Z is for Zenith

Z is for Zenith

Today is my final entry in the April A-Z challenge.  Today is not an actual adventure but the summit, of Zenith of many adventures.  Throughout the month I have told you of the adventures I have had and the adventures I on my bucket list.  I realize in life that just because it is written down does not mean it is going to be.  It may not be God's plan for you at that time.  Scotland, or the many other places I want to see may have to wait. Who knows....but for now....right here in this place I have lived a great adventure.  I have a wonderful life, a wonderful husband, wonderful children, wonderful family and wonderful friends.  This truly is a day that the Lord has made and I will be glad and rejoice in it!  Many people have been with me on the ride of my life to date and they have made my adventures wonderful.  I look forward to many, many more grand adventures with many more friends and family.  Life is for living....I want to play in the game not just sit on the side lines and watch.  You may wonder why I chose Z for Zenith today.  Well according to Merriam-Webster the definition for zenith is: 1. the point on the celestial sphere vertically above a given position or observer. 2. a highest point or state; culmination. Synonyms:  apex, summit. So, as the A-Z challenge reaches it's summit I must thank you for being with me on the adventure I have had coming up with themed words using the alphabet and hope you will still stop by and set a spell with me from time to time.

And He's Leaving. Again.

I knew it was probably bad news when Tom texted me asking if I was home because we needed to talk.

I immediately thought of a deployment. I even texted back and asked if he was deploying.

“We’ll talk soon,” is all he replied.

Crap.

Crappity, crappity, crappity, crap.

I knew he’d probably be deploying soon. After all, he was next on the list. I just hoped…well…I just hoped that maybe it would be awhile.

When Tom came home his face was grim.

“Where and when?” I sighed. A part of me was hoping a grin would suddenly form on his face and he’d shout, “Fooled ya!” (Had he done that he’d have gotten my a purse thrown at his head. And it would have hurt because I have all sorts of crap in there.)

But no. It was not a joke. He let me know where (I cannot specify due to OPSEC) and when.

Basically, all I can say is he’ll be gone most of May for training, then back for most of June and then he’s gone for six months.

It sucks.

It seems like he just got back from his year long stint in Korea. But no, really, he’s been back since August. It was only a matter of time before he had to go again. Such is the life in the military. There are people who have it worse…some are gone for a year and a half at a time. Every couple of months. But I do want to point out that even though my husband is Air Force, it doesn’t mean he has it easy. He’s not one of those people who sit behind a desk or get bronze stars for doing their job in finance. He’s a K9 handler so he’s out with his dog.

This means he won’t be here for any holidays. No Halloween. No Thanksgiving. No Christmas.

On the plus, my parents live only 7 hours away so if I need anything, they can be here.

I also have friends.

So we’ll be okay. We can do this.

If I can get through a year then surely I’ll be fine with six months.

Project 365 - Week 17

We are 17 weeks into Project 365 and this week was a slow one photographically for me.  I managed to get a shot a day until yesterday and I am so glad you are here to share my attempts with me.  I have been participating in the April A-Z Challenge this month and even though I am enjoying it I am glad tomorrow is my Z day.  If you like pictures of anything from a Tax Time Pig to gorgeous sunsets and flowers then hop over to Sarah's blog and see everyone else's offerings.  I promise you won't regret it.

Sunday, April 22nd

Today was Homecoming at our church.  Our guest pastor was Rev. Tommy Burks and Still Magnolias sang.  Following the service was a fabulous lunch.  I will tell you this....our Rock Mills ladies know how to lay a spread.....too bad I was sick.  The picture above is actually a tree stump that was caused by some straight line winds several years ago.....the ivy has covered the entire piece and I think it is an interesting front yard edifice.....but then what do I know....I love ivy.

Monday, April 23rd

Sunset Monday evening.  I love sunset shots when the trees and everything look black and the only light you see is the sun itself.

Tuesday, April 24th

We had to go to Lineville after school today to a viewing.  Beth and Jan's mom died.  I teach with these sisters and our path of illness and dementia with parents has run a parallel road.  Lineville is about 30 minutes from us so I went home, picked up Frank, and we headed to Bennefield Funeral Home.  Just outside of Wadley I saw this bottle tree.  I was hoping the light would still be good enough to get it on the return trip and I was lucky.  The blue bottles were so pretty....I don't know how well wine bottles on a dead tree would go over at the parsonage.  What do you think?

Wednesday, April 25th

On my way to work this morning I saw this bush but could not make the stop because I had a student coming in to make up a test.  On the way home I stopped and found this gorgeous plant.  I think it is some kind of rhododendron or hydrangea.  Anyone out there who knows I would appreciate a shout out with an answer.

Thursday, April 26th

When Frank picked me up on Thursday I saw his new car signs had come in.  He was tickled.  The excaliber was ahead of us on the road home.  It is not foggy....my window was that dirty.

Friday, April 27th

On Tuesday I took a picture of this sad little cemetary and when I looked at it I found it was blurred because we were moving.  So, Friday on my way home I went there again and took another shot.  With all the high grass, the old headstones(some have toppled) there is still a cross and flag standing proudly.

Saturday, April 28th

We went to M.L. Awbry's(THE place in Roanoke to go and get amazing plants - as well as feed, seeds, and other cool stuff-I by special Christmas ornaments there too) today and bought all these gorgeous plants (and several more) for my front yard flower bed.  I cannot wait to get them in the ground.  I am also doing some bucket gardening and we bought flower pots and some cucumbers and squash to plant along the fence line.  I already have a tomato plant and a pepper plant growing in a pot.  The pink knockout rose is going in the backyard to replace a hydrangea that did not make it.  Have a great week and I hope to see you here next week!  I will post pictures once we get the garden set.

New Year's Eve DVD Giveaway**CLOSED

**CLOSED--Winner posted here!**

So, it’s April. Nearly May. How are you doing on those New Year’s resolutions? Are you keeping them?

Why am I talking about New Year’s resolutions?

Well, because I have an awesome widget where you can check and see how you are doing with yours.






I don’t really make resolutions since I know I probably won’t keep them.

With the widget you can also take a quiz and find out if you’re a Resolution Renegade. (Sounds like the name of a band..)

You’ll also find tips on how to keep your resolutions going.

And bonus? Since we’re talking about New Year’s resolutions, Partners Hub has graciously said they’d send a lucky reader a copy of the new movie New Year’s Eve.

This movie is full of movie stars. From Sarah Jessica Parker, to Zac Efron, to Ashton Kutcher, this movie is sure to amuse everyone. Watch as a variety of people figure out how to celebrate New Years.



Giveaway Rules

--Must be 18 or older

--Must live in the US


Mandatory Entry: What was your New Year’s resolution? Have you kept it?

Extra Entries:

--Take the quiz on the widget and tell me your results

--Follow PartnersHub on Twitter

--Tweet about this giveaway with the hastag #ResolutionReset and talk about how you’re working to keep your resolution!


For each thing you do, leave a separate comment.


I will pick a winner on May 6th!


Good luck!

Y is for Yakima

Y is for Yakima

One of my favorite foods in the world is a good, ripe, juicy apple and Yakima kept me pretty busy.  On my W adventure I encountered a town southeast of Mt. Ranier called Yakima and their Farmer's Market.  It was there I discovered just how good a Granny Smith, Fuji, Rome Gala and host of others could be straight off a tree.  I ate so many apples I thought I was going to turn into one..  I ate apples while we were there everyway imaginable.  I also fell in love with a Braeburn apple.  It is the perfect crisp mix of tart and sweet. Here in Roanoke, where I live you are lucky if you get red/yellow delicious, Granny Smith, and maybe some other obscure variety.  Sigh!

We also traveled down the Colombia River Gorge, saw some incredible wineries, had an awesome view of Mt. Ranier.  It seems that Yakima's weather and temerature is much like that in Italy where grapes are grown so it is a perfect place to grow them here.

All the fruits and vegetables grown in the Yakima area are nurtured in ideal growing conditions. Washington State provides the perfect combination of hot, dry days and cool, crisp nights. Rich, volcanic soil and Cascade Mountain water offer the optimal nutrients for “the best on earth.”  I ate raspberries that were bigger than my thumb, blueberries that were huge, and my favorite.....Ranier cherries.  The girls, Dianne and Cecilia...and me too of course loaded up on the fresh stuff and headed back to Walla Walla.  I have to say that for me Yakima is this tasters choice of a wonderful Y adventure.

X is for Xenia

X is for Xenia

Two more days left of the April A-Z challenge and so far I have had a letter for each day.  Today is somewhere I have never been but would like to visit.  X is for Xenia, OH.  Have you ever heard of it?  I hadn't until 1974 when an F5 tornado hit the town and destroyed most of it.  What impressed me was their resiliancy.   That was when I placed Xenia on my Adventure Bucket List. 

Let me tell you a bit about this history rich town. Xenia was founded in 1803, the year Ohio was admitted into the Union. In that year, pioneer John Paul bought 2,000 acres of land from Thomas and Elizabeth Richardson who lived in Virginia for "1050 pounds current moneys of Virginia." Paul influenced county commissioners to locate the town seat on this land at the forks of the Shawnee Creeks.  Joseph C. Vance was named to survey the site and lay out the town. The following year, he bought the town site of 257 acres (1.04 km2) from John Paul for $250. The name of the new village was chosen in typically democratic fashion. Vance called a town meeting to discuss possible names. The committee had considered several suggestions without reaching any decision. Then the Rev. Robert Armstrong proposed the name "Xenia," meaning "hospitality" in Greek, because of the fine hospitality extended to him in this friendly community. When a tie developed, Laticia Davis, wife of Owen Davis, was invited to cast the deciding ballot. She voted for "Xenia."   Way to go Laticia Davis! 

William Beattie was Xenia's first businessman. In 1804, he opened a tavern which became a center of community affairs. In 1804, John Marshall built Xenia's first home. The first log school house was constructed in 1805, and, that same year, Rev. James Towler (wonder if he is any relation to the Rock Mills Towlers?) became the town's first postmaster. The growing community soon attracted many pioneer industries - flour mills, sawmills, woolen mills, pork packing plants, oil mills, and tow mills. Xenia was incorporated by an act of the legislature in 1817 and became a city in 1834. 

On April 3, 1974 an F5 tornado that cut a path directly through the middle of Xenia during the Tonadic Super Outbreak,  the second largest series of tornadoes in recorded history. The disaster killed 34 people, injured an additional 1,150, destroyed almost half of the city’s buildings, and left 10,000 people homeless. Five schools, including Xenia High School, Central Junior High School, McKinley Elementary, Simon Kenton Elementary, and Saint Brigid Catholic School were destroyed. The tornado also destroyed nine churches and 180 businesses. The city's plight was featured in the national news, including a 1974 news television documentary, Tornado!  Legendary comedian Bob Hope organized a benefit for Xenia and, in appreciation, the new Xenia High School Auditorium was named the "Bob Hope Auditorium."  But it does not stop there.  It seems that Xenia has a long history of severe storm activity. According to local legend, the area was referred to by the Shawnee Indians as "the place of the devil wind" or "the land of the crazy winds"   You can find reference to this legend on a historical marker out on a Route 68.  Records of great storms go back to the early 19th century. Local records show 20 tornadoes have occured since 1884. Xenia was hit by a much smaller tornado in April, 1989 and again by another F4 tornado on September 20, 2000. The 1989 tornado caused over two-million dollars in damage, but no one was killed. The twister of 2000 left one person killed, and 100 people injured. This third tornado followed a path roughly parallel to the 1974 tornado.

This is definitely somewhere I must travel to and see. I want to see the blooms, the parts of Old Town that still remain, read the marker on Hwy 68. Yep! Xenia, Oh is a must on my Adventure Bucket List......just not during a time of tornadic weather.  

Seeing Titanic: Then and Now

So I got to see Titanic 3D in an IMAX theater with my friend Angie.

When it first came out I was in high school and dragged my then boyfriend to see it like five times. (I still feel bad about that. I practically took an entire DAY of his life seeing as the movie is 3 hours long..)

Seeing Titanic in 3D was amazing. You could see more details in the movie such as on the ship, the clothing…and yes, even Kate Winslet’s boob, which I could have done without but still, as far as boobs go she has nice ones.

Anyway, I noticed there is a difference in how I saw the movie in high school and how I saw it to this day.

For starters.

Photo Credit

Most people know this scene. The flying scene. Leo tells her to close her eyes, step up, and trust him.

I’m sorry but no. I wouldn’t have. She had known him for a DAY at that point and he’s asking her to step up on the ledge of a ship where she could go tumbling to her death? No. I’d be like, “I’ll step up but my eyes are staying open.” (And yes, I know he saved her from jumping to her death but still…one never knows…)

And back in high school, I cried when Leo died:

I was like, “Leo noooooooo!”

Did I cry this time?

Not at that part.

No, because I’m a mother now, I cried over the thought of children dying. I cried when the Irish mother was telling her kids a story in their beds as the ship sank because she knew they wouldn’t get out. I cried when Cal picked up that little girl who was sobbing and used her to get on a lifeboat and then tossed her aside when the lifeboat wasn’t working.

Leo—well, Jack—was a grown man who had traveled so he lived a life.

The kids did not.

And also, I had other questions that I didn’t have when I saw it in high school. Such as, when Rose dies at the end, wouldn’t her husband be upset that instead of meeting HIM when she passes that she goes to Jack instead? I’d be all, “Um, pardon ME?” Yes, I know she was joining all the people who had died on the Titanic, but still.

Rose was also an actress so wouldn’t you think a family member would have recognized her and been like, “She’s alive!”

Why didn’t Jack and Rose try harder to share the door like depicted here:

Photo Credit: Floating All Over Facebook

So yeah. It’s still a good movie, but I’m older and my mind wanders more.

(And who else would have died when the ship went down? You know, the scene where Rose and Jack are hanging onto the back of the ship and Jack tells her to hold her breath and kick? Yeah, I tested that. I’d have so drowned..)

W is for Washington State

W is for Washington State

Well, the A-Z challenge is winding down with only three days to go after today. Of course these are the hardest letters to use.  I am glad that today is W so I can tell you about one of the greatest adventures I have ever had in Washington State.  I went to school there for a summer and packed everything I could into each day.  I saw everything there was to see from Seattle to Spokane.  We were in Seattle for the Taste of Seattle so I got to taste samples from a lot of great restaurants.  did you know that you can see Mt. Ranier from the Space Needle????  I didn't and it is amazing! 

I did a historical stop in Spokane and learned a lot about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  I traveled over the line into Oregan to go to Chief Joseph Days in Joseph, OR and into Idaho to see the world's only floating golf course in Coeur d'Alene.  I also took a plane ride over the St Joe River there on a plane that lands on water and attended a lumberjack competition. The Colombia River Gorge was amazing.  We were able to see a speed boat race that took place there.   In Walla Walla we saw a salmon ladder work, toured the L'ecole winery, and we went white water rafting on the Deschutes River (an adventure I don't plan on doing again...but that is another post). 

 I loved Washington State....loved the rainy days, loved the woodsiness, loved it all.  It was a wonderful place to visit and I hope to go back again someday.  If you want an adventure....try Washington State...it is one of the U.S.'s best kept secrets and there is so much more there than hunting and fishing. 

Things That Annoy Me Thursday: Tiny Food

I mean…

I get that companies have to enlarge things to show detail.

In fact, if you look close enough you’ll usually see this on the boxes: *product enlarged to show detail.

Which is fine.

But.

I hate when things are different in reality. Especially my treats. Not that I expect 100 calorie snacks to be huge because then, hello, then they wouldn’t be 100 calories a bag.

Still.

Does anyone else have issues only eating ONE 100 calorie bag? I usually wind up eating 2, which sort of defeats the purpose.

I think I just like to eat too much.

I’m off to have an itty bitty snack. (Probably two bags of 'em..)

Wednesday Hodge Podge - vol 75

If this is Wednesday this is Hodge Podge.  Since April 1st I have been participating in the A-Z April Challenge so there are two posts for today.  Today's letter for the A-Z Challenge was V so we are almost finished with this adventure.  If you want to read everyone else's post then jump over to Joyce's blog and check them out.  Here are the questions for the week and my feeble responses.
1. Shakespeare's birthday is celebrated on April 23rd...when did you last read Shakespeare? What's your favorite Shakespeare play?  I read Shakespeare a lot in college since I have a major in it.  I also am an English teacher so I have seen McBeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar in the classroom.  I love Shakespeare.  The comedies are my favorites.  My favorite play would have to be Comedy of Errors....no...Taming of the Shrew....no...Midsummer Nights Dream.  It would be hard for me to choose.
2. What food(s) would you recommend a foreign visitor try when they visit your home country?  Bagels and schmear, Geno's Philly Cheesesteak, bbq in the south (wet and dry), Salmon in Washington, Lobster in Maine, Maple syrup in Vermont, our country is a culinary dream.
3. What's a lie you often tell yourself?  I will start again tomorrow I am going to have to borrow from Joyce. 

4. What's something you're good at that might surprise us? Remember this is a family friendly blog.  I would be better off answering this with what are you not good at.   But my answer would be starting a lot of projects and then moving on to another one.  I am the queen of this.

5. Who is your favorite animal character from a book?  Again with Joyce it would have to be Wilbur.  When my kids were small and I read this book to them at night....my ex brought home a shote (tiny, runt baby pig)  We named her Sally and gave her buttermilk baths and let her stay in the house because she was so tiny.  When she got bigger she was moved outside to her pen and we continued to give her baths each day.  We loved her....we eventally named her Dirty Sally when she hit about 800 pounds and seemed to love the mud baths more than the buttermilk ones.  One day some men came and loaded her up....they took her nearby and we heard a gunshot. Dirty Sally was dead.  She was processed and my ex brought the meat home to put in the smokehouse he had built.  The kids and I never ate a bite.  I can't wat food from something I have named.  I am still not a huge ham eater.

6. April showers bring May flowers...do you have a green thumb?  Sometimes I do if it is an outdoor plant.  Inside plants not so much.

7. Speaking of rainy days, which one of the following activities would you most want to spend time doing on a rainy day-

sort photos and create albums

bake cookies

read a good book

hold an all-day movie marathon

clean and organize closets, cupboards, or bookshelves

try a new recipe

fix something that needs fixing

 

In order of desire I would love to read a good book, hold an all-day movie marathon, sort photos and create albums, clean and organize anything, try and new recipe, bake cookies, fix something.

8. Insert your own random thought here.  I am a Pinterest Addict.  I love to spend time just looking through ideas and deciding if I want to try one.  I have completed several projects and so far modge podging is my favorite.  I am currently working on a blackboard tray for my dining room.  I made crack potatoes Sunday for our homecoming - recipe from Pinterest.  I probably won't ever do them again.  Do you do Pinterest?  Have you ever completed any of your pins?  Tried any recipes?

V is for Vermont

V is for Vermont

One of the two United States I have not been to on my nationwide U.S. adventure is Vermont.I am torn between when I want to see it.  Do I want summer, spring, or fall.  I know winter is out because I am not a snow person.  I don't like cold. After having seen Maine in the fall I know that Vermont's world famous foliage is at the top of many people's "bucket lists." Touring the state in search of yet another view is a definite must.  I have to admit I am leaning toward seeing it in the fall.  I want to taste Vermont maple syrup and other culinary delights, I want to see the trees changing, I want to see the covered bridges.....i just want to see what all is there.  Have you been there before?  What did you do when you were there?  Yep...one of my unfulfilled bucket list items is to see Vermont....and soon I hope.  When I do get there....I hope to see these things and many more. Happy Adventuring!

Oh yeah....I can hear Vermont calling me.  V is definitely for Vermont!

When One Cannot Do Kid Hair

“Makeup optional…”

That’s what it said on the paper I got about Natalie’s ballet photos.

And it specified to do hair nicely.

Nicely? I could barely do my own hair nicely, let alone my five-year-old's.

I’m always jealous of the mothers who can do hair neatly. French braids, pig tails, Katniss-style hair—whatever the request, they can do it.

Me?

Well, when my daughter has pig tails, they are never right down the center of her head. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. But the part always looks off and one pigtail is up and the other is down.

When she goes to ballet, I do an easy bun. Meaning I put her hair in a ponytail and simply don’t pull the entire thing through the band. So it’s sort of like a bun. And since she’s in beginning ballet, they don’t care.

But now. Now it was picture time.

Natalie was thrilled. It meant she got to wear her recital costume. The one I paid $65 for. I’m sorry, it’s so not worth $65. I could have bought an adorable Janie and Jack outfit for $65, complete with all the accessories.

The costume came with a hair thingy. I didn’t know where the hair thingy went on her hair. It didn’t specify.

For the makeup, I went with lip gloss and light eyeshadow. After all, this wasn’t an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras. Some people might think it’s okay to cake makeup on their daughters, I am not one of them.

In the end, she looked like this:

I used hairspray to keep her hair down.

And I would later find out that her bow DID NOT go there. It clipped near the back against her bow.

Oh.

Most people would have known that.

Some kids did have a lot of makeup on. Natalie sort of sighed when she pointed out a little girl who had Kardashian-esque type makeup on.

“She has darker lipstick!” Natalie whispered.

“She can’t be older than ten. I don’t agree with it,” I explained.

“I have NO lipstick,” Natalie fumed.

“You have enough.”

I’m not sure how she did with pictures. The parents were not allowed in that room. They grabbed the kids and then returned them twenty minutes later.

“Did you smile?” I asked Natalie.

“Sort of,” she replied.

I’ll find out in three weeks how she did.

For professional photos she usually comes across looking constipated.

It’s because the photographers don’t realize that they have to run into the wall to get her to laugh.

Like I do.

U is for Universities

U is for Universities

One of the biggest mental adventures I have had was attending college.  I have a Bachelors from Auburn, a degree from the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa), and my Masters from Auburn.  I have been fortunate enough to attend Auburn main campus and Auburn at Montgomery.  I also attended some class at Southern Miss and was an National Endowment of the Humanities Fellow and attended summer classes on Miguel Cervantes in Walla Walla, WA at Whitman college.  I have to be honest.  I loved college and wish someone would pay me what I make to just go to class. Learning is a great adventure and I am so glad I was fortunate enough to have had this experience.  My only wish was that I had done this the normal way as an 18 year old....not as a mother of three.  Sometime I think I would like to go back to school and get another degree in something fun to use when I retire in 2015.  We will see.

Sanford Hall at night on the main campus of Auburn University.  It is a well-known site and one of the most photographed places on campus.  I have made pictures of it at night, during snow, during the spring, during graduations....I love this place.

The University of Alabama's most famous site....Denny Chimes.  I used to love to sit on the quad and listen to them sound.  I lived behind the chimes in Rose Towers during my tenure on campus.

Whitman College Administrative building.  Our apartments were directly across the street from this.  This campus is lovely with ducks swimming in little brooks.  Walla Walla is a quaint town and right in the middle of some gorgeous scenery and mountains.

 When I was working on my Masters in Education I spent a huge amount of time in the AUM library.  I used to love the smell of the old books when you walked in the building.  Of all my schools I have attended I have the fondest memories of AUM.  Universities are not for everyone and if you had told me when I was a senior in high school that I was going to college I would have laughed in your face....but one day it hit and I knew I had to do this for myself.....and U for University became one of the biggest and best adventures of my life.

Hey, It's Okay Tuesday!

I got this idea from Glamour magazine. They have a section called Hey, It’s Okay and will list a bunch of things to be okay about. You're welcome to join in and do something like this on your blog. Doesn't have to be on a Tuesday either. Just make sure you link up and that the post you link up is a Hey, It's Okay Post.

-----------

To wonder how in Army Wives that Trevor went from enlisted to Officer. Did I miss an episode? Or is the Army like that?


To like the show Game of Thrones. Tom and I started watching it on Netflix and we really enjoy it. Granted, there are some scenes that make you go ! but still entertaining.


To hate the cranky bagger ladies at the commissary on base. (There are some nice ones but I tend to see a lot of the moody ones..)


To have found an Angry Bird toy with bunny ears buried under a bunch of t-shirts at Kohls the other day. And yes, bought it because an Angry Bird with bunny ears cracked me up.


To like the Baked Apple Pie scent from Scentsy. Makes the house smell delicious.


To wish I hadn’t told Natalie we were going to Disney World next June because every day she’s like, “Is Disney open yet?” (To quiet her I lied and said they shut the place down to clean it for our arrival..)


To still hate when cars come to a complete stop before turning. Stop it!


To like the new show Don't Trust the B- In Apt 23. James Van Der Beek plays himself so there are lots of Dawson references.

T for Texas - T for Tennessee

T for Texas

We are on the downhill slide of the A-Z April challenge.  Texas was a great adventure for me.  I loved the history of Dallas, the cute little shops in Grapevine, the cattle drive in Ft. Worth.  Does Fort Worth ever cross your mind?  It does mine. 

My cousin Faye lives outside of Plano in a small farming town called Farmersville.  I have been to visit her a few times and she has shown me where Dallas was filmed and believe me it is impressive.  I have driven across Texas, enroute to Los Angeles, and was overwhelmed by the dessert.

T for Tennessee

I could not make a call on my T Adventure.  Tennessee is one of my favorite places on earth.  It is metropolitan, blue grass country, old ways vs new ways.  I love this place.  Memphis is ribs, blues, Elvis, and the ducks at the Peabody Hotel.  Nashville is country music, dreams, disappointments, the Grand Old Opry, Ft. Nashborough, and E.T.'s Record Shop.  Baby cousin Missi and her husband Clay live there and I love to go visit them.  There is so much to do....or you can do absolutely nothing.  The choice is yours...but you need to take in some of the sights if it is your first time there.

And then there is Knoxville.  Home to the University of Tennessee, the host of the 1982 World's Fair, culture, class, tradition, and beauty.  If you are ever in Knoxville and you like a good steak you must eat at Ye Olde Steakhouse.  It is to die for. 

One of my oldest friends (we have been friends since we were five) lives there with her husband and there is always an open door.  From anywhere you go you can see gorgeous mountains, and get a big dose of southern culture.  The South abounds with that.  Want a great vacation....tour Tennessee.  You won't regret it and it will capture your heart.....forever.