Vacation details

7/4
(about) 9:30am- pulled out from Amiee’s parent’s house heading on our big trip! Excitment abounds!

3:16pm- finshed our lunch at Logan’s Roadhouse. Now where hanging out at the Highlands shopping center not far from Bristol while the ladies spend “a few minutes” in Ross.

4:16pm- Just past what could either be a school or a prison. My wife says prison because of all the razor wire. I just think it’s a school for particularly sneaky children. Who knows…

5:00pm- Hopefully our last stop before arriving. Grabbing milk so we’ll have it for the week.

5:30pm- Finally arrived! The trip took a lot longer than it should have. Google maps said about 3 hours, with all the stops it took about 7! O.o Anyways, VERY glad to be here! Place looks great!

6:26pm- Upon exploring outside the cadin we discover a massive amount of (mostly) ripe blackberries. Nomming ensues.

7:00pm- Finished unpacking and started relaxing and cooling off after the heat caused by unloading and unpacking.

7:59pm- Everyone is sitting on the pourch enjoying the magnificent veiw. God is so amazing! His mighty hands built this beuatiful land. It’s hard to get a sense of just how amazing and gorgeous this country really is. Road trips, even just a few hours from home can reveal such incredible views. And this is just the east coast! I would love, at some point, to see the mid-west and west coast. I’m sure my bros can attest to how wonderful they are!

9:20pm- Getting ready to go to bed. Been a long and fun day! May do little more than relax tomorrow, or we may all go on a hike! Either way it’s gonna be a great time!

7/5
8:51am- Finally up and showered. Breakfast was good. My lovey wife is still asleep, but I shall not begrudge her. It is vacation after all.

10:30am- We all decided to go for a drive and find a state park or something of the like.

12:55pm- Kinda lost. Amiee’s Dad (Mr. McCoy) couldn’t find what he was looking for so we’re heading back. We did however find a fantastic view. Makes me a little mad at myself that I forgot my camera.

1:10pm- Heading back? Not so fast! Mr. McCoy saw Hungry Mother State Park and thought it would be fun. The only problem being that Amiee and I don’t carry any cash and we were in seperate cars. Fortunatly The gentleman at the gate let us in so we could get some cash for entrance.

1:27pm- Whep, didn’t stay long anyways. Just went to the restrooms then off again (we got our money back since we weren’t here long), to Wal-mart then back to the cabin.

1:46pm- Still on our way back to the cabin and saw a sign for a town called Groseclose. EEEEEEEWWWWWW!!!!!!!!

2:15pm- Got back to the cabin (and happily so too). Spent the rest of the day in calm relaxation reading and spending time together. In other words using a vacation for what it should be used for!

7/6
11:20am- After waking up both myself and Amiee, the 2 of us decided to go on a picnic for lunch. It was quite a plesent stroll through the forest to a nice shady area to enjoy our lunch and each other’s company.

12:50pm- Got back from our picnic and have every intention of spending the day relaxing.

7/7
9:00am- Getting loaded up to go to a natural bridge. Brought my camera, expecting a lot of pictures!

9:14am- Just passed a feild. Normally this wouldn’t be of any note, but for the bath tub sitting in the center of this feild. It seems a bit too public for bathing to me, but what do I know?

11:10am- This place is AWESOME! They had a statue of a cowboy riding a friggin dinosaur!

2:28pm- They have a toy muesum here! At first I thought it would be colonial and civil war era toys. But, NO! These toys were the ones that my bros and I grew up with! M.A.S.K.! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Dino Riders! Mighty Max! And nearly innumerable others! I could go on forever about what was there, but I won’t bore you dear reader. Now to the wax mesuem!

3:03pm- Whelp, that was dull. We’re heading back to the cabin now to meet up with Megan, Chris and Ainsely (my sister-in-law and brother in-law with my gorgeous neice).

5:19pm- Ainsley’s here! Fun and silliness shall ensue!

9:54pm- Well, Ainsely’s running around giving everyone kisses (cuz she’s sweet), and when I go to get a kiss from her she turns around and kisses the WALL! -_-

7/8
1:58pm- We slept nice and late. After waking up we decide to go for a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway. We came upon Puckett Cabin, a woman who was born in 1937 and lived 102 years! Around her 50th year she became a mid-wife delivered over 1000 babies. This incredible life was marred by sadness however, as none of her 24 children lived past infancy.

4:04pm- Went to a couple of other places along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Mabry Hill and Meadow of Dan. Mabry Hill provided some GREAT pictures of both the secnery and of Ainsley, however Meadow of Dan was a bust for pictures. Oh, well. Now to Wal-Mart, then back to the cabin (I believe).

5:13pm- FINALLY back at the cabin. I enjoy seeing the places we’ve visited, but I think I’ve been on the road more during this vacation than the rest of my life combined!

9:17pm- Pretty zoned-out right now. Watching Baby Momma right now. And WOW, it’s dumb (though, not unexpectedly so). After this bed time, cuz I iz bushed! <later update>- movie actually got better by the end, rather enjoyed it.

7/9
5:23pm- Been a fun day. It’s Chris, Megan and Ainsley’s last full day at the cabin, so we went to Dixie Caverns (which Chris had wanted to do). I gotta say, now that I’ve been in a cavern…… I’ll NEVER do it again! It was quite lovely, but I was too focused on the cramped halls, tiny and steep steps and low ceilings. Nothing like finding out you have a minor clausterphobia like being in a cavern. I have no dwarven (think “mythical dwarf,” not “little person”) blood in me, and I proved that today! After, we went to Wendy’s. Amiee and I both enjoy some Wendy’s from time to time, but we realized that in the past week alone we’ve been to Wendy’s more than in the entire past year! Goodness! No wonder I’m so fat! Anyhow, after we got back I introduced my brother-in-law, Chris, to “the Princess Bride.” One of Amiee and my favorite movies! From there we’ll (probably) relax, have dinner and enjoy Ainsley’s company until they leave tomorrow. Ah, vacation. To bad it will end all too soon.

9:42pm- Just finished looking through all the pictures so far, and I got some REALLY good ones! 😀

7/10
10:04am- Everyone got up to eat a big breakfast and see Chris, Megan and Ainsley off. Afterwards we all talked and decided that instead of just sitting around all day, we just go ahead and pack and leave today. I’m gonna miss this place, it’s absolutly gorgeous here! But I miss my puppy and A/C too.

12:00pm- And we’re off!

2:16pm- Just passed that mecca of “red neck-ism,” Bristol Raceway. Meh.

5:38pm- Just left the In-Law’s after dropping off their stuff that we were carrying. Their dog Dixie came up to greet us and I have NEVER seen ticks so big! Several were almost as big as my thumb! Ick! >:-P I’ve decided that if ever I get the chance to ask God some questions, I’ll point at the tick and ask “why?” Now that Dixie’s cleaned of ticks it’s off to get our pup, Boo!

5:46pm- We’ve got Boo back! YAY! 😀

6:09pm- We’re home! Pretty tired, probably gonna unpack tomorrow. Now to chill with my wonderful wife and the pup!

7/11

7:52pm- As I finish this blog and prepare to post it, I reflect on this past week and how blessed I am to be able to go on the is vacation. I had a blast with Amiee’s family in VA and almost wish we were still there, but I am glad to be home (and have the internet and cellular reception back). We celebrated being back by seeing Twilight: Eclipse. Of course, it was quite bad. better than the first 2 movies in the series and (sadly) The Last Air Bender, but still bad. After this, I be working on the pictures for a while. Before I post this I am struck by one other feeling….. I REALLY don’t want to go back to work yet!