The pictures I have posted here were taken before we headed to Tennessee, just never got around to posting them on the blog.
Before heading to Tennessee, Cindy and I were able to visit Aaron and Laura in Wisconsin. The following weekend we headed over to Columbus Ohio to spend the weekend with David. He is now working for Nationwide Insurance in their World Headquarters office in downtown Columbus. Saturday he took us to where he works ( 31st floor with a fantastic view from his cubicle). We spent most of the day walking around downtown and driving around to other parts of the city. We went out to eat at a favorite place of his and then headed back to the apartment.
Sunday he took us out to Alum Creek State Park where he and Than go trail riding on their bikes. They have a beautiful park and a really nice campground if we ever decide to camp in his area. We spent most of the afternoon driving around the lake and sight-seeing. Sunday evening it was time to head back to Sharpsville and plan for our trip to Tennessee.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Thanksgiving Day Weekend
This Thanksgiving we were very thankful to have our son David and his girlfriend Shawna come visit for a couple of days. We had a great time while they were here. They arrived Turkey Day around 4:30 pm and Cindy had supper ready for them. After eating we took a walk around the rv park and then set outside in the nice 70 degree temperatures taking in the beautiful night skies.
Friday morning after having a nice breakfast we headed into the Smoky National Park. I have to admit I was very concerned that we were not going to see anything due to the fog and rain we were having. We decided to head straight to Clingmans Dome (highest point in the park) and hope the weather would clear by the time we arrived. Lucky for us,by the time we were within a few miles, the sun started breaking through the clouds and fog and we had some beautiful views of the mountains. By the time we reached the top the temperature was down to 29 degrees but as you can tell by the pictures the views were excellent.
We took a hike back to a waterfall then decided to head back to Sevierville via of driving through Gatlinburg. For those of you who have been here you know what the traffic is like in that town. We thought David and Shawna might as well experience it so if they ever came down again they would know what to expect. We stopped at Bennett’s BBQ and stuffed ourselves with ribs, pulled pork, steak, hog wings (something new and very tasty) plus all the fixins. Upon completing this task we thought it best to take a nice long walk around Gatlinburg before heading home.
Saturday morning we took them out to see the view of Lake Douglas with the Smoky Mountains in the background. We were so thankful to have them here and be able to show them some of the area that we are staying in.
A thought for the day, “happiness is only real when it’s shared”.
Friday morning after having a nice breakfast we headed into the Smoky National Park. I have to admit I was very concerned that we were not going to see anything due to the fog and rain we were having. We decided to head straight to Clingmans Dome (highest point in the park) and hope the weather would clear by the time we arrived. Lucky for us,by the time we were within a few miles, the sun started breaking through the clouds and fog and we had some beautiful views of the mountains. By the time we reached the top the temperature was down to 29 degrees but as you can tell by the pictures the views were excellent.
We took a hike back to a waterfall then decided to head back to Sevierville via of driving through Gatlinburg. For those of you who have been here you know what the traffic is like in that town. We thought David and Shawna might as well experience it so if they ever came down again they would know what to expect. We stopped at Bennett’s BBQ and stuffed ourselves with ribs, pulled pork, steak, hog wings (something new and very tasty) plus all the fixins. Upon completing this task we thought it best to take a nice long walk around Gatlinburg before heading home.
Saturday morning we took them out to see the view of Lake Douglas with the Smoky Mountains in the background. We were so thankful to have them here and be able to show them some of the area that we are staying in.
A thought for the day, “happiness is only real when it’s shared”.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Smoky Mountains
First off, I will apologize for not adding anything to the blog since the end of July. I have had several people jump my case and want to know why no new pictures and nothing to read. I guess I just thought people were getting tired of it but I guess I was wrong. Cindy and I have since left Colorado and have returned to the flatland's of Indiana ( or at least for a month we were there). We had a great time visiting family and friends and eating some of our favorite foods (not found west of the Mississippi).
Currently we are in Sevierville, Tennessee. We are staying at the Two Rivers RV Park, located at the north-end of town and right on the Broad French River. I'm getting the fever to get my license and see if I can catch anything in the river, so in the next few days I bring out the rods and reels.
We arrived here on Wednesday, the 17th of November and have been enjoying some very nice weather. The park has 55 sites, 25 on the river and 30 just behind them. It's a unique park in that it is in town but not really, you come down a side street to get here and you do not hear the sound of the traffic a few blocks away.
This past week we have pretty much just been trying to learn our way around here, when to go and when not to go ( due to traffic), shortcuts, grocery stores, the important things. We are planning on going into the Smokey Nat. Park sometime this weekend.
Currently we are in Sevierville, Tennessee. We are staying at the Two Rivers RV Park, located at the north-end of town and right on the Broad French River. I'm getting the fever to get my license and see if I can catch anything in the river, so in the next few days I bring out the rods and reels.
We arrived here on Wednesday, the 17th of November and have been enjoying some very nice weather. The park has 55 sites, 25 on the river and 30 just behind them. It's a unique park in that it is in town but not really, you come down a side street to get here and you do not hear the sound of the traffic a few blocks away.
This past week we have pretty much just been trying to learn our way around here, when to go and when not to go ( due to traffic), shortcuts, grocery stores, the important things. We are planning on going into the Smokey Nat. Park sometime this weekend.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
July
The month of July is almost over and we have been taking in some spectacular sights in the area. We took the drive up to the top at 12,000 ft. via the old Fall River Road. This road does not open until after Memorial Day and closes sometime after Labor Day weather permitting. It is an 11 mile one-way dirt road that goes to the Alpine Summit Visitor Center and also one which makes Cindy a little nervous ( yea, me too at times). If you have ever driven Pikes Peak Road it is like that only one lane and one-way.
Today we took a hike up to the top of Deer Mountain, elevation 10,050 ft. and the views were outstanding. It is a 3 mile hike (one way) and you start at around 9500 ft. From the top we could see the surrounding area where we are at. We saw Estes Lake, Marys Lake, the town of Estes Park, the YMCA Complex, and last but not least our RV parked at Rockmount Cottages. The views were breath taking and no photo that we take can even compare to the actual beauty that we saw.
We are eagerly awaiting the return of the Elk. Due to the temperatures they have all headed into the high country, with just a few remaining around. We've been told sometime next month the bull elk will return and start their "bugling" so we are excited for this event to take place ( unless they keep us awake all night) then it might not be so great.
Life is what you make of it. Always has been, always will be.
Today we took a hike up to the top of Deer Mountain, elevation 10,050 ft. and the views were outstanding. It is a 3 mile hike (one way) and you start at around 9500 ft. From the top we could see the surrounding area where we are at. We saw Estes Lake, Marys Lake, the town of Estes Park, the YMCA Complex, and last but not least our RV parked at Rockmount Cottages. The views were breath taking and no photo that we take can even compare to the actual beauty that we saw.
We are eagerly awaiting the return of the Elk. Due to the temperatures they have all headed into the high country, with just a few remaining around. We've been told sometime next month the bull elk will return and start their "bugling" so we are excited for this event to take place ( unless they keep us awake all night) then it might not be so great.
Life is what you make of it. Always has been, always will be.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
July 4th weekend
Randy and family came up and spent a couple of days with us and as usual we had a great time. It's nice to have family close by to spend some time with and we appreciated the effort they made in coming here. They took a pretty good hike on the way here and I think they were as tired as we were from working so we just decided to sit around and take it easy Saturday evening.
Sunday morning Cindy and I had several cabins to clean so they decided to take a hike just in back of the property here. Now we have been here for over 10 weeks and have yet to see a bear, oh there have been people in the park that saw them but not us. So guess what they saw on the way down from their hike? Yep you guessed it, a cinnamon colored bear, probably 1 yr old by the size of it, but regardless a bear. They have some wonderful pictures they took of it and were gracious to let me post them on the blog. So I hope everyone enjoys viewing them. As for Cindy and I, we will keep looking and maybe someday see one.
Monday afternoon while everyone was sitting around outside, I opened the door to go out and saw some elk in the park. I went out and told everyone to be real still and maybe they would come by the camper. Well they kept still and the elk did come by, in fact there several and around 6-10 newborns. As you can tell by the pictures they came pretty close to the camper, close enough to eat on Cindy's flowers hanging out behind here. There were many great shots taken by everyone and if you would like to see more, April has them posted on her facebook.
Sunday morning Cindy and I had several cabins to clean so they decided to take a hike just in back of the property here. Now we have been here for over 10 weeks and have yet to see a bear, oh there have been people in the park that saw them but not us. So guess what they saw on the way down from their hike? Yep you guessed it, a cinnamon colored bear, probably 1 yr old by the size of it, but regardless a bear. They have some wonderful pictures they took of it and were gracious to let me post them on the blog. So I hope everyone enjoys viewing them. As for Cindy and I, we will keep looking and maybe someday see one.
Monday afternoon while everyone was sitting around outside, I opened the door to go out and saw some elk in the park. I went out and told everyone to be real still and maybe they would come by the camper. Well they kept still and the elk did come by, in fact there several and around 6-10 newborns. As you can tell by the pictures they came pretty close to the camper, close enough to eat on Cindy's flowers hanging out behind here. There were many great shots taken by everyone and if you would like to see more, April has them posted on her facebook.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Summer finally has arrived here is Estes Park. We've been having temps in the high 70's and the mid 80's a couple of times. We made a trip into the park the other day and took one of hikes at the high elevation. We were not able to do this trail awhile back due to the snow that was still covering the trail. The trail started at 9200+ feet and ended up just a little over 10,000 feet. The views that we saw was just unbelievable and I'm sorry to say the pictures do not even begin to show the true beauty one sees while hiking here. The hike took us about 2 hours to reach the end of the trail but as we told our boss here,some people hike just to get to the end and miss out on the things around them, we like to take our time, see the views, take pictures and enjoy the beauty that surrounds us. With that said here's a little quote for the day "The value of experience is not in seeing much, but in seeing wisely".
Randy and family came up and visited us for fathers day and we enjoyed spending the day with them. We went into town and ate then walked around town and looked for and found some more geo caches. We had a great time and I told them it was nice to have family close by to celebrate the holidays with. Look forward to their return this next weekend for the 4th of July.
We had our first opportunity to see some new born elk the other day. We were out cleaning some cabins when about 15-20 cows and 7 or 8 new calves came strolling through the park. This is first group we have been able to watch since they started birthing. They ended up settling down on an area of "new grass" that we planted several weeks ago. They actually stayed here for about 20 minutes until several cars started pulling into the park to take pictures and I guess they had enough of people and headed up the side of the mountain.
Randy and family came up and visited us for fathers day and we enjoyed spending the day with them. We went into town and ate then walked around town and looked for and found some more geo caches. We had a great time and I told them it was nice to have family close by to celebrate the holidays with. Look forward to their return this next weekend for the 4th of July.
We had our first opportunity to see some new born elk the other day. We were out cleaning some cabins when about 15-20 cows and 7 or 8 new calves came strolling through the park. This is first group we have been able to watch since they started birthing. They ended up settling down on an area of "new grass" that we planted several weeks ago. They actually stayed here for about 20 minutes until several cars started pulling into the park to take pictures and I guess they had enough of people and headed up the side of the mountain.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Aaron & Laura's Wedding Reception
We made our trip to Aaron and Laura’s house on the 4th of June for their wedding reception. We were very excited about seeing them as well as our families from Indiana and Kentucky. Pat & Mark, Randy & Carolyn and Debbie made the trip as well as Cindy’s family; her dad, Chuck, Chris & Roberta and our youngest son David. We had not seen any of our families since last September so we really cherished the chance to see everyone again. I think I can speak for everyone and say the weekend went well.
Aaron and Laura worked their rear ends off planning for this and I will say they done a fine job putting it together. The only set back we had was it decided to rain the afternoon of the reception but we did not let a little rain dampen our spirits. We truly had a wonderful time seeing everyone there and I would just like to thank all of you again for making the trip up there. It sure was nice to be able to visit with our families and friends once again.
For those viewing the pictures of those dancing, yes we could hold the camera still, we just had the wrong setting while taking action shots. The pictures of the river is the river that flows through the park where we are at. This is what we came home to! Till next time remember; " And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years"
Aaron and Laura worked their rear ends off planning for this and I will say they done a fine job putting it together. The only set back we had was it decided to rain the afternoon of the reception but we did not let a little rain dampen our spirits. We truly had a wonderful time seeing everyone there and I would just like to thank all of you again for making the trip up there. It sure was nice to be able to visit with our families and friends once again.
For those viewing the pictures of those dancing, yes we could hold the camera still, we just had the wrong setting while taking action shots. The pictures of the river is the river that flows through the park where we are at. This is what we came home to! Till next time remember; " And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years"
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