of his men, who was holding the American flag, get hit and begin to fall. Jasper, revering the flag, didn’t want it to touch the ground and was able to grab it just before it did. He continued to fight with the flag in one hand and his saber in the other. He eventually died, but it took eight musket balls to do it. They found him, still with the flag, with his body pressed up against a building and the flag at his chest, so that even in his death, the flag still wouldn’t touch the ground. Isn’t that such a beautiful story? Such honor. 

Our day in Savannah wrapped up with a stroll down River St.

We’d be spending Father’s Day weekend in Orlando. First, there was a quick stop by the Magic Arena,

 

then out to the Orlando RV Resort.

The rest of the day was spent getting some chores done and we ran some errands. Then we enjoyed the swimming pool. Ahhhhh.

Walmart had these for $1 each. Being big spenders, we bought both!

 

On Sabbath, we visited the Oasis of Hope SDA Church. They had a special Father’s Day service planned, and we really enjoyed our time there. After church, they served lunch, and it was delicious!! Brodee really loved the spaghetti, and Dayne and Ean enjoyed the refreshing salad. The meal hit the spot.
The afternoon was again spent enjoying the activities the park had to offer. 

 

You can’t see him, but the whole time we were in the water, there was a 10 ft alligator less than 20 yards away. Sometimes, he’d go under…

 

On Sunday, we woke up early for some sunrise tennis. Then it was off to pick blueberries.

This farm is a family-run business of siblings and their spouses. One hundred acres of blueberries. This would be their final weekend of berry season, and this day the last one, period. Coincidence? Not a chance. This was another of God’s surprise blessings. Meeting Anna and Uncle Roy was a true blessing. They love Jesus and love being able to use their farm as a ministry. It’s obvious God is blessing them in their retirement work, and we’re so glad we met them.

After we said good-bye, we were off for Jacksonville. We took a quick picture by the stadium, stopped by a park to play for a little bit, and then settled in for the night.