Tennessee Vacation 2010

This vacation was all about the people. I felt like Greg was totally indulging me by letting me take him around to see all these people I love. Spending time with them is what made this vacation wonderful.
Day 1: Drove to Kansas City, MO. Thank goodness for the DVD player in the car and Nintendo DS's
Day 2: Finished the major cross-country trek landing in Nashville, TN (technically Hendersonville) at Aunt Sharon and Uncle Jim's house. Sharon is my mom's sister. She is so great! We loved just visiting with them as much as we could. The conversation never slowed.Day 3: Went to church at my old church building in Nashville--that's where I was baptized!--and spent the rest of the day relaxing with Sharon and Jim and visiting with cousins as they stopped by to visit. It was wonderful to see them all. Aunt Sharon is as sweet as always. She and Uncle Jim were perfect hosts.
Day 4: Went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, Aunt Sharon's treat! Left S&J's and met Uncle John (my dad's brother), Aunt Joan and cousin Jenny for lunch at Arnold's--a "meat & 3" that was featured on the Food Network. Meat and 3's are unique to the South. SUCH good food! Uncle John treated us, and of course he and Aunt Joan are preferred customers at Arnolds. I think Uncle John ran into 4 or 5 buddies while we were there. :) Afterward we went to cousin Julie's house and visited for awhile. Greg got to catch up with Uncle John and I just soaked in time with my cousins. Julie's kids are all so cute and very active!We left Nashville around 4 to drive to Fall Creek Falls State Park. On the way we hit an immense rainstorm. We could barely see the taillights of the cars right in front of us for an hour straight! It was totally insane. As a result, we chickened-out on camping that night and opted for the Fall Creek Falls Inn. The weather seemed fine at the park, but we weren't gonna chance being soaked (this rain would have picked us up and carried us downstream, really). As the weather held-out, we threw rocks into the lake with the girls and we all caught some lightning bugs (aka fireflies). We saw some deer and the girls played. It was a wonderful night....it never rained at all. :)
Day 5: Slept in and then set up camp at a "walk-in campsite". The walk-in site was so cool! Literally, we couldn't see a soul from our tent. We were in the middle of a forest with just the lightning bugs, daddy long-legs, and deer to keep us company. We drove to Cumberland Cavers to do a tour that afternoon. It was SO COOL! There are 30 miles of caverns found, so far, with more being discovered all the time.On our way to the caverns, I realized we were extremely close to McMinnville, TN, home to one of my dear friends I grew up with and went with to BYU. Thanks to Greg's Blackberry, we looked her up and called to see if we could come say hello. My friend Jamie is married with 4 kids. Our kids played together as we visited with Jamie and Tom. They invited us to stay for dinner and we had a great time visiting--wish it coulda been longer. They are some of the most sincere people I know--the kind that make you want to become better just by being around them.
After a stop at Wal-Mart (where we discovered the Great Value Donut Sticks!), we drove back to our campsite in the dark and put the kids to bed.
Day 6: Got up and hiked to Fall Creek Falls. It is such a rewarding hike! We played at the base of the falls for a long while. The girls loved splashing in the creek and rock pools.
Later that day we did laundry, then went for a ride on a paddle boat. Greg and I provided the motor--those things are a workout! The lake at FCF is so pristine. They don't allow any motorboats on it, so it stays still and calm. It was wonderful. Before bed, we all showered (ahh, to be clean while camping!) When we went to bed that night there were deer next to our campsite. We even fed them some of our baby carrots. We saw a doe and a fawn, as well. As always, at sundown, the lightning bugs came out. I don't ever want to forget those perfect nights.
Day 7: Left with the intention of going to Big South Fork National Recreation area, but realized it would limit our time with Connie, Winston and Martin (my cousins in Luttrell, TN), so we called them to see if we could camp out in their yard instead. They happily obliged, and even offered us the basement! Visiting C, W and M is always fun. They have sheep, a goat, several chickens, cats and a huge garden. The girls did arts and crafts with Connie and they got to feed the chickens. Greg and Martin set off fireworks like it was the 4th of July (which it wasn't, but it was close) and Winston took us on a bikeride. He and I also jammed-out to some of his songs for his church band (he plays guitar, I was on piano and vocals). It was a treat, indeed. We did have a little camel cricket encounter. I have an irrational fear of camel crickets, so we ended up sleeping in the living room.
Day 8: Left late morning from C and W's and went to visit my old piano teacher in Knoxville. Sister Jane Turvaville is the best piano teacher ever! She is my inspiration for teaching piano lessons now. She and her husband Jack are retired and doing very well and it was so special to see them...From Knoxville, we left for Johnson City to visit a couple of great friends from high school, Rebecca and Scott. They were high school sweethearts and are married. Scott is in his 2nd-to-last year of residency to become a psychiatrist (he has some interesting stories to tell!). Rebecca is just great. I could tell all about her, but it wouldn't paint a worthy picture of who she really is. She is genuine and sweet. I feel blessed to know her. They have two very cute little "goggies" as Eva called them. They took us out to dinner and we had a wonderful evening with them. The next morning, Rebecca made us a breakfast that would make any true Southern lady proud. We were sad to have to leave them so soon.Day 9: Ate breakfast with S&R and left for Alabama! Long day of driving, but beautiful country.
We were excited to be staying in one place for a few days. Arrived in Trussville around 5pm to a quiet house. Everyone was showering from a long day of work at the farm. Ate Southern BBQ for dinner and put the kids to bed. Greg and I went for a long run in the muggy darkness. We sweated like no other, but it felt great. Went to bed late, but refreshed.

coming up...Days 10 through ? and lots of video!